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Memorandum by the National Deaf Children Society's (NDCS)
1. Key points: · Early years support for all deaf children and their families is essential for their development, particularly for the acquisition of language and the development of communication, thinking and social skills. · Children's centres play a crucial role in providing early years support for children with a hearing impairment and their families. However, there is little information and evidence to assess the extent to which Children's Centres are currently meeting the needs of deaf children and their families. NDCS does not believe that the potential of Children's Centres to fully support deaf children has been realised. 2. Background 2.1 NDCS is the national charity dedicated to
creating a world without barriers for deaf children and young people. We
represent the interests and campaign for the rights of all deaf children and
young people from birth until they reach independence. There are over 45,000
deaf children in the 2.2 Deafness fundamentally interferes with the usual processes of language acquisition and personal and social development. Effects are varied depending on the individual child, their family circumstances, age of diagnosis and the nature of their deafness. 3. Early years and deaf children 3.1 The introduction of the NHS Newborn Hearing Screening Programme in 2006 has resulted in the identification of deafness at birth presenting an important opportunity for public services to provide early support to the child and family. Given the right support, deaf children should now be able to start school with much better language, communication and social skills than previously. 3.2 Children's Centres can make an important contribution to providing the early support needed. In our work with parents over many years, we have identified a number of needs that Children's Centres could meet: a) The provision of clear and unbiased information to parents to ensure they can make informed decisions on the best support for their child. b) The opportunity to meet together to discuss issues, offer mutual support and invite professionals to information sessions. c) The opportunity to meet professionals operating in a multi-disciplinary team offering advice on: play; health; developing communication and social skills; learning; audiology, including hearing aids and cochlear implants; and other forms of hearing access technology. These professionals should include speech and language therapists, teachers of the deaf, audiologists and health visitors. d) The provision of services such as ear moulds, speech and language therapy, signing classes and play sessions. 3.3 Recent research[1]
by the · High levels of social attunement and sensitivity shown by professionals in working with early identified deaf children and their families was associated with high levels of satisfaction by parents, especially where support is perceived by parents to be specific to the needs of a deaf child.
· Parents showed a preference for professional support that is aimed at enabling them effectively to work with their child, rather than direct work by the professional with their deaf child.
· The ability to adapt to parent requests for information and the provision of time additional to that allotted by the service for single case management was linked with high levels of parental satisfaction.
4. Comments on the Inquiry's Questions 4.1 NDCS's comments are confined to the accessibility of services for deaf children and their families.
4.2 There is little information available to access how well Children's Centres are meeting the needs of deaf children. Ofsted reports on individual centres give little insight into the accessibility of Children's Centres to disabled children.
4.3 NDCS is aware that some Children's Centres are running groups for parents of deaf children, communication and play groups and drop in sessions where parents can meet a speech and language therapist. However, it does not appear that this provision is widespread. Little information is available on the proportion of disabled children in a catchment area of a Children's Centre that can access its services.
4.4 NDCS believes that:
a) Children's Centres and Local Authorities should:
· Audit the number of deaf children in their catchment area to assess participation rates and plan provision; · Consult parents on the provision required; · Liaise with audiology services, speech and language services, social care and specialist education services on developing the provision; · Ensure staff have the training to meet the needs; and · Monitor the impact of provision on the child's development.
b) DCSF should publicise examples of good practice where Children's Centres have successfully engaged deaf children and their parents and carers.
5. Possible questions to raise with DCSF What assessment has the Department made on how well Children's Centres are meeting the needs of deaf children? What guidance is available to Children's Centres on how to ensure they offer a full range of services, which complements existing provision, to deaf children and their families? What steps are being taken to ensure that Ofsted inspectors are deaf aware and can make an accurate and sound judgement on a Children's Centres services for deaf children and their families? October 2009 |