Principles and Guidance to support
Communication Approaches used with
Deaf Children and their Families
in Oxfordshire
Hearing Impairment
(Special Educational Needs Support Services)
October 2016
Principles and Guidance to Support the Communication Approaches used with Deaf Children and their Families in Oxfordshire
Terms of Reference
The term “deaf child” used throughout this documentation refers to any child identified as having a significant hearing impairment, regardless of the degree and type of deafness, supported by theSpecial Educational Needs Support Services (SENSS) Hearing Impairment Team.
Principle 1
The SENSS Hearing Impairment Team supports and promotes the principles that all deaf children have the capacity to acquire language and develop effective communication skills. Good linguistic development and the development of proficient communication skills contribute significantly to a deaf child’s cognitive, emotional and social abilities. Consequently,the effective development of these skills is fundamental to the progress and long term outcomes for a deaf child.
Principle 2
In order to achieve high levels of communication competence, deaf children must have access to an appropriately rich and stimulating linguistic environmentthat will motivate and promote the opportunity to communicate with siblings, peers, adults and thus learn about the world around them.
Principle 3
Recent research shows that the fluency of the language used at home is an important determining factor in the ease with which young deaf children acquire language and literacy skills. It is recognised that the home language of the family will provide the richest linguistic input to a young deaf child and access to this should be facilitated wherever possible.
Principle 4
All staff working for the SENSS Hearing Impairment Team believe that parents have the right to balanced and unbiased information, both verbally and written, which details the diversity of communication methodologies used to promote the acquisition and development of deaf children’s language and communication skills.
Principle 5
At the core of the decision-making process is the principle that parents choose a particular communication methodology based on ‘informed choice’. Consequently, all staff working for the SENSS Hearing Impairment Team play a critical role in providing parents with access to literature, electronic media, other parents and professionals who can provide a diverse range of information and views which will enable parents to make an ‘informed choice’.
Families will be given time to make an initial decision about communication approach in a timescale that is comfortable to them. A family’s choice will be respected and supported at any stage of the child’s development.
Principle 6
The principle of ‘informed choice’, i.e. the right of parents to receive a diversity of unbiased information, is a central tenet in principle that balanced information will enable parents to make informed choices about their child’s communication needs and consequent methodologies and approaches.
Parents should be encouraged to make such decisions only after being provided with access to a range of material or media, and contact with a wide range of professionals and parents involved in supporting deaf children and their families. Professionals in contact with deaf children include Teachers of the Deaf, Speech and Language Therapists, Social Workers for the Deaf, Educational Psychologists and representatives from local and national voluntary groups.
As a result of the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme, deaf children have been increasingly receiving a diagnosis at a very early age. Consequently, the range of professionals working with families have a greater opportunity to help, support and inform parents in their decision making about their deaf child’s language and communication development.
Principle 7
It is recognised that a family may change their decisions around communication methodologies based on:
- the developmental progress of their child
- their child’s emerging strengths and weaknesses.
- their child’s capacity to benefit from a range of assistive communication systems which may include hearing aids, cochlear implants, other amplification devices and signing systems.
Staff working for SENSS Hearing Impairment Team are committed to undertaking a range of training and skills acquisition to sustain the capacity of the local team to support the diverse needs of deaf children and their families.
The development of listening, language and communication skills is monitored with each family using a range of assessments. In the early years the Early Support Monitoring Protocol for Deaf Babies and Children is used. The progress a child makes in each area informs objectives set on the Family Service Plan (FSP). This document is a family held record and is reviewed at regular intervals (see FSP protocol). Communication approach is reviewed through the FSP review or in the school setting through review of the personalised plan / Statement or Education Health Care Plan.
The SENSS Hearing Impairment Team recognises and welcomes the range of documents produced by Early Support as published by the Department for Education. Theabove principles and guidelines should be read in conjunction with the national guidance on informed choice and family focused working produced by Early Support.
The guidance should also be read in the context of the SEND Reforms (Children and Families Act 2014). Family centred working, the voice of the child and co-production with parents are core to service delivery and development.