The Need to Develop Deaf Friendly Materials for Young Black Minority Ethnic Deaf Experiencing Identity Issues

A challenge facing Black Ethnic Minority (BME) deaf people is the lack of cultural sensitivity or understanding towards their heritage and their Deaf identity. This raises several issues and demonstrates that groups do not really fully understand the profile of a BME deaf person and their background. This leads to many services being unable to fully accommodate the needs of BME deaf people. This paper builds on initial research into the make-up of the BME Deaf community, and seeks to gain a deeper understanding of this community with an aim to continue the research and development of appropriate visual material. The paper shares some of the initial findings and guidelines for creating appropriate Deaf friendly material for BME Deaf people.