Hearing impaired service
Contents
Overview
A team of staff who specialise in hearing impairment.
The service is made up of:
- qualified teachers of the deaf (QToD)
- specialist support staff
- a technical support officer
This service is provided by South Tyneside Council.
Support available
The service gives advice and guidance to families and schools, to support the needs of children and young people with a hearing impairment.
This may include:
- Home visits for pre-school children (early intervention)
- Teaching and monitoring visits for nurseries / schools / post 16 settings
- Discussion of the hearing impairment and the implications on listening, speech, language and communication development
- Providing families with information so they can make informed choices about support and communication
- Deaf awareness for education settings and other professionals
- Signposting families and professionals to local and national support groups and services
- Assess and monitor the use of assistive listening devices to support a child's or young person's access to language
- Supporting families / education settings with the Council's processes around legal assessments (Education and Health Care Plans), early help assessments, team around the child / family etc
- Working with education settings to make sure they are aware of the reasonable adjustments needed to support the needs of the child or young person
Who can access the service
Children and young people aged 0 to 25 years.
New referrals will be assessed against the NatSIP eligibility criteria to check what level of support each child or young person will get.
How to access the service
Referrals are made by health professionals, with consent.
Schools can refer to the service using the education hearing assessment referral form.
Parents and other professionals can contact the service for advice on how to proceed if they have concerns about a child having hearing loss that is not yet diagnosed.
Referrals for a baby
If the referral is for a baby, the service will respond within 48 hours, following the Newborn Hearing Screen.
The initial visit is to be carried out by the lead QTOD, within 10 working days of first contact.
Referral for a child of school age
If the referral is for a child of school age, contact will be made within 5 working days.
An assessment will be arranged as soon as possible after this. This will take place in school.
A report is then written and shared with parents and other professionals (as appropriate).
Referral for a child who was difficulty accessing speech and language
An assessment will be take place in the child's school.
If the team suspect that the problem may be related to Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), they will refer to audiology services.
Contact details
Telephone: 0191 426 8157