Hearing impairment and multi sensory impairment
In this section
What is a hearing impairment?
- Hearing is central to our health and wellbeing and is critical for the development of speech, spoken language, communication skills and learning.
- Deafness or loss of hearing at any age has a significant impact on educational attainment, employment and quality of life.
- Deafness is a low-incidence, high-needs condition
- The Newborn Hearing Screening Programme (NHSP), advances in technology and effective early intervention programmes mean that children are making better progress than ever before and the long-term impacts of deafness are being minimised.
- Children identified with hearing loss who are appropriately supported before six months of age, have the potential to develop language (spoken or signed) on a par with their hearing peers (Yoshinaga-Itano et al, 1998).
The speech and language therapist has a central role in providing individualised assessment, diagnosis and intervention to the child in partnership with his/her family. This should reflect the choices the family have made, regarding communication mode and habilitation approach.
Lots of our information has been taken from the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RSCLT) website – https://www.rcslt.org/speech-and-language-therapy/clinical-information/deafness/#section-1
> Action on Hearing Loss (formerly RNID)
> AG Bell Academy for Listening and Spoken Language
> British Association of Teachers of the Deaf (BATOD)
> Wales Council for Deaf People
> National Deaf Children’s Society
> British Deaf Association
> British Academy of Audiology
> Royal Association for Deaf people
> UK Council on Deafness
> Scottish Council on Deafness
> Hearing Link
> Northern Ireland Deaf News & Fundraising
People with multi-sensory impairment (MSI) have a combination of hearing and vision impairments. Most MSI people will have some useful vision and hearing; however there are some who are completely deaf and blind.
There are a number of terms used to describe MSI including:
- Deafblind
- Dual-sensory impaired
- Dual sensory loss
These can be used interchangeably, denoting the fact that combined losses of sight and hearing are significant for the individual, even where they are not profoundly deaf and totally blind.
Not all people with MSI identify as being deafblind. They may identify as deaf people who can’t see very well, physically disabled people who can’t see or hear very well, or as older people who can’t see or hear as well as they used to.
Lots of our information has been taken from the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RSCLT) website – https://www.rcslt.org/speech-and-language-therapy/clinical-information/multi-sensory-impairment/#section-1
Deafblind International
> Kentalis – a national organisation in the Netherlands, specialising in providing diagnostic, care and educational services to people who are deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind
> National Sensory Impairment Partnership (NatSIP)
> National Center on Deaf-Blindness (Formerly DB Link)
> Perkins – a progressive, multi-faceted organisation committed to improving the lives of people with blindness and deafblindness all around the world
> Scottish Sensory Centre
> Sense – for children and adults who are deafblind, or have sensory impairments
> Sense ScotlandHearing Impairment resources
National Deaf Children’s Society: https://www.ndcs.org.uk/
British Sign language: https://www.british-sign.co.uk/
The local support offered by Devon County Council: https://www.devon.gov.uk/support-schools-settings/send/areas-of-need/sensory-and-or-physical/hearing-impairment/
Multi-sensory impairment resources
Sense: Support for children with multi-sensory impairments:
https://www.sense.org.uk/our-services/support-for-children/help-from-msi-specialists/
Devon County Council: SEND advice and guidance on multi-sensory impairment:
Devon Education Services:
https://devoneducationservices.co.uk/contact-us/
Early Support for children, young people and families- Information about
multi-sensory impairment: