P8

Communicating need

Research for the National Deaf Children’s Society found worrying gaps in provision for deaf children with multiple disabilities. Mary Dawson indicates how this can be improved.

The National Deaf Children’s Society has put forward a series of recommendations for education professionals after research revealed that deaf children with other complex disabilities are not getting the support they need.

The research was commissioned from the University of Manchester. Researchers interviewed 50 families of deaf children with multiple disabilities to assess how well they are supported by education, health and social care services. The results were disturbing.

The report, Complex Needs, Complex Challenges, described some professionals as being ‘overwhelmed by the complexity of needs’ and others as treating deafness as a minor condition that could be addressed later in life. The children’s other conditions or disabilities ‘overshadowed’ their deafness.

The researchers found parents wanted the professionals working with their children to discuss their child’s future with them, and to have high expectations and ambitions for them.

Deaf children with other disabilities such as global development delay, autism or cerebral palsy, were not getting access to a range of support they are often entitled to, such as radio aids or visits from a teacher of the deaf.

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