The research team at Lime Trees Deaf CAMHS in York are in the process of creating a measure of emotional, social and behavioural difficulties which will be suitable to use with young BSL users. We have translated an existing questionnaire, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) into BSL. We now need the help of deaf young people, their parents and their teachers to check whether our translation is valid.
 
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a short form that asks questions about emotions and behaviour. It is filled in by parents, teachers and young people. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) use it to measure mental health problems when they first see young people and families, and use it again after treatment to see if the problems have improved. The SDQ has been translated into 60+ spoken languages, but not signed language. We have made a BSL version, and we need lots of people to help us test that it works well and the questions are signed right.
 
There are 3 BSL forms we need to check - young person (11-16), parent, and teacher. Only one of those people need to be Deaf BSL users. We are looking for:
 
- Deaf BSL young people 11-16
- Deaf BSL parents of young people 4-16 (deaf/ hearing)
- Deaf BSL teachers of young people 4-16 (deaf/ hearing)
- Hearing young people 11-16 with Deaf BSL parents
- Hearing parents of Deaf BSL young people 11-16
- Hearing teachers (if child/ parent is Deaf BSL)
 
If you take part:
 
1. You will fill in a consent form to say you understand what the research is about and agree to take part.
2. Your child will be asked to fill in a form with questions and do a short interview about their emotions.
3. You and your child’s teacher will also be asked to fill in forms with questions and do a short interview about your child.
Making a BSL form means that deaf young people, parents and teachers can answer the questions in their preferred language. It might mean that the answers are more accurate and we can give better help.
 
We are very keen for teachers and professionals to understand the work we are doing, and collaborate with us to help us find the people who might be interested in the proejct. I would be very happy to come and visit you to tell you more about the project or give a presentation at your workplace.
 
Best wishes,
 
Kate
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