DEX Co-founded – January 1994

DEX co-founded in Leeds as charity of volunteers.

Early Days

Campaign and training/ presentations in the Deaf community to raise awareness of the needs of deaf mainstreamed children

Best Value Review (BVR) 2001-2004

2001 – 2004 – Best Value Review (BVR) – Deaf-Led audit of education for deaf children, supported by the Local Government Association, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and IDeA. The full time staffed audit took in the UK, Sweden and Norway, and involved eight local authorities in the UK and four Deaf schools with a sum total of 34 schools observed. Over sixty deaf children were interviewed, as were 30 parents of deaf children, professionals ranging from Ofsted to Heads of Services and schools and teachers and support staff. A literary review of research in deaf education was included. Presentations were given at European Day of Deaf Education (EDDE) and the World Federation of Deaf People in Montreal 2003. Report of findings published – Deaf Toolkit: Best Value Review of Deaf Education from Users Perspective, 2004. The Deaf community in Cornwall informed us that no deaf children were using BSL in Cornwall and, with the Deaf community, we petitioned the local authority to accept the need for deaf children to learn through the medium of BSL.

Best Value Review Findings – 2004

Our findings from the Best Value Review were that deaf children need to have full access to education, which should include English and BSL bilingualism, a high standard of BSL provision from all staff. This led to our Framework for Action, and to campaign for a BSL Act which must include ensuring parents of deaf children fully understand their deaf child’s needs in education, and the correct resources are in place.

Published Between a Rock and a Hard Place – 2004

Published Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Deaf Mainstream Experience, 2004 – personal accounts by deaf mainstreamers.

Feasibility Study – 2005

2005 – Feasibility Study with parents of deaf children and deaf young people.  Established a successful training curriculum to teach BSL and parenting a deaf child to parents of deaf children. Also established the Deaf Youth Council with which to participate and find out their views of mainstream education. The report of the findings was published – Handing on Our Experience: Deaf participation with deaf young people and families, 2005. Staff laid off until 2015 – 2017

Bradford Council Commission – 2006

In 2006 Bradford Council commissioned DEX to map its services for deaf children as it was definitely closing the Thorn Park Deaf School and moving deaf pupils to resourced mainstream schools. We consulted with the council to ensure the best possible move to mainstream education, including two types of resource within one: deaf children educated mainly in the resource base, and others in mainstream classes for most of the time with support.

BDA Conference

Training and presentations at the BDA Conference, in schools and universities: – Bullying – Deaf identity development – Deaf Education History – Framework for Action

BVR Lobbying

Lobbying the government to raise awareness of the BVR and to support the growing call from the Deaf community about the lack of movement following the Recognition of BSL in 2003.

Worked with Sir Malcolm Bruce, MP

Worked with Sir Malcolm Bruce, MP and the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Deafness (APPGD) to table a Private Members Bill for a BSL Act. As directed by Sir Malcolm, we drafted a BSL Bill based on the Welsh Language Act 1993, as we had had extensive consultation with the Welsh Language Board and Welsh bilingualism researchers, who gave permission to do this. The Private Members Bill was not successful.

Lobbied Ed Balls, MP

Lobbied Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Education, who raised £1.5 million to raise the standard of BSL in education. The Department for Children, Families and Schools (now the Department for Education) established a Steering Group comprised of DEX, DCAL at the University of Central London, and the University of Sussex. A tender was put out for a consortium of deaf organisations to bid for the funding, and the NDCS, Signature, Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education, UCLAN, Action on Hearing Loss became I-Sign. There was a survey to all local authorities about their level of BSL provision to deaf children, and a Family Sign Language website (now closed down). Deaf training the trainers in teaching Family Sign Language was also part of the commissioned work, which ended in 2010. The I-Sign project did not address how parents should be informed about BSL during diagnosis and Early Age.

