The importance of the lived experience of deaf people

As editors-in-chief, we support and encourage academics and practitioners who are deaf or hard of hearing to undertake research and submit findings to Deafness & Education International (D&EI). The lived experience of deafness brings an authentic richness to the readers’ text understanding that is difficult to replicate. We also encourage deaf people to consider mentoring deaf youth. Many children and young people who are deaf live and study in isolation from other deaf people. Deafness is a unique experience that can only truly be shared by deaf people. We also encourage service providers to offer online access to deaf teenagers to facilitate the connection with deaf mentors to support those who live in rural, regional, and remote areas and cannot access in-person mentoring. Deaf adolescents need deaf mentors. They also require experiences where they can engage with other deaf youth who share similar experiences. Therefore, we also support the opportunity for deaf young people to attend “deaf camps” as a beneficial way to gather, enjoy each other’s company and talk about the facilitators and barriers to social, academic and employment inclusion. The engagement with those with lived experience of deafness can also be extended to caregivers of deaf children and young people. It is vitally important for caregivers of deaf children to listen to and engage with deaf people. This engagement will shed light on potential, future, and sometimes daily challenges and opportunities the child may encounter. If you are a service provider, we appeal to you to prioritise the connections of people with lived experience of deafness with deaf young people and their families. We also believe that recruitment, retention, and career progression of deaf people is essential within all employment domains. The leadership of deaf people within and outside deafness-related professions provides important insights, guiding our work in new directions. Finally, deafness-related, or general disability-related public policy, is best when deaf people participate in its formulation and implementation. The disability movement slogan, “nothing about us without us” should be at the core of our work teaching deaf students and when conducting research in deaf education.