Hearing and vision specialist support for children and young people
Contents
- Hearing
- Vision
Hearing
We can provide a variety of support, assess your child or young person’s needs and help plan for the future with an individualised profile.
Children and young people
The child or young person can be supported directly with:
- direct teaching by a Teacher of the Deaf
- help to develop their independent audiological management skills
- access to an Educational Audiologist
- tuition from a British Sign Language tutor if needed
- their social, emotional or well-being needs relating to their hearing impairment
- self-advocacy skills
- preparing for adulthood
- peer group events
Parent and carers
Support includes:
- advice from a Teacher of the Deaf (TOD)
- training on assistive listening devices or auditory implant management and maintenance, to facilitate speech, language and communication development
- family groups for early years children
Educational settings
Support includes:
- initial advice and deaf awareness training
- equipment to help access learning including advice on a range of assistive listening devices
- the best ways to make reasonable adjustments to the school’s physical environment
- direct support from a Teacher of the Deaf (TOD) with a specialist curriculum if needed
- advice from an Educational Audiologist
- advice and support for exam access arrangements
- helping arrange access to independent learning
- advice or direct teaching of British Sign Language (BSL) if needed
Eligibility
We can support:
- babies identified through the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme (NHSP)
- children or young people who have Assistive Listening devices (e.g. hearing aids, cochlear implants, bone conduction devices)
- children with a 'bilateral' or 'unilateral' hearing loss that has been identified by audiology or the NHS Ear, Nose and Throat team (ENT)
Babies and children up to 4 (regardless of education setting) are supported by us.
For those of school age and over, specialist hearing and vision support is available for those in formal educational settings - this service is not available to those who are being home educated.
If the child or young person doesn't meet our eligibility criteria, we can still take a look at the case on an individual basis at a panel and then inform you of the outcome.
Apply
You need to include information from an Audiologist or ENT specialist in the referral confirming a hearing loss. Reports from audiology must be attached.
We will contact you within 2 weeks of a new referral during term time - but this will take longer during the school holidays. For newly diagnosed children under the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme, we'll get in contact within 48 hours.
Other support
Last updated 13 June 2025