It’s Deaf Awareness Week and if you think you don’t know anybody with hearing loss, think again. Hearing loss and deafness are common conditions, with about one third of the world’s population over 65 and around 460 million people worldwide with disabling hearing loss. It affects all ages and can be a condition a person is born with, or it can develop later in life.
Our Auditory Implant Service (USAIS) provides specialised assessment and rehabilitation for deaf and hard-of-hearing people, particularly for those with more severe forms of deafness who need cochlear implants, a surgically implanted device which provides access to hearing, and they are unique in being the only NHS-funded clinical centre based within a University.
During their 25 years+ of experience, surgeons at USAIS have implanted over 1000 patients with cochlear implants, from as young as seven months to 94 years old. The service provides life-long care to all patients and receives excellent patient feedback annually.
Currently a team at USAIS are scaling up remote care pathways for adult patients to roll out in clinics across the country, empowering people listening with a cochlear implant to manage their own condition. USAIS is currently supporting the work of the charity Deaf Plus which seeks to remove barriers facing deaf people in education, employment and leisure.
Throughout Deaf Awareness Week the team will be showcasing their inspirational patient stories and providing facts and insights about hearing loss on their social media channels. Follow them at @UoS_AIS (Twitter) and @AuditoryImplantService (Facebook).
Keep an eye on SUSSED for an article this week about the support staff and students can get here at the University if they are deaf or hearing impaired.
Find out about one of the Auditory Implant Service’s research projects here.
