The Children's Sensory Team (CST)

If you are worried about your child’s hearing, take them to your GP. They will be referred to the local audiology department and tested for a diagnosis.

If you are worried about your child’s vision, visit an optician. You can also seek ask your GP for a referral to an eye specialist.

If a child has one or more of the following signs it is possible that they are finding it harder than usual to hear.

The child:

• doesn’t seem to hear their name
• says ‘eh?’ or ‘what?’ more than would usually be expected
• responds slowly to instructions or requests
• is often off task or inattentive
• gives inappropriate answers to questions
• asks for repetition or clarification of verbal instructions
• daydreams or withdraws from situations
• has difficulties interacting with peers
• intently watches the face when someone is speaking
• turns their head to listen
• watches other children / people for visual clues
• responds incorrectly or inappropriately to requests
• has obvious difficulties with speech
• misses out parts of words in writing or speech
• misses the final ‘s’ in speech or writing
• confuses speech sounds, such as  ‘d’ and ‘g’ or ‘t’ and ‘k’
• has difficulty learning and remembering new words
• has poor or limited vocabulary for their age
• has unusually loud or quiet speech
• lacks concentration
• has difficulty in reading and spelling.

If a child has one or more of the following signs it is possible that they are struggling to see:

Generally:

• rubs their eyes excessively
• complains of aches, pains or soreness in the eyes
• has recurrent inflammation, discharge or other eye problems
• has noticeable eye movement problems, squint etc
• is sensitive to bright light
• is excessively clumsy, for example falling over objects or bumping into doorways
• finds it hard to see things that are poorly contrasted

While doing close work:

• shuts or covers one eye
• squints, blinks or frowns
• significantly tilts their head or thrusts their head forward when working
• holds reading material closer than the majority of children
• has difficulty copying
• confuses letters of a similar shape
• reverses letters, syllables or words
• reading is slower than spelling
• reading of prose is less accurate than reading of single words or letters

While working at a distance:

• moves forward to view information on a board, book or television
• finds it very hard to copy from the board
• has difficulty catching a ball in PE

An Advisory Teacher of Children with Vision Impairment is a teacher with an additional qualification with children and young people with vision impairment. We can work with families and schools for children from birth to age 25

An Advisory Teacher of Children with Hearing Impairment is a teacher with an additional qualification with children and young people with hearing impairment. We can work with families and schools  educational settings for children from birth to age 25

Audiology Technicians work with the advisory teacher. They order, maintain and troubleshoot your child’s additional educational audiological equipment. For example assistive listening devices. If your child needs this, the advisory teacher for hearing impairment will refer your child accordingly. They will also consult with you. Please note the hospital has responsibility for your child’s hearing aids.

The Sign Language and Communication Tutor’s role is to help facilitate the development of total communication and signing skills with your child, peers, the family and school staff. If your child needs this input the advisory teacher for children with hearing impairment will refer your child to access this additional service in consultation with you. The tutor can work both at home with preschool aged children and in the educational placement with school age children and young people.

A Resource Technician provides specialist equipment, modified large print or braille books and tactile resources where appropriate to help your child access the curriculum. If your child needs this input the advisory teacher for vision impairment will refer your child to access this additional service in consultation with you.

A Habilitation Specialist can help develop your child’s mobility, navigation and independent living skills. The habilitation specialist will assess your child’s current independence skills and identify what are the next steps to increase their independence. If your child needs this input the advisory teacher for children with vision impairment will refer your child to access this additional service in consultation with you.