Consulted With Camden Council

Consulted with Camden Council to state that Frank Barnes Deaf School should not be closed, and the school remained open. It has recently moved to a state of the art Deaf school in Kings Cross area. We also added our views to consultation by Bristol Council for Elmfield Deaf School which was under threat of closure, and has remained open.

The Children and Families Act – 2014

The Children and Families Act 2014 instigated new changes in Special Educational Needs (SEN). The DfE commissioned the National Sensory Impaired Partnership (NatSIP) to advise and support with changes for deaf, blind and deafblind children. There were six threads to this work, one of which was BSL, and NatSIP established a BSL Consortium. The members of this were DEX, Signature (as the Chair), NDCS, BDA, Frank Barnes Deaf School. As a result of this membership NatSIP sub-commissioned DEX to set up a Focus Group of deaf young BSL users in 2014.

The Focus Group Project

The Focus Group project took one year to outreach for suitable deaf young people, with the help of Support Services in West Yorkshire area. The group was asked two things: their personal experiences of mainstream school, and to comment on the changes in SEN arising from the Children and Families Act 2014.  The findings were written up as a report for the DfE and displayed on NatSIP’s website, linked to the websites of the British Association of Teachers of Deaf (BATOD) and NDCS. We also did a joint presentation at BATOD’s conference to outline the findings of participation with the group of 15 deaf young people.

DEX Deaf Youth Council (DDYC)

The Deaf Young People’s Focus Group wanted to continue so we fundraised for monthly activities, and the group changed its name to the DEX Deaf Youth Council (DDYC). They currently have a My Deaf Story Heritage Project, due to end this summer, which includes their learning Deaf history, culture and creating and performing a play – all led by Deaf historians, comedian, scriptwriter and producer and director. The play is called My Deaf Story, performed in a theatre in 2016. The group is currently finishing off films for councils’ Local Offer websites in West Yorkshire.

The Consortium on Research in Deaf Education (CRIDE)

The Consortium on Research in Deaf Education (CRIDE) began surveying all local authorities on the numbers of deaf children, the communication methods and services. Tallying with our estimation in the BVR was that only approximately 10% of all deaf children in the UK use BSL. We then undertook our own research into language planning which is a distinct linguistic discipline to measure and save endangered or threatened languages. We gave our research paper’s findings : Towards language planning for sign languages: measuring endangerment and the treatment of British Sign Language at the LAUD Conference (a linguists’ organisation) in the University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany in 2014. This was the first time a language planning paper on a mainstream sign language has been given. The paper has subsequently been published in Endangered Languages and Languages in Danger: Issues of Documentation, policy and language rights, 2016. Ed: Filipović and Pütz. Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company. The conference and individual and eminent linguists at the conference or non-delegates all agreed with DEX’s findings that BSL is a severely endangered language according to UNESCO’s Language Vitality and Endangerment Methodological Guideline, again based on Language planning theory (Fishman et al).

A Thank You

  Apart from two project periods – the BVR and the My Deaf Story Heritage project – there have been no staff employed so our achievements have come from voluntary work by the DEX Directors, past and present. Without this committed input DEX would not be what it is now, so we warmly thank everyone for everything you have done for the future of deaf children.

2015 -2021 The DEX Deaf Youth Council (DDYC) grew from strength to strength

becoming a strong and vibrant group. There were three more successful projects since the My Deaf Story Project: a bespoke ASDAN accredited Citizenship course where the DDYC members added their qualification and knowledge about national and international civic and campaigning organisations to their CVs. The Wellbeing project led to learning about healthy food, good mental health and exercise whilst still socialising and making friendship groups. The Deaf is Me project aimed to develop their understanding of their projects’ management and to outreach for more members. However, Covid-19 prevented face-to-face activity and on-line events were offered but were not popular. Covid-19 emergency funding has enabled DEX to employ four freelance staff, including a development manager, project and advocacy coordinator, who was a previous DDYC member, and outreach staff. Alongside all project work bespoke advocacy has been provided for deaf young individuals, attempting to fill in gaps in social services, mental health provision and employment support. We are proud to report that our efforts have resulted in our “class of 2014” mostly becoming confident deaf young people, some in work or involved in voluntary activities such as in politics. There are two members on the DEX Board in their own right and as reps for the DDYC.

