Unilateral Hearing Loss
If your child has been recently diagnosed with a permanent or a longstanding unilateral hearing loss (affecting one ear only), the audiologists in the clinic have most likely already referred you to the Sensory Support – Hearing Support Team. Do not worry if you are not sure – you can still access the support we offer below.
What support is offered for children and young people with permanent (or long-standing) unilateral hearing loss?
Children and young people diagnosed with unilateral hearing loss will receive the following package of support:
- Advice from a qualified Teacher of the Deaf over the phone at the point of referral
- Invitation to Communicate and Play sessions for preschool children (0-4yrs)
- Free online training for parents/carers and professionals
- Generic Management Plan with essential strategies for Early Years settings or school staff
- Signposting to other organisations, such as National Deaf Children’s Society ndcs.org.uk and BID Services www.bid.org.uk (see Section 5 below)
- Information about unilateral hearing loss from the National Deaf Children’s Society
Please note that this package of support does not include the allocation of a visiting Teacher of the Deaf.
Advice from a qualified Teacher of the Deaf
If your child was recently diagnosed with a unilateral hearing loss, the clinical audiologist has most likely already asked for your consent to be referred for support from the Sensory Support – Hearing Support Team.
Once the Hearing Support Team receive a referral from an audiology clinic, a qualified Teacher of the Deaf or an Educational Audiologist will telephone the named parent/carer to offer advice and answer any questions related to the child’s hearing loss, its likely impact or the hearing technology prescribed (if applicable). The advice is typically provided within the first few days of the day of referral.
If you were unavailable to answer the phone call, you would have a voice message or a text message left on your mobile phone with details of the Teacher of the Deaf who was trying to contact you. If you believe you have not been contacted and need advice, you can email us your details, and we will contact you.
Management Plans
A Management Plan contains a list of essential deaf-friendly strategies, which should be applied by adults working with your child in their nursery or school. These strategies will help maximise your child’s listening potential and access to learning at school. This is to help your child overcome any challenges he or she may experience as a result of their unilateral hearing loss. If your child attends an Early Years setting (nursery) or a school, the staff working with your child should have a copy of this document.
Contact us
If you have any questions or would like to offer us your feedback on how we could improve the information provided, please contact us via email: HSTReferrals@Birmingham.gov.uk