How the Sensory Support Service works with children and young people who have hearing loss or vision impairment.
What the Sensory Support Service is
The Sensory Support Service provides educational support to children and young people with hearing loss or vision impairment, their families and educational settings.
This service is for:
- deaf children and young people
- children and young people who are blind or vision impaired
- children and young people with multi-sensory impairment (both vision and hearing loss)
The service does not provide support to children and young people with other sensory needs which are not related to vision or hearing loss.
We work in line with the Curriculum Framework for Children and Young People with Vision Impairment and the Specialist Deaf Curriculum Framework. These frameworks recognise the needs of children and young people with vision or hearing loss to access the national curriculum and the specialist skills they need to develop to learn and be independent.
Age range the service supports
The service supports children and young people from birth to 25 years.
Children and young people up to the age of 18 do not need to have an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP).
The young person must have an EHCP if they're:
- aged between 18 and 25
- any age and attend an independent school
If the child or young person attends an independent school and does not have an EHCP, the school can request and pay for our support.
Areas the service covers
The service is based in Bristol but is provided across Bristol, South Gloucester, Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset. The office is at Elmfield House in Westbury-on-Trym in Bristol. Staff travel to settings to support children and young people.
Sensory Support Service staff
The service has specialist staff, including:
- Qualified Teachers of Vision Impairment (QTVIs)
- Teachers of the Deaf (ToD)
- Teachers of Multi-Sensory Impairment (MSI)
- Educational Audiologist
- Specialist Teaching Assistants
- Sign Language Communication Advisors
What the service does
Service specialists provide support:
- at home for babies and young children
- in educational settings, including early years settings, mainstream and special schools and further education colleges
Specialist support includes:
- assessment (statutory and non-statutory)
- advice and support
- training
- teaching of specialist skills such as braille, language and communication skills, self-advocacy, technology, support with transitions in education
Events and groups
We run:
- Stay and Play early years group for babies and young children who are deaf or have vision impairment
- Acorns and Explorers early years groups at Elmfield House in Bristol
We also run sessions in collaboration with other organisations, such as Family Centre for Deaf Children and Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. The locations of these sessions vary. Alongside our partners, we try to offer early years sessions in every council area in the south west regularly.
To find out more:
- email sensorysupportservice@bristol.gov.uk
- call 0117 903 8442
Habilitation
Qualified Teachers of Vision Impairment (QTVIs) work very closely with Habilitation Specialists from Guide Dogs Association for the Blind to support children and young people's mobility, navigation and independent living skills. Go to Habilitation service for children and young people with visual impairments.
Habilitation support is provided across Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset.
Referrals
Anyone can refer to the service as long as there is medical information stating a vision or hearing loss.
Refer a child or young person.
The service uses the National Sensory Impairment Partnership (NatSIP) eligibility framework and the pdf Sensory Support Service matrix(117 KB) to allocate levels of support.
Glue ear referrals
A small number of young children with glue ear may be referred to the service for initial advice and guidance. If you're concerned about your child's glue ear, we run training courses you can attend. Glue ear on the Ewing Foundation is a useful resource.
Brain related vision difficulties referrals
We recognise that children and young people may have vision difficulties that do not meet our criteria of involvement but may benefit from useful strategies. We run training courses on this subject 3 times each year for anyone interested in developing their understanding and practice in supporting these children, including parents.
Find out more and contact us
- Sensory Support Service website: the service covers Bristol, South Gloucester, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset.
- Email sensorysupportservice@bristol.gov.uk
- Call 0117 903 8441. Lines are open term time, Monday to Thursday from 9am to 4pm and Fridays from 9am to 3pm.
The service sends a regular newsletter with information about the service and events. Email sensorysupportservice@bristol.gov.uk if you'd like to receive this.
