The British Deaf Association (BDA) is a deaf-led British charity that campaigns and advocates for deaf people who use British Sign Language.

History

It was preceded by the National Association for the Deaf and Dumb (NADD), which had been founded by deaf people in 1886. The creation of the NADD had been in response to the perceived threats to the language and education rights of deaf people which had arisen after the Milan Conference of 1880. This international congress, where the majority of those attending were people who taught hearing to deaf children, had passed a resolution banning the use of sign languages throughout the world. The participants of the conference had then returned to their home countries, determined to eradicate both the employment of deaf teachers and the use of sign language in schools. They also sought to reduce class sizes to those that were manageable by hearing teachers.

A Royal Commission on the education of deaf children was launched in 1889 but it failed to consult deaf people and supported the establishment of the Pure Oral System and so the banning of sign language; in response the magazine Deaf Mute encouraged deaf people to unite in defence of their own interests. The current Chair is Dr. Robert Adam. Previous Chairs include the late Terry Riley, editor of the BBC's See Hear programme.

Chairs

Jock Young (1983-)

Murray Holmes

Charter

In 2003, the BDA released a document describing various steps for public services to improve accessibility for Deaf people and BSL users, called the 'BSL Charter'.

In 2017, the BDA released an updated version of the charter called the Charter for British Sign Language.

Signatures

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, signed the charter in November 2023.

See also

  • Doug Alker
  • Terry Riley
  • Arthur Verney
  • Jock Young

References

  • Official Website
  • Sign Community