Specialist Teaching Service

The Hearing Impairment Team recognises that the majority of children in Leicestershire will be educated using an auditory oral means of communication. In order to facilitate hearing impaired children's social, emotional and educational progress in the early ears the Team aims to:

• Establish a good and positive relationship with parents which will result in a partnership that is effective and productive in helping to reduce the influence of hearing loss in their child's development and education.
   
• Promote good hearing and listening development by helping parents to understand of how essential this is for the development of speech and language.
   
• Fit hearing aids and to explain the crucial nature of their use in optimising children's hearing, but also to point out their limitations. To show parents how to manage and maintain their child's hearing aids and why it is essential that they should do so.
   
• Provide information about language acquisition and how it can be promoted, thus giving parents the knowledge and/or the encouragement they need to make their time with their child more productive. It is also aimed at helping them to recognise the progress their child is making.
   
• Help parents to provide their child with the experiences and activities from which language, listening and learning will develop. This will give the hearing impaired child opportunities to achieve the desired learning outcomes/objectives as a sound basis for school entry.
   
• Liaise with other agencies involved with the hearing-impaired child to provide information and expert knowledge about the individual child, thus contributing to promote a positive image of child and his developing needs.
   
• Provide opportunities for the parents of a hearing-impaired child to meet with other similar parents and for hearing-impaired children to meet and play with each other.
   
• Inform parents about assessment procedures and to contribute to them.
   
• Keep records on the child's progress towards acquiring language and use of hearing aids and other audio equipment.
  
• Assess the effectiveness of the hearing aids and to monitor the child's hearing loss, ensuring adequate monitoring of hearing acuity/ear pathology throughout the early years, which is a time when hearing commonly fluctuates.
   
• Provide support and information relevant to the individual hearing impaired child to nurseries, schools and others, which is relevant to that individual hearing-impaired child.
   
• Help parents understand the varied needs of their developing child and the issues which must be taken into account when considering educational placement.
   
• Be aware of the nursery/primary school curriculum and its aims so that pertinent, practical information and support can be given to parents and teachers.
   
• Prepare the way for entry into nursery/school by liaising with those who will be involved with the hearing-impaired child and to continue support to that child until they are stable and secure in their new environment.
   
• Ensure a smooth transition to the next Specialist Teacher, this usually happening in year two, thus providing continuity.
   
• Respond to the individual needs of hearing-impaired children, their families and nurseries/school, keeping in view the long-term objectives.