The deaf and hearing impaired in Barbados were the target of a two-part workshop yesterday by the National Council on Substance Abuse on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections and substance abuse.
The NCSA’s Yolande Forde said the deaf and hearing impaired were considered a hidden, vulnerable community in Barbados.
“This group is excluded from mainstream life in many respects . . . A lot of them do not work. That is where, basically, their risks increase. They’re a close-knit society, and what has happened is that they would get together and do their own thing. But information has now reached the council that in some cases that activity is not always wholesome, so they too, like other young people, need structured, wholesome, group-based activities,” she said.
Forde said the information was being delivered to the deaf and hearing impaired in a way that was comprehensible to them. This was achieved with the assistance of several volunteers, including one who is hearing impaired.
The workshop is being sponsored by the Canadian High Commission. (YB)
