Vivienne Michael (DR-UK chief executive), Helen Thomas, and Rosie Cooper MP at the awards presentation event
First Prize, 12-14 years
I would like to think, that in the next 20 years there will be great advances in helping deaf children/adults. As a cochlear implant user I would expect advances in this area to be more exciting, maybe along the lines of putting the implant and processor under the skin and therefore eliminating the need for an external processor, or an implant that tunes in to the conversation you are listening to, and eliminates surrounding sounds (very science fiction!)
Or maybe gene therapy can play a part, with replacing the faulty gene, I along with my family, have had blood taken to see which gene is responsible for my deafness, this is something I would think research would focus on.
On communicating with deaf people, it would be great if a degree of sign language could be on the school time table. It’s great to learn to sign, you never know when you will need it. It’s important to make people aware how difficult it is for deaf people, like with all sensory impairments, "making people aware" is very important.
I would like to see all classrooms equipped with the necessary sound fields.
And finally here is one crazy idea - what about glasses/or contact lenses that when worn would show subtitles maybe in a cinema or TV.
So this is my vision for the future, I hope it helps!
Winning entries
12-14 years |
15-18 years |
First Prize |
First Prize |
Runners-up |
Runner-up |
