The Sensory Support Team aim to support every child/young person medically diagnosed D/deaf and/or vision impaired to achieve their full academic and emotional potential in preparation for adulthood.

We are a team of:

Qualified Teachers of D/deaf children and young people

Qualified Teachers of the Vision Impaired

Habilitation Specialist

Touch Typing Tutor

Deaf Support Workers

Specialist Teaching Assistants

What we do

We work across the whole county, meeting the needs of individual children and their families.

We visit children at home, early years settings, school, and colleges to provide advice, training and/or teaching for children/young people aged 0-25 years if they are medically diagnosed D/deaf or vision impaired. prior to and during their educational life. We support in Further Education but not Higher Education.

Thresholds for involvement

Children/young people medically diagnosed D/deaf and/or vision impaired who:

Cannot read beyond the fourth line on an eye chart with glasses (if worn) - i.e. have measurements of 6/18 Snellen, 0.5 LogMAR or worse with both eyes open.

Have significantly reduced fields of vision.

Have a deteriorating eye condition.

Use technology, for example hearing aids or cochlear implants.

Our team roles

Qualified Teachers of the Vision Impaired and Qualified Teachers of D/deaf children and young people will contact you once a referral from Health is received within 48 working hours.

We will:

Use Think Family principles to support and advise families/carers and children/young people.

Support with technology.

Deliver Awareness sessions around a child’s/young person’s needs.

Advise and train teachers and teaching assistants.

Our team roles

Qualified Teachers of the Vision Impaired and Qualified Teachers of D/deaf children and young people will contact you once a referral from Health is received within 48 working hours.

We will:

Use Think Family principles to support and advise families/carers and children/young people.

Support with technology.

Deliver Awareness sessions around a child’s/young person’s needs.

Advise and train teachers and teaching assistants.

Advise on Education Health and Care Plans

Liaise with other involved professionals such as Speech and Language Therapists and Audiologists

Support with technology and teach specialist skills.

British Sign Language Tutor can:

Provide in person or virtual sessions to families and school staff to develop British Sign Language skills.

Habilitation Specialist can:

Assess pupils’ abilities and identify any current training needs.

Devise individualised training programmes suitable for the pupil’s age and ability.

Advise and train school/setting staff to implement programmes.

Prepare pupils for a new setting.

Teach specific routes.

Teach pre-cane and cane skills.

Prepare students for work experience placements.

Provide advice and support in school to promote independent daily living skills.

Touch Typing Tutor will:

Support children/young people to develop the skills required to be able to touch type.

Specialist equipment

We support and monitor a child/young person’s optimum use of all hearing technology provided by audiology clinics. When appropriate, we provide auxiliary equipment such as personal wireless systems, deliver training in their use and maintain them.

Provision and upkeep of canes.

We will provide the first cane for a child or young person when the need has been identified through an assessment by the Habilitation Specialist. Following this, parents will be required to replace and maintain the cane.

Environmental assessments

We are happy to offer environmental assessments to schools and settings for a child/young person who is D/deaf and/or with a profound, severe, or moderate vision impairment (0.6 LogMAR or worse).

Recommendations for adaptations are made in conjunction with a member of staff preferably a member of the school/setting’s site team.

Topics

Glossary