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Deaf and Hearing Support Service

We are a team of qualified specialists and teachers, who support deaf children and young people aged 0-25. We work with families that have a child or young person who is newly identified as deaf, and with schools to support those who are deaf.  Our team is made up of:

Who do we support?

We provide different levels of support to schools depending on the needs of the pupil and their level of access to language and communication. In some cases, we also support children with language development at home. 

Information:

You can read more about how different levels of need for deafness are categorised in Hertfordshire's Descriptors of Need for deafness (pdf 283kb). These are used to help determine the  level of support a child or young person will receive from our service.

We give general advice and teaching resources to schools to help pupils with mild deafness, who don't use hearing aids. This includes deafness due to:

  • ear infections
  • regular ear infections ('glue ear') causing fluctuating conductive deafness
  • perforated ear drums.

We can offer phone or video call consultations to teachers for children and young people with either a more long term or permanent deafness, who may use hearing aids. These pupils will still be making the expected progress in class. This deafness could be due to:

  • mild sensori-neural deafness
  • deafness in one ear (unilateral deafness)

We can offer more targeted and specialist support to schools for pupils who have more complex deafness and use hearing aids. This may include:

  • moderate, severe or profound sensori-neural deafness in both ears
  • auditory neuropathy in both ears
  • permanent moderate or severe conductive deafness in both ears
  • use of behind-the-ear hearing aids, bone anchored hearing aids, or cochlear and auditory brainstem implants
  • deafness which has a significant impact on spoken language for a child developing orally (spoken language) or bimodally (spoken and signed language) 

We do not directly support children with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD).  However, we have created this guidance on supporting children with APD (pdf 430kb).

What can you expect from the service?

Deaf Choices UK - Family Support Practitioner

Our Family Support Practitioner, funded by Deaf Choices UK, offers contact to parents and carers of deaf babies and children to discuss the communication choices available to them, and to signpost to resources that are available in their local area or online. An example of the information available includes:

  • Details of our Chicks group for babies and toddlers
  • Advice/support around Audiology, school meetings and the EHCP process
  • British Sign Language resources
  • Amplification guidance (hearing aid and cochlear implant processor use)
  • Reasonable Adjustments to expect from Childminders, Nursery Practitioners and school setting staff
  • Cued Speech training
  • Assessment tools such as Success from the Start
  • Home activities to support communication and language development

Guidance for supporting deaf learners

We offer advice and support to professionals and parents about:

  • the development of language, communication and listening
  • access to learning
  • social-emotional development
  • transition between schools
  • the use of hearing technology and specialist equipment
  • we also provide guidance on the acoustic design of schools, following the performance standards in BB93.

 

Pre-school age

Our team run sessions across Hertfordshire for deaf babies, toddlers, children and their families. The sessions, called Chicks, helps to develop children's communication skills through a range of fun activities.

Chicks:

  • Provides free play activities, including arts and crafts, imaginative play, puzzles and games, and sensory play. This supports deaf children to understand communication through play and social interaction.
  • Supports listening and signing skills with song, rhyme and story times.
  • Provides a weekly programme of activities to improve language, literacy and numeracy skills.
  • Provides support for parents and carers, who can discuss their concerns with an expert. Our team can also give parents and carers resources and ideas to support their child at home.
  • An Educational Audiologist, Deaf Communication Specialist and Cued Speech Family Support Practitioner attend these sessions to support discussion around communication choices.      

If you'd like to get in touch with the Chicks team, please email dhssenquiries@hertfordshire.gov.uk. 

Home visits

ToDs carry out home visits for pre-school age children. The range of support we offer includes:

  • Management of hearing equipment
  • Introduction to language and listening activities
  • Support to create a positive communication environment within the home
  • Signposting families to charities, organisations and funding that support deaf children and families
  • Talking to/meeting the audiology team and attendance at clinic when appropriate
  • Monitoring language and listening development, including referrals to the Speech and Language Team if appropriate.

Our Deaf Communication Specialist also supports families and children with language development at home, in early years settings, or school. This may include:

At School 

Our ToDs provide staff at preschools and schools with practical ways to support deaf pupils to learn and progress. This includes:

  • Visits to support reasonable adjustments
  • Use strategies to support pupils learning with the class, including providing visual aids in lessons and supporting pupils to contribute in group discussions.
  • Support deaf pupils during lunch and break times, which can often be challenging times for them
  • Support staff to use technology such as Assistive Listening Devices
  • Deliver training to key members of staff or the wider provision
  • Attending meetings with the deaf child, parents/carers, audiology centres and other professionals as appropriate
  • Writing reports to support transition or to focus on outcomes
  • Attendance at EHCP meetings or submission of a report
  • Helping with transitions from school to post-16 provision

Sometimes our ToDs will work directly with a pupil on a regular basis, or may give 1 to 1 support in the classroom. This is for pupils with the most severe needs (they may be in a special school or have an Education, Health and Care Plan).

Our Deaf Communication Specialist also supports families and children with language development at home, in early years settings, or school. This may include:

  • a block of regular sessions for family sign classes at home
  • improving communication, interaction and understanding of deaf culture
  • introduction to a positive deaf role model
  • developing deaf identities to improve self-confidence and self-esteem
  • introduction of deaf children and their families to deaf culture, deaf community and deaf events
  • provision of resources to support your child’s learning needs 
At College

Our ToDs support the needs of deaf young people in Sixth Forms and Colleges. This may include:

How to refer

Deafness is often identified at birth or in the early years, so referrals to our service are usually from the NHS Audiology services in these instances.

If deafness is identified later, during preschool or school, then parents or schools can make a request:

Complete an online service request form

Baseline Assessment Form for School Staff only (PDF 270kb) Opening a new window

All referrals must have signed consent from parents or carers. 

If you need to get in touch with the team, email us at DHSSenquiries@hertfordshire.gov.uk and mark it for the attention of the Deaf and Hearing Support Service. 

What needs to be included in the referral?

The referral should include copies of any related medical reports and audiology reports.

There will also need to be evidence that the deafness is having an effect on your child’s learning. If your child is of school or preschool age, you should work together with your Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) to provide this evidence.

What happens after the referral?

If your child is a baby – once we receive the referral from audiology, we will contact you within 2 working days to arrange either a visit to your home, or to join you at your next audiology appointment, as we like to attend the fitting of a hearing aid.

If your child is under 3 - we’ll make contact within 10 working days. We will arrange a visit either to your home or to your next audiology appointment.

If your child is of school age - the timescales may vary for us to contact you, however we will be in touch as soon as we can, to arrange a visit to see your child at school.

Can any organisations support you with this?