Deaf Awareness Week and advocacy

Blog by Your Voice Counts Head of Advocacy Sharon de Jesús

As we mark Deaf Awareness Week, it feels like a good time to pause and reflect on what true inclusion really means - not just in services, but in advocacy itself.

At Your Voice Counts, we know that for many Deaf people, the barriers they face aren’t just about communication. It's about being left out of important conversations. It’s about being overlooked when decisions are made. Sometimes, it's about feeling invisible in systems that were never built with Deaf voices in mind.

Advocacy has such an important role to play in changing that.

It’s not just about booking a BSL interpreter - although of course, that’s vital. It’s about making sure Deaf people have the same choices, rights, and opportunities as anyone else. It’s about making information clear, meetings accessible, and support meaningful. It’s about making sure people are in control of their own journeys - not expected to simply fit into systems that don’t work for them.

Good advocacy means slowing down when we need to.

It means leaving assumptions at the door.

It means working with people, not speaking for them.

And it means recognising what we already know: that Deaf people are experts in their own lives - and they deserve every opportunity to shape the services and decisions that affect them.

Deaf Awareness Week is a great reminder that inclusion isn’t something we can tick off a list once a year. It’s about how we work, every day. How we listen. How we value each other. How we make space for every voice to be heard - and to lead.

At Your Voice Counts, we’re proud to be part of that journey. And we know there’s always more to learn, more to challenge, and more to change. Because everyone’s voice should count. And that starts with us.

Inclusion isn’t about ticking a box. It’s about how we listen - and who gets to lead.

For more information about accessing our advocacy services, please visit www.yvc.org.uk/advocacy.