Perceptions of Deaf education in the Deaf community

This article explores perceptions about education for the Deaf community within Deaf communities in Ireland, Finland, and the UK. Ireland, Finland, and the UK all provide legal recognition of sign languages in various forms. However, it is important to understand how these laws impact Deaf people, what their experiences with the law is, and how might the law be altered to improve the lives of people it purports to serve. Interview data from Deaf people across the three countries is presented here which explores these experiences. When asked about what they might improve in the law, an overwhelming number of responses related to the introduction of law to improve access to education. And so, this article has taken those responses and presented them for analysis. Research participants reported concerns about the quality of Deaf education, systemic problems in accessing education, acquisition of other language in Deaf people, the illusion of a choice of school options for parents of Deaf children and the dwindling number of Deaf schools. Participants suggested that meaningful access to bilingual education is needed for Deaf people.