When Lucy joined university, she realised that she had to work so much harder than everyone else. A lack of access and communication support made her university experience very different from her hearing peers. It really affected her mental health.
Lucy is 21 years old and she recently finished university. Overall, she enjoyed the experience – but she did have a lot of highs and lows with her mental health. The lowest points were lined to the lack of accessibility and communication support.
“Many times when I arrived at university, I didn’t have an interpreter. It upset me. I’d made the effort to go to my lecture and then it wasn’t accessible. This meant I had to work harder, harder than my hearing peers.”
Lucy found it hard noticing how different her university experience was because she was deaf. She had to work harder than other people.
“After every lecture, I’d go home and rewatch the videos to make sure I understood them. Sometimes the automatic captions didn’t work very well. So, then I’d have to ask my peers for help – to explain the different words.”
Lucy was grateful that she was able to reach out to her friends for support, but it was difficult for her to be put in this position.
“I was appreciative but I felt like I had to rely on other people all the time. I really wanted my interpreter to be there and I didn’t want to have my friends help me all the time.”
Navigating the communication barriers of university as a deaf young person did affect Lucy’s mental health.
“It felt like it was an extra burden for me and a waste of my time. I had to focus a lot on my work and spend my time getting ready for the next lecture and the next day.
It meant that I had less time socialising and just having the normal university life. I was exhausted at the end of the day. I’d miss going out and meeting my friends, because I’d gone to bed.
It affected my mental health sometimes. It was just too much work. It wasn’t accessible to me and it wasn’t good enough.”
Lucy was grateful that she was able to rely on her friends and family for support. She also reached out to disability services at her university which was sometimes helpful and made her feel better. But it wasn’t the same as what her other friends experienced.
Can you help?
Being deaf does not cause mental health issues. But, Lucy’s story shows us how navigating barriers every day can.
It’s not good enough that Lucy had this experience. It is not right that deaf young people are twice as likely to experience mental health issues. We need to work together to make a change.
Could you donate today to support deaf young people like Lucy? A donation of £10 could provide a place at a mental health workshop for one deaf young person.
Being deaf does not cause depression and anxiety.
Facing barriers every day does.
Deaf young people are twice as likely to experience mental health issues. Meet the real young people behind the statistic.
Charis had anxiety and wished she had support from a deaf professional.
Harriet’s hearing therapist assumed that being deaf was the problem.
Beth felt isolated and it really affected her mental health.
