Sensory - Advisory Service: Deafness
Our work with families at home, in pre-school placements and schools
The Advisory Service for children with deafness sits within the Sensory Service. We provide advice and support to children and young people with deafness from birth to when a child leaves school.
The aim of the service is to develop knowledge, confidence and expertise in deafness by offering advice and support to families and educational placements, ensuring that our children and young people receive equality of provision to meet their full potential.
The team consists of four qualified Teachers of the Deaf (QToD) and two Communication Support Workers (CSW) with additional skills, experience and qualifications in British Sign Language. The team work to provide the best quality of service to our children and young people, their families, and their educational placements.
How it works
Following referrals from Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board’s Audiology Service the child or young person will be screened through the National Sensory Impairment Partnership framework (NATSIP). Initial contact will be made with schools to carry out assessments and/or observation and any subsequent visits will be established to follow up progress of targets and ongoing evaluation of inclusion. For families of pre-school children visits will be made to the home and the pre-school placement to meet with families, care givers and providers.
The team work closely with schools to track progress and ensure that deaf children and young people identified as underperforming are supported as much as possible.
For children who have a temporary deafness or ‘glue ear’ advice will be given to schools and ongoing support, or monitoring offered in consultation with Audiology. For many of these children glue ear will improve over time.
What we offer
- Home visits to support families promoting the early development of communication and language.
- Advice and transition support into EY settings and across all key stages
- Supporting students through transition into post 16/FE provision and into independent adulthood.
- Assessment of need or of specific areas such as language development, processing, listening, attention and social skills,
- Monitoring the management of effective use of hearing aids/cochlear implants to maximise access to speech.
- Contribution to the Multi-Disciplinary Audiology Team Meetings, Paediatric Hearing Assessments and Hearing Review Clinics.
- Recommendations on appropriate assistive technology and resources. For example, radio aids, sound field systems and general acoustics.
- Visits and advice to educational settings.
- Support to families regarding British Sign Language delivered by our QToDs or by recommended providers.
- Bespoke training offered to settings as required.
- Access to a range of other support such as the National Deaf Children’s Society and other training such as online courses.
- Close working relationships with our colleagues in health to provide up-to-date audiology information and updates.
- Direct teaching of specialist skills e.g. specific language skills, advocacy skills and understanding of hearing loss/deafness.
- Advising school staff on access arrangements for exams.
- Collaborative work with a range of key partners, such as:
- The Additional Learning Co-ordinators (ALNCos) in schools
- Health Visitors
- School Nurses
- Speech and language therapists
Sensory - Advisory Service: Visual Impairment
The Specialist Teacher (QTVI) works with children and young people of all ages from babies until they finish schooling. The service works in partnership with Habilitation specialists, Health professionals and Social Care. The Specialist Visual Impairment Teacher’s role includes:
- Monitor and support Pupils, Parent and the Educational Setting with raising awareness of the visual impairment and assess their visual need.
- Provide extra support for individual pupils and pre-school children, including Braille and specialist keyboard skills.
- Provide training to schools to help them understand the needs of vision impaired pupils.
- Provide schools with awareness training, subject specific training, specialist equipment training including the use of materials such as stationary, screen reading, magnification software, low vision aids and braille devices.
- Provide VI – specific transition support and training where and when needed.
- Support and give advice to parents/guardians.
- Promoting and delivering training on emotional wellbeing and social and communication skills.
- Supporting students through transition into post 16/FE provision and into independent adulthood.
- Empower and support pupil with a visual impairment to develop self-confidence and self- esteem.
- Teaching specialist skills, for example Braille, the use of specialist equipment and ICT, and independent living and learning skills.
- Adapting and modifying teaching and learning resources in print, audio or tactile formats and training setting-based staff to do this
- Advising school staff on access arrangements for exams.
- Support pupils to reach their potential regardless of their visual impairment.
Here is a factsheet produced by the RNIB outlining the role of a QTVI:
Role of a Specialist Visual Impairment Teacher - QTVI (opens in a new tab)
In an ever inclusive society, the Visual Impairment Teacher’s role is to ensure that choice is offered to children, young people and parents/carers of children and Young People with a Visual Impairment. Expertise and resources are available to pupils, parent/guardians and schools to enable full inclusive access to learning. Independent living and mobility skills are accessed when needed by RCT’s Habilitation specialists. Collaborative working is established to support and meet all needs.
