HSE Explores the Needs of Deaf People

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World Deaf Day is traditionally celebrated on the last Sunday of September. This year, the HSE Faculty of Social Sciences joined the celebration and, together with the Moscow branch of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf (VOG Moscow), launched a study of the needs of hearing-impaired Moscow residents in terms of social services and accessible environments.

Despite the growing interest of researchers in the deaf community in recent years and the full-fledged establishment of deaf studies in Russia, there has so far been a shortage of full-scale research that covers a wide audience hearing-impaired people. By the end of autumn 2025, staff members of the Faculty of Social Sciences, alongside researchers from the deaf community and sign language speakers, will conduct a joint survey of hearing-impaired Moscow residents, as well as interviews with people with hearing disabilities. They will talk to both those who traditionally fall into the focus of researchers, and to under-researched groups, such as cochlear implant users and people who have recently acquired a disability.

VOG Moscow, the project’s partner, is the oldest public organisation that provides social and legal assistance to people with hearing disabilities. The results of the study will contribute to the development of new programmes aimed at changing the quality of life of Moscow residents with hearing disabilities by increasing accessibility to the urban environment and creating relevant social services.

Nikita Bolshakov, Associate Professor at the HSE Faculty of Social Sciences

‘It’s a great honour for us that VOG Moscow has invited the faculty to participate in such an interesting and important project! Over the past few years, we have developed expertise in the study of the deaf community, and our students regularly refer to the study of this group while working on their term papers. On October 17–19, the third international conference “Researching the Deaf Community” will be held. The event is co-organised by the International Laboratory for Social Integration Research, part of the Faculty of Social Sciences. All these initiatives would not work without the direct participation of representatives of the deaf community, which is why we involve deaf experts and sign language speakers in the study: VOG representatives have actively participated in the formulation of working hypotheses and discussions, and the questionnaire has a sign language translation. In fact, this project is a unique example of cooperation between academia—represented by the Faculty of Social Sciences—and the largest organisation representing the interests of hearing-impaired people in Russia.