Deaf Children Australia provides;

Youth Online
The purpose of this service is to provide young deaf people with the opportunity to:

• meet online in a safe moderated chat room and discuss issues of importance to them
• establish a safe network of friends with whom they can participate in planning services ( for example youth camps, clubs outings) and accessing relevant resources and information
• talk about important issues that affect them and place comments onto the message board.
• be referred for one on one counselling with an qualified professional who have experience in relating to deaf young people.

 

 

The Youth Online project has been developed with the aim of

 

• minimising the social isolation and poor self esteem commonly experienced by deaf youth.
• addressing the lack of appropriate counselling services available to address these issues.
• removing current barriers to communication– by facilitating the deaf youth’s access to counselling and support services through the use of the internet

 

This initiative aims to empower deaf youth by

 

• offering a professionally moderated chat space
• linking them up with other young people thereby decreasing their isolation;
• facilitating positive self-identity and assisting them to identify strategies to help themselves
• improving the long term, mental wellbeing of deaf and hard of hearing youth

 

The chat space also allows the trained moderators to identify youth who may benefit from additional support and link them into the one-on-one counselling service component of Youth Online, or other appropriate services.

 

Online Support for Youth
Our confidential counseling service is available to provide support to young deaf people to assist them with some of the challenges they face and to get the support they need.

Rural and regional teenagers in particular sometimes find it hard to access the support they need – this service removes the barriers of geography

The web based service provides teenagers from regional or city areas with access to trained staff who can provide information, as well as to work with them to develop strategies to manage challenging situations.