Specialist Teaching Service

The Hearing Impairment Team provides for the special educational needs of all children and young people with an educationally significant hearing loss from the time of diagnosis until the end of full-time education. Support is delivered by a team of peripatetic and unit teachers and backed by an educational audiologist and technician. All teachers holding permanent posts possess a specialist qualification in the education of hearing-impaired children or are undergoing training.

Most children are educated in the local school of the parents' choice supported by visiting teachers who provide direct support to the child and support to the child's teachers to facilitate good integration. A small number of children attend units for hearing-impaired children attached to ordinary schools where they receive some of their curriculum in a unit setting and some in integrated settings. Out of County residential or day provision is generally only considered in special circumstances where a child's needs cannot be met within the Authority. Individual provision depends on the child's special educational needs and is carefully chosen in consultation with parents and other professionals. It is closely monitored and regularly reviewed.

The team recognises each child's need to be a competent user of English both in its spoken and written forms. Educational provision is organised to promote the use of spoken English as the basis through which literacy skills will be achieved and as the foundation for achievement across a broad curriculum.

In pursuit of this aim, the team has developed an auditory/aural approach to the education of the majority of hearing-impaired children in Leicestershire. This approach recognises the potential of all hearing-impaired children, including those with profound hearing loss, to acquire language naturally using aided hearing as the main source of information. It is an approach based on the established principles of acoustic phonetics and developmental linguistics and applies current knowledge to promote children's speech and language in a manner that follows the normal development model of hearing children. It is a pragmatic approach which has been developed over the last twenty years and has resulted in a marked improvement in the fluency of children's speech, the number of children included into mainstream education and associated gains in reading and academic achievement.

Associated with the auditory/aural approach is the fundamental need for early diagnosis and the need to alert professionals and the public to the listening potential of children born with severe and profound hearing loss and to demonstrate their ability to communicate fluently through speech. An educational audiologist within the team is involved in the diagnosis and referral of new pre-school cases and works closely with other members of the team to pass on information to enable the education service to be involved at an early stage.

Emphasis is placed on the optimum use of children's residual hearing through the use of appropriate hearing aids allowing each child to develop listening skills as the basis for language and speech development. This development is further encouraged by the children receiving their education in a normal language environment. This is enhanced by the addition of individual conversation opportunities which provide the optimum conditions in which to acquire language. Most children including those with severe or profound hearing losses attend the same school as their brothers, sisters and friends in an environment where speech is the means of communication and children grow as natural users of speech and language.

Attendance in ordinary schools and classes exposes hearing-impaired children to the expectations which apply to hearing children, both those which form part of the school's work requirement and those of the social environment in which the staff and children go about their daily lives. Concerns about difficulties hearing-impaired children might face in making friendships or in communicating with peers and teachers have not proved substantial. Where necessary children are provided with radio systems to supplement their personal hearing aids to help overcome any noise difficulties which might occur in a busy classroom. Regular INSET courses are provided both centrally and in schools to help mainstream teachers to understand the needs of children with hearing difficulties. In this environment children are able to make friendships which last after school and parents are able to take a normal part in their child's education.

The team also recognises that an auditory/aural approach, whilst being the most appropriate for the majority of children, does not necessarily meet the needs of all children and/or their families. All children’s language development is closely monitored in order to identify as early as possible those who may require an alternative approach. Provision can then be made available for those children needing a bilingual approach to education and language development.

The team also wishes to see all children as fluent users of their mother tongue, whatever that might be, including British Sign Language. The mother tongue will be used routinely within the family setting. The auditory/aural approach to language acquisition allows access to the mother tongue and enables children to play an active part in the life of the family.