Introducing “My NDCS”: A new App supporting parents of Deaf children

The National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) has launched a new mobile app, My NDCS, designed to support parents of newly-identified deaf children, as well as parents of deaf children of all ages. This innovative app aims to provide parents and carers with personalised support and resources tailored to their child’s specific needs.

App features

My NDCS offers a variety of features to make navigating the journey of raising a deaf child easier. The app includes a journal function, allowing parents to jot down feelings, milestones, and appointments.

Additionally, parents can use the app to book events and workshops organised by the charity. One of the most valuable features is the ability to read real-life accounts from other families who have gone through similar experiences, providing much-needed reassurance and a sense of community.

Support from other families

Kyla Alderman, a mother of a deaf child, shared her experience with the app. When she first discovered her daughter was profoundly deaf at just three weeks old, she was in shock. However, My NDCS provided her with essential information and reassurance.

“My NDCS has helped me understand her diagnosis and reassured me that she’ll still live a normal life,” Kyla explained. “Reading the real-life stories definitely benefitted me the most, as I got to hear other children’s and parents’ experiences.” Looking to the future, Kyla is excited about attending events to help her daughter engage with the deaf community and meet other children like her.

The decision to develop My NDCS was based on research showing that deaf children are at a disadvantage in their early years compared to their hearing peers. Statistics reveal that 65% of deaf children are almost twice as likely as all children (34%) to complete their first year of school without achieving a ‘good level of development’. A contributing factor to this gap is the lack of timely, relevant information available to parents. A survey conducted by the charity found that over 40% of parents across the UK feel uncertain about navigating healthcare and education services to find the support they need for their deaf children.

An immediate success

To address these challenges, the NDCS began a comprehensive research process involving focus groups, surveys, and pilot testing to develop an app that would meet parents’ needs. The results have been promising.

Since its launch in March, My NDCS has been embraced by over 1,000 parents. In the month following the app’s release, there was a significant increase in parent membership sign-ups to the charity, over 150%, with the app accounting for 42% of these new members. By May, nearly half (49%) of all new parent memberships were obtained through My NDCS.

Ann Jillings, mother to Daniel, now 18, also reflected on how My NDCS could have been beneficial when her son was a baby. “I would heartily recommend the app as a very useful and convenient source of information,” Ann said. She especially appreciated the app’s journal section, which she feels would have been incredibly helpful during Daniel’s early years. Even now, she finds the app useful as it offers customised resources to support parents at every stage of their child’s development.

The people behind the App

Holly Patel, who led the app development team at the National Deaf Children’s Society, emphasised the organisation’s mission: “Our mission is to make sure that deaf children receive the support they need from the moment their deafness is identified, so that they get the best possible start in life, especially during those vital early years.”

With the concerning statistic that two-thirds of deaf children start school without having achieved expected levels of development, compared to just a third of all children, Holly and her team recognised the urgent need for more targeted support and information. The app was developed to meet this need, allowing parents to configure it to provide information specific to their individual circumstances in a quick and convenient way.

For parents interested in downloading the app, My NDCS is available for free on Google Play and the App Store. You can also access it through the National Deaf Children’s Society’s website.

This app represents a significant step forward in supporting parents and ensuring that deaf children receive the best possible start in life, with all the information and resources they need right at their fingertips.