Targeted +: Physical and Sensory

• Speech clarity may be affected. These difficulties may impact on literacy, phonic skills, and numeracy.
• Text-based comprehension and inferential skills may be delayed.
• Some Deaf children and young people may be bilingual because their first language at home with Deaf parents/ carers is BSL and they can communicate using spoken English. 
• Targeted support is required from the HI Service.  
• The child or young person may:

➢ Experience difficulties benefiting from incidental learning.  
➢ Experience difficulties accessing the spoken and written language used within the classroom, especially as the curriculum becomes more demanding/ advanced.  
➢ Require the provision of additional specialist equipment, such as assistive listening devices (radio-aid systems) to support clearer access to the teacher/ speaker’s voice within learning situations.  
➢ Requires provision of some additional to and different from learning interventions (e.g. to support pre/ post teaching of vocabulary/ language linked to the curriculum, to support reading development (e.g. additional opportunities to hear & say the phonics sounds to support decoding the printed text and to read 1:1 to answer questions about the text). 
➢ Need to be provided with opportunities to work in a quieter space to support communication & learning with others during the school day (e.g., a quieter space or room to support group work learning with peers or the delivery of 1:1/ small group interventions).  

• The child or young person requires exam access arrangements to be made by the school. This could include adjustments such as: the provision of additional time as part of their usual way of working; sitting the exam in a quieter room 1:1/ with a small group; access to a live speaker (e.g. for a Spanish GCSE exam); the ability to listen to their own copy of the audio-recording to stream the content more clearly directly to their hearing aids (e.g. connect the radio-aid transmitter directly to a laptop).  

• The child or young person receives support from other professionals with a specialism in HI, such as the NHS’ Speech & Language Therapist & the Auditory Implant Centre’s QToD. 

• The child or young person requires the provision of adaptations to access audio and video content (for example, subtitles to be displayed, provision of a transcript, a summary of the key points).  

• All the above difficulties will impact upon the child or young person’s full access to and understanding of the curriculum, as well as information about the world around them.

• The child or young person will have access to a QTVI from the Vision Impairment Service who will provide and support with the appropriate recommendations including access to a specialist Habilitation Officer when required. They will typically three to eight times a year.
• They may have a deteriorating visual impairment.
• The child or young person has a diagnosed visual impairment.  These will typically align to the moderate to profound visual loss criterion as provided by NatSIP.
• The child or young person is likely to be registered as Sight Impaired (partially sighted) or Severely Sight Impaired (blind).
• The child or young person is likely to need exam access support from Vision Impairment Service which should reflect the child or young person’s usual way of working.
• The child or young person is likely to need specialist teaching from the Vision Impairment Service based on the Specialist Curriculum Framework for Children and Young People with Vision Impairment.
• The child or young person’s mobility and orientation skills may not be in line with their age and stage.
• The child or young person could be registered sight impaired (partially sighted) or severely sight impaired (blind).
• The child or young person may:

➢ have difficulties with perceiving depth, position, distance and speed in a variety of different environments.
➢ be affected by lighting levels (glare, low lighting levels), inside, outside and when moving between areas of different lighting.
➢ struggle to navigate in busy and/or unfamiliar environments.
➢ need additional support at points of transition.
➢ struggle to initiate social interactions, develop friendships and/or understand social situations.
➢ not have secure and accurate understanding of concepts outside of their visual experience due to reduced opportunities for incidental learning.
➢ have difficulty linking language to meaning for example, concept development.
➢ take additional time to develop their gross and fine motor skills in line with their age and stage.
➢ have difficulties with focusing tracking, scanning, and vision-motor integration.
➢ suffer from vision fatigue.
➢ have difficulty in expressing their own emotions understanding the emotions of others.
➢ struggle to understand the impact of their vision impairment.
➢ have a deteriorating vision diagnosis.
➢ the child or young person’s self-advocacy skills may not be in line with their age and stage.
➢ need additional time and support to access pre-learning and post-learning to identify and confirm misconceptions and to be introduced to new resources.
➢ suffer from visual fatigue and require visual rest breaks
➢ need access to a specialist Habilitation Officer through the Vision Impairment Service to

• Learn specialist mobility techniques such as sighted guide, trailing, routes mapping, long- and/or symbol cane use in order move safely within their environment.
• Learn how to complete elements of self-care/daily living tasks with a level of independence in line with their age and stage.

➢ struggle to understand the impact of their vision impairment. 
➢ be learning and utilising alternative methods to access and record their learning for example, Braille, touch typing, magnification, screen reader.
➢ struggle to self-advocate in line with their age and stage.Have difficulties with perceiving depth, position, distance and speed in a variety of different environments. 
➢ be affected by lighting levels (glare, low lighting levels), inside, outside and when moving between areas of different lighting.
➢ struggle to navigate in busy and/or unfamiliar environments.
➢ need additional support at points of transition.

Secondary

The child or young person may:
➢ need additional support at points of transition: in-year, between settings and when transferring to Further/Higher Education.
➢ need a package of support for preparation for adulthood, including work experience and employment.

• The child or young person may have very restricted movement and hoisting/position changes required regularly during the day.
• The child or young person may have minimal fine motor skills and/or have restricted purposeful hand movement.
• The child or young person needs access to alternative means of recording work, ICT, needs access to alternative means of recording work, developing keyboard skills/touch typing, voice activated speech VOCA (communication aid).
• The child or young person’s physical condition may be variable from day to day, depending on a number of factors, for example, weather and temperature, muscular pain, sleep, fatigue and/or medication.
• The child or young person’s speech production may be affected by breath control or impaired for physical reasons and finds it difficult to make themselves understood or finds it too tiring to repeat themselves.
• The child or young person may have a range of learning difficulties which are directly related to neurological impairment and not poor attitudes to learning. These are likely to include: processing, significant working memory deficit and attentional difficulties.
• There may be regression of previously acquired skills, for example, for children and young people with a deteriorating condition or childhood dementia.