BSL Act Campaign

Since 2014, DEX has played an active role in campaigning for legal recognition and protection of British Sign Language (BSL). With support from Jim Fitzpatrick and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Deafness (APPGD), we established a BSL Working Group alongside key partners including the British Deaf Association, National Deaf Children’s Society, DCAL, and Heriot-Watt University. DEX contributed vital research to support the case for a BSL Act, including a paper on language economics to highlight the importance of protecting BSL as a minority language. We also worked with young people, ensuring their voices were heard—most notably when a DDYC representative spoke at APPGD to push for progress. When government funding for an inquiry was not secured, the group moved forward with drafting a Private Members’ Bill. DEX developed early proposals calling for BSL to be recognised equally alongside English, Welsh, and Gaelic, and for improved access to services. Our research highlighted the urgent need for protection, with only around 4,000 deaf children in the UK learning BSL. The campaign gained momentum through the BSLNOW# movement and the support of Rosie Cooper, who introduced the Bill to Parliament. The British Sign Language Act 2022 was successfully passed, marking a significant milestone. DEX continues to campaign as language activists, working to safeguard BSL and ensure the Deaf community can thrive for generations to come.

Supporting Deaf Young People’s Culture, Community and Language 2025-2026

Thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (logo displayed), we are celebrating and strengthening Deaf young people’s connection to their community, culture, and language. This project has created opportunities for young people to explore Deaf history and identity through engaging activities, trips, and creative workshops. Working with partners such as museums and cultural spaces, young people have contributed their ideas, developed BSL resources, and helped make heritage more accessible for Deaf audiences. Through this work, they have built pride in their identity, deepened their understanding of Deaf culture, and played an active role in preserving and sharing their community’s stories for future generations.

Deaf young people shaping up their own deaf community- DEX Deaf Planning Crew 2025-present day

The DEX Deaf Planning Crew developed from the original DEX Deaf Youth Crew and the Saving Deaf Young People’s Culture, Community and Language project. It was formed to give Deaf young people a stronger voice in shaping DEX activities and ensuring their ideas directly influence what we deliver. This committed and enthusiastic group works closely with staff to plan events, share ideas, and make key decisions about programmes and activities. They also support the development of accessible promotional materials and help ensure communication with young people is clear and relevant. Through this work, members continue to build leadership, confidence, and teamwork skills, while strengthening Deaf culture, identity, and community representation within DEX.

Urban Crime Safety Project- 2024–2026 

Urban Crime Safety Project- 2024–2026  We were proud to be awarded funding from the Million Hours Lottery (logo displayed), enabling us to deliver our Urban Crime Safety Project. This work supported Deaf young people to build confidence, understand their rights, and feel safer in their communities. Working closely with West Yorkshire Police, young people shared their lived experiences and took part in consultations to improve accessibility, including the BSL 999 service, police website, and 101 contact systems. Through engaging workshops, discussions, and hands-on activities, they not only developed important safety knowledge but also played an active role in shaping more inclusive and accessible services for the future.

Advocacy Services and Support- 2024-2027

2024–2027 – With funding from the Lloyds Bank Foundation, we are delivering a dedicated advocacy support programme for Deaf young people. This work ensures that young people have the support they need to express their views, understand their rights, and navigate services that can often feel inaccessible. Through one-to-one advocacy, group sessions, and tailored support, we empower young people to build confidence, make informed choices, and have their voices heard. The programme also works alongside families and professionals to improve understanding of Deaf needs, helping to create more inclusive systems and stronger, more supportive outcomes for the future.