The University of Edinburgh's Scottish Sensory Centre are on the hunt for volunteers to take part in a study to improve the lives of young deaf people nationwide.
The research is to take five years and is the largest of its kind ever to be conducted in the UK.
Young people with any kind of hearing loss aged 16-19 can volunteer to take part in the study and will be surveyed once a year to shed light on the varied pathways young deaf people take.
Researchers will analyse their experiences to understand how they influence their adult lives and flag up any barriers they may encounter.
The results will inform policies and practices that support young deaf people as they seek to achieve their long-term goals.
One of the key questions they hope to answer is why school pupils in the country with mild hearing loss have nearly as large an attainment gap as profoundly deaf students.
Chris Mackintosh, the study's coordinator at the university, said:
“We are keen to investigate what leads to the best outcomes for young deaf people in terms of educational achievements, work, success at college and university, sense of self-esteem and mental wellbeing.
”We hope the findings will be invaluable to young deaf people, their families and service providers and increase our understanding of the factors that can make a positive difference in people’s lives.”
The study is being funded by the National Deaf Children's Society, and will be in collaboration between the Scottish Sensory Centre and the University of Manchester.
If you would like to volunteer for the study you can apply here.
