Rebecca Wand, 18, Nottingham
Monday, October 17, 2011
The National Deaf Children's Society asked me to represent deaf young people at the Conservative Party Conference, where I met ministers Michael Gove and Maria Miller.
Most deaf children attend a mainstream school like me. But unfortunately we don't always get the help we need to learn, like a classroom with good acoustics, access to radio hearing aids or support from a teacher of the deaf, who can remind our classroom teachers to face the class when they talk to us.
Mr Gove surprised me by finger spelling the alphabet in British Sign Language. I told him families of deaf children and even deaf young people are not entitled to free sign language classes. I said that this needed to change and he promised to look into some of the issues I raised. I hope the MPs will remember me and turn our conversations into actions.