How do I get support from a QTVI/Specialist Teacher for VI?
Referrals for VI support can be made by a specialist doctor, the Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO) in the hospital Ophthalmology department or by a school. The child can be certified Sight Impaired or Severely Sight Impaired. Once the child’s details are received, the QTVI will make direct contact to assess the child using the National Sensory Impairment Partnership framework (NATSIP) and then offer appropriate support. through the National Sensory Impairment Partnership framework (NATSIP).
If the child or young person is only under optician, it is unlikely that QTVI support is needed as their vision has been corrected by prescribed spectacles. A referral to a QTVI is needed when a child or young person has a visual impairment that cannot be corrected by prescribed spectacles.
Visual Impairment at Early Years
(Pre-school and nursery school age learning support)
At Early Years, it is important to support the development of a child’s tactile awareness and basic visual skills through the concept of positive looking skills. The type of learning and playing becomes important and specific to a child’s ability to explore the environment around them. Once a child is referred to the Specialist VI Teacher, he/she is assessed and individual tailor-made strategies are implemented to develop their basic visual skills.
Accessible Technology
Technology is increasingly becoming accessible for children with low vision / certified sight impaired. If a child is severely sight impaired, then specialist magnification, tactile or braille devices may be needed. The technology and supporting programmes often include touch typing.
Sensory - Advisory Service: Habilitation Specialist Support
RCT has three specially trained Habilitation Specialist and a Mobility Officer to support children and young people with visual impairments and/or physical disabilities. They provide one to one training to support and develop a child/young person’s mobility, navigation and independent living skills.
How they can support
Their support can be particularly important during times of transition such as starting school, moving into or on from secondary school or when undertaking a work placement. They can help blind or partially sighted pupils to become confident and familiar with new settings and situations. They are also able to provide some basic awareness training for staff in these settings.
These specialists are part of the sensory, physical medical service and work closely with the specialist teachers. Referrals for this service can be made via the specialist teachers or the school/setting.
Physical and Medical Needs - Advisory Service
The term Physical/Medical Need covers a wide range of illnesses or conditions. These will often be long lasting (or chronic) and many of the children/young people affected will need adaptations to be made so that they can fully access school life. The level and type of adaptation will depend on the complexity of the need.
Some examples of Physical and Medical Needs are:
- Conditions such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy or spina bifida where children/young people may have motor difficulties that will affect some or all of their limbs.
- Conditions such as diabetes or epilepsy where medical plans may be needed to ensure that the children/young person’s medical needs can be attended to during the school day.
- Other conditions, such as some genetic conditions, which may affect a child/young person’s overall development and learning.
The severity of need may differ for each individual and may change at all stages of their school life. One of the main aims of the Physical and Medical Needs Service is to support the school to meet the individual child/young person’s needs, whilst also encouraging the child/young person to be as independent as possible.
How will the school help?
- The school should work with you and your child to make sure that they are included in all areas of school life.
- The school has a duty to take into account legislation related to equality and disability when planning to support and include your child.
- The school should take your child’s individual needs into account. Whilst support will be given as needed, the school should also teach your child to be as independent as possible.
- The school should ensure that staff working with your child have the appropriate knowledge and understanding of your child’s illness or condition. Where appropriate, staff training will be provided by Health professionals, for example, specialist nurses, community nurses, speech therapists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists.
- Plans which may be needed to support your child should be written and kept up to date. These could include a healthcare plan, one page profile, moving and handling plan, and a toileting plan.
- All staff working with your child should be aware of their strengths and difficulties and be familiar with any plans that are in place to support them.
- The school’s Additional Needs Co-ordinator (ALNCo) will be able to request the involvement of the Physical and Medical Needs Service for advice and guidance or practical input when they are planning how best to support your child.
What can I do to support my child and their school?
- Sharing up to date information with school is vital.
- Let the school know if there are any changes in your child’s illness or condition, e.g. changes to medication, updated information from Health services.
- Try to teach your child how to do things for themselves. It can be quicker and easier to do things for them but the aim is always to teach them how to do things as independently as possible, so they have greater opportunities in life.
- It is very important to try to practise skills such as dressing, using cutlery, getting toys and equipment out and putting them away again as this will enable your child to learn to be more independent and to join in more fully with activities.