University News Last updated 30 October
“It’ll be life-changing” – that’s how an internationally renowned deafblind athlete has described a new deafblind research centre at Birmingham City University (BCU).
Opened last week (23 October), the Deafblind UK Education and Research Centre will connect researchers, practitioners, and people living with deafblindness, to increase knowledge and raise awareness of the condition.
“This centre is the first of its kind in the UK - and it wouldn’t have been possible without our partnership with BCU,” said Nikki Morris, CEO of Deafblind UK.
“BCU is a university that is making a difference to those affected by deafblindness, building on trust and integrity with us as a partner.
“With this centre we can answer questions and come up with innovations that will make the world of deafblindess and those affected by it, a better place to be.”
Deafblind UK reports that nearly 450,000 people in the UK are deafblind - around 6 in every 1,000 individuals. With an ageing population, this number is expected to rise to more than 600,000 by 2030.
Deafblind UK partnered with BCU in 2019 to launch the Certificate and Diploma in Professional Studies (Deafblind Studies), the first of its kind in the UK.
Officially opening the centre was Samantha Gough, a full-time deafblind athlete and content creator, who has captained England’s blind women football team and is a rower on the GP Power Pathway.
Samantha, a Deafblind UK ambassador, said “This is going to be an amazing hub for raising awareness but also build on education and research around deafblindness.
“Not a lot of people know about deafblindness. People seem to think you’ve got to be deaf or blind, not together.
“I want to use my platform to spread awareness that dual sensory loss affects hundreds of thousands of people, but also to share my journey living with sight and hearing loss.
“This centre is going to be life-changing for so many people.”
Dr Peter Simcock, Associate Professor of Social Work and Centre Lead at BCU, said the centre’s work had already begun and would have an impact globally.
“We’re involved in an international project exploring the lived experiences of deafblind people across the world,” said Dr Simcock.
“We’re also leading a study exploring the social care experiences of deafblind people in Wales and undertaking a review examining the use of ‘cash for care schemes’ by deafblind sign language users.
“This centre also has a pivotal role in equipping junior researchers and the future workforce with the knowledge and skills to become future leaders in deafblind research and practice.”
Find out more about BCU’s Health and Social Care research here.
Pictured: Dr Peter Simcock, Nikki Morris, Robert Nolan (Chair of Deafblind UK) and Samatha Gough.