Gloucestershire Advisory Teaching Service

Team for MultisensoryImpairment

The Team for Multisensory Impairment is part of the Advisory Teaching Service which is a countywide Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) advisory support service.Multisensory Impairment (MSI) is also called Deafblindness. Support is available for children and young people who have both a diagnosed hearing loss and a diagnosed visual impairment at all stages of the Gloucestershire Pathway. The team consists of a specialist Advisory Teacher for Multisensory Impairment who holds the mandatory qualification for MSI and works closely with qualified specialist advisory teachers for hearing impairment and visual impairment; deaf communications tutor; specialist speech and language therapists; touch typing tutor and mobility and independence specialists.

What’s important to us?

We enable all children and young people to participate and achieve in all aspects of life

  • By developing their skills and those of their families, schools and settings
  • Through collaborative working in which the voice of the child or young person is paramount

We do this by being:

  • Positive: believing in the potential of all people and in our skills as a Service
  • Pro-active: developing the capacity of families, schools, settings and systems to meet the needs of all children and young people
  • Collaborative: engaging with others as partners
  • Professional: consistently providing a high standard of support as individuals and a Service and promoting equality of opportunity
  • Accountable: demonstrating that the Service makes a difference
  • Innovative: continually looking to improve the way things are done and finding new ways to do them

What we do:

  • Provide support for children and young people from the confirmation of a multisensory impairment (combined hearing impairment and visual impairment) until they leave school or further education college (0-25yrs)
  • We work closely with families of babies and pre-school children, helping them to understand the diagnosis, and then offering advice and support to develop communication strategies, language skills, listening skills, visual skills, mobility and independence skills
  • Support, advise and empower children and young people (CYP), to understand their multisensory impairment (hearing and vision); audiological equipment; communication skills, including signing if appropriate; Braille; Moon; specialist IT skills; social skills; mobility and independence skills; listening skills, visual skills
  • We work closely with families, early years and school staff, speech therapists, mobility and independence specialists and medical professionals enabling us to offer tailored and targeted support and advice aimed at helping children and young people achieve their full potential
  • Provide monthly early years (0-5yrs) support group for parents/carers of children with a sensory impairment (hearing, visual or multisensory impairment) and their children
  • Provide developmental and educational advice in relation to the CYP’s multisensory impairment
  • Support CYP with Multisensory Impairment, their families and settings,at all levels of the Gloucestershire’sSEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) Graduated Pathway
  • Ensure that the views, wishes, perspectives and experiences of the CYP are fully considered in their provision
  • Support CYP to develop a positive understanding of theirmultisensory impairment and identity.
  • Provide, monitor and evaluate use of specialist equipment including audiological equipment such as radio aids; magnification equipment and specialist IT hardware and software
  • We offer and provide a range of training from individual training around a CYP’s needs to whole school and area based specialist courses to support continuing professional development in relationmultisensory impairment

Who we offer this service to:

We work with CYP who have:

  • Multisensory Impairment: acombination of diagnosed hearing loss and diagnosed visual impairment. Many of the children have additional physical, medical and educational needs.

How and when we do it:

  • We work in homes, early years settings, respite settings, schools and other educational settings. This support is available during term time
  • A referral service is provided to cover the school holiday periods for any newly diagnosed babies under the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme
  • The level of support offered to each child and young person and family is based on the CYP’s needs in relation to their multisensory impairment, their stage of development and the knowledge and support that they have around them.Each referral is considered by the service in line with the NATSIP Eligibility Criteria.

Who we work with:

  • We work collaboratively with other agencies involved with the CYP:
  • Schools and Early Years settings
  • Audiologists
  • Ear, Nose and Throat Consultants
  • Ophthalmology Consultants
  • Orthoptists
  • Low vision specialists
  • Paediatricians
  • Occupational Therapists
  • Physiotherapists
  • Mobility and Independence Specialists
  • Touch typing specialists
  • NHS Complex Care Nurses
  • Cochlear Implant Teams
  • Speech and Language Therapists
  • Gloucestershire Portage Service
  • Child Development Centres: Nigel Hunter Nursery and Battledown CDC
  • Alternative and Augmentative Communications Tutor
  • Health Visitors
  • Educational Psychologists
  • Early Help Advisors
  • Deaf CAMHS
  • Newborn Hearing Screening Team
  • James Hopkins Trust
  • Acorns Children’s Hospice
  • Portage Service
  • We liaise with a range of other agencies and voluntary organisations:
  • SENSE (deafblind charity)
  • National Deaf Children’s Society
  • Blind Children UK
  • Gloucestershire Deaf Association
  • Insight Gloucestershire
  • The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association
  • Active Gloucestershire
  • Action on Hearing Loss
  • Royal National Institute for the Blind
  • Auditory Verbal Therapy

How to contact us:

Advisory Teaching Service
Battledown Centre
Harp Hill, Cheltenham, Glos. GL52 6PZ
 01242 525456
 01242 239309
/ Advisory Teaching Service
Dockham Road
Cinderford, Glos. GL14 2DB
 01594 823102
 01594 826186

Advisory Teaching Service
Matson Lane, Matson,
Gloucester, GL4 6DX
 01452 426955
 01452 426842
/ Advisory Teaching Service
Redwood House, Room F01,
First Floor, Beeches Green,
Stroud, Glos. GL5 4AE
 01452 583728

Who can refer and how:

  • Health Services at the time of diagnosis, signed referral form
  • Schools, through the Advisory Teaching Service Referral Form

If you have concerns regarding your child’s hearing or vision your first port of call should be the GP. If necessary your GP will refer your child to specialist audiology and/or ophthalmology services within your area who will refer to our team as appropriate. As a parent/carer you will be asked for consent for health services to contact the Advisory Teaching Service Teams for Sensory Impairment (Hearing Impairment, Visual Impairment, Multisensory Impairment as appropriate). The teacher offering support in your area will then contact you directly.

Tag words:

Deafblind; deafblindness; deaf-blind; deaf/blind; deaf and blind; blind-deaf; multisensory impairment; MSI; dual sensory impairment; dual-sensory impairment; dual sensory loss; CHARGE Syndrome; Usher Syndrome; SENSE