More than a quarter of Brits would struggle to start a conversation with someone who is deaf

Research of 1,000 adults revealed 20 per cent would feel uncomfortable trying to communicate with a deaf person.
And more than one in five (22 per cent) wouldn’t know where to begin when striking up a chat with someone who is deaf.
As a result, 12 per cent are embarrassed to start a conversation, and this lack of interaction has led to half of the 683 deaf people within the research feeling both isolated and frustrated.
Campaign supported by entertainment stars
The research was commissioned by Cadbury Fingers, which partnered with Love Islander Tasha Ghouri, and Strictly Come Dancing winner, Giovanni Pernice, alongside the National Deaf Children’s society to highlight the feeling of being left out of conversation experienced by four in 10 (41 per cent) deaf people.
Tasha, who was born deaf and was a BSL user before her Cochlear implant was fitted, gave exclusive announcements alongside the Strictly dancer, who partnered with deaf actress Rose Ayling-Ellis in the 2021 series, in British Sign Language (BSL) to highlight the feelings of exclusion experienced by the deaf community.
Using their platforms, which have a combined following of over two million people, they have revealed exclusive new gossip using BSL only.
The juicy news, revealed exclusively to the BSL speakers across the UK, saw Tasha update her followers that herself and boyfriend, Andrew Le Page, have found their dream house in East London after searching across the capital.
Giovanni also used the opportunity to discuss how after starting his BSL journey during Strictly Come Dancing last year, he is ensuring to have translators at a number of his new theatre shows.
Tasha Ghouri said: “The UK has a large deaf population that often miss out on moments because of their disability.
“It was important to me to use BSL to reveal that I’ve found my dream house to move into