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Researchers in Scotland are designing a software program which instantly translates sign language into type which can be read on a computer screen. The technology, the first of its kind in the world, could be available within a year and stands to fundamentally change the way deaf people communicate and help them succeed in the [...]

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It’s Sunday night, you’re settling down to watch Dancing On Ice and hopefully see some witty banter from the judges. So what does one judge have to say about the skaters? ‘Across the ice and the Samaritans and speedo you.’ Or how about, ‘Right is affecting their partnership. Pulled your ball up.’ These are just [...]

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Dogs are commonly known as man’s best friend, but it turns out they may also be a child’s, particularly if those children are one of the 45,000 deaf children in the UK. Hearing dogs, as they are known, could transform many young lives by offering companionship, confidence and independence. Not only that, but these specially [...]

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They are usually lauded as man’s best friend – but now researchers have discovered dogs make perfect companions for deaf children, too. With the right training, dogs can act as the ‘ears’ of such youngsters, alerting them to everything from doorbells to smoke alarms – or even their parents’ voices calling them. The animals make [...]

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A deaf and mute girl allegedly kept in a cellar, repeatedly raped and treated as a virtual slave has told a court of years of beatings and cruelty. The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told the jury of almost a decade of alleged abuse after being trafficked into the UK from Pakistan [...]

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A deaf orphan girl was trafficked into Britain and forced to act as a virtual slave for a couple, a court was told. Locked in a cellar each night, the ten-year-old was repeatedly raped and forced to carry out chores including cooking, cleaning, sewing and washing. Ilyas Ashar, 83, and wife Tallat, 66, regularly beat [...]

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Hundreds of children are being recalled for medical hearing tests at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Hospital. The hospital said it had become aware that a child assessed by a doctor as normal was later found to have profound hearing loss. An investigation found nine patients assessed by the same doctor were misdiagnosed. The hospital has identified [...]

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Jean Gross, a former teacher, was appointed Communications Champion after a review led by John Bercow before he became Speaker of the Commons. In a report published today she argued that checks on the language of toddlers needs to become as routine as health assessments of weight and growth. Those with poor speech at two [...]

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Girls in gangs and female victims of sexual violence will be the focus of proposals by Theresa May and Iain Duncan Smith

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