Hearing-impaired children in the UK: Education setting and communication approach

This study identified 17,657 children, born between 1980 and 1997, resident in the UK, with permanent bilateral hearing impairment >40dBHL. Data are reported for a subset of 12,255 children notified by professionals in education. The data describe influences of explanatory variables on education setting and communication approach. A lower hearing level, possession of a cochlear implant, the absence of additional disabilities, and female gender were independently associated with settings involving inferred lower levels of support and with approaches involving a smaller component of signing. The data characterize the population of hearing-impaired children attending primary or secondary school in the UK in 1998, and constitute a reference data-set against which the impact of future changes in policy and practice may be judged.