Supporting Deaf Pupils with Additional Learning Needs
Presented on Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Additional and complex needs
Wendy McCracken
Objectives
- To identify questions
- NDCS project-summary of findings
- Putting the child at the centre
NDCS qualitative study – parental reports of their experience of service delivery
- UK study
- Of the 50 children 12 had no access to a ToD
- Where services were accessible, sensitive and offered practical advice parents were very satisfied
NDCS study
- Parents wanted to know what ToD were actually "doing"
- Many thought it was simply changing hearing batteries ...
What hindered parents ...
- Not being listened to... or being informed
- Lack of provision
- Bureaucracy , inflexibility and low expectations
- Poor professional practice
- Fighting for services
What helped parents?
- Being listened to, respected and informed
- Co-ordinated services
- Continuity
- Flexible, reflective practice
- Support from other parents
Audiology
- Parents faced delays in the process of determining the type, degree and configuration of hearing loss
- Delays in fitting
- Being refused assessment for CI, or scans being delayed 2 years
Health
- Poor deaf awareness
- Overshadowing
Parents
- did not want to be falsely reassured
- did not want to repeat the same information at each appointment
- Major problems of poor practice
Social Services
- 18 made no mention of SW
- 10 were satisfied
- 15 were dissatisfied and in many cases felt it have been stressful and unhelpful
- 7 were neutral
- Access did not appear to be related to degree of need
Parents require information on...
- Pre-school services
- Additional sources of support DLA, Direct payments etc.
- Aids and adaptations to support learning
- Communication approaches
- Information about respite care
- Behaviour management
- School age support
- Activity weekends for children
- Family weekends
- Post-school provision
- On-going support
- Access to counselling services
Focusing on the child
Time and detail
- Expertise is only useful if used with observation
- Observation is time intensive
- Parents, LSA and teachers hold information
- The skill is pulling this together, interpreting this using it as a basis for action
Cookbooks
- Great for cakes but not for children
- Research will tell us about the big picture
- Detective work that focuses on the child is the most sensitive way
Individual cases: Working in twos
What does a detailed audiological assessment look like?
Why is it challenging in this diverse population?