DEAF people in East Lancashire are made to feel like second class citizens because of the way they are treated by others.

The claim was made in a report from The Royal National Institute for Deaf People which outlined the feelings and frustrations felt by the 8.7 million people with hearing difficulties in Britain.

The institute has investigated problems faced by people in their communities and launched the 'Breaking the sound barrier' campaign aimed to raising awareness of the way the deaf are treated.

Local people are angry about the way they feel alienated and maltreated.

They feel that they should be treated as equals and not and inferior citizens.

In the North West 93 per cent of those surveyed for the report think that people did not realise how hard it was to be deaf or hard of hearing and 69 per cent felt isolated by their community. Eighty one per cent felt that improvements were needed in shops and 71 per cent said that they were disappointed in the treatment they received in hospitals.

Jenny Harmer, community services team leader for the East Lancashire Deaf Society said : "We feel like we are second class citizens. We are treated as though we are stupid when we are in shops or in banks.

"I agree with the report's finding totally. We feel angry about the way we are talked to as though we are not there. People need to be educated in deaf people's needs and maybe taught sign language at school."

Tasnim Ahmed, ethnic minorities liaison officer said: "People think that we are not important and we are treated unfairly in society. We are often ignored and thought of as stupid people. I feel frustrated by the way we are treated by the public".

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