Support for deaf children aged 0 to 5 years: Guide

Hitchins, A. Lewis, S. Holmans, A. Grover, A. Wakefield, T. Cormier, K. Rowley, K. Macsweeney, M. | View as single page | Feedback/Impact

Glossary

ABI: Auditory Brainstem Implant - an ABI stimulates the auditory brainstem directly, bypassing the ear and auditory nerve, to provide a sensation of hearing.

ACE: Assessment of Comprehension and Expression

ANSD: Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder, a problem in the transmission of sound from the ear's innermost part (the inner ear) to the brain.

AVUK: Auditory Verbal UK is a national charity which provides Auditory Verbal therapy for families of deaf children aged 0-5 years.

BATOD: British Association of Teachers of the Deaf

BSL: British Sign Language

CHARGE: CHARGE syndrome is a congenital condition (present from birth) that affects many areas of the body.  CHARGE stands for coloboma, heart defect, atresia choanae (also known as choanal atresia), restricted growth and development, genital abnormality, and ear abnormality

CI: A Cochlear Implant is an electronic medical device that replaces the function of the damaged inner ear.  Unlike hearing aids, which make sounds louder, cochlear implants do the work of damaged parts of the inner ear (cochlea) to provide sound signals to the brain.

CICS: Cochlear Implant Children's Support Group

CMV: Cytomegalovirus, is a common virus that can infect people of all ages.  Once CMV is in a person’s body, it stays there for life.  Most healthy adults and children who become infected will have no signs or symptoms and no long term effects from CMV.  It can however, pose serious risks to unborn babies if a pregnant woman catches it for the first time.  Congenital CMV is when a baby has been infected before birth.  It is one of the leading causes of hearing loss in children and one of the main causes of childhood disability.

CRIDE: Consortium for Research into Deaf Education (CRIDE) reports on its annual surveys of local authority specialist educational services for deaf children.

dB: A decibel is a measurement which indicates how loud a sound is.  The healthy human ear can hear approximately between 0dB and about 140dB.  The smallest audible sound is about 0dB – silence. but a sound which is 1,000 times more powerful than silence is measured at 30dB.  Normal conversation is measured at about 60dB.

dBHL: Decibels hearing level for pure tone audiograms.  The threshold for a normally hearing person is shown as 0dBHL on each frequency so a hearing level of 30dBHL is 30dB below the normally hearing population.  The human ear is more sensitive to some frequencies than others so the level at which a sound is detected will vary according to the frequency being measured.

DELTA: Deaf Education Through Listening and Talking is a voluntary association of young deaf adults, the families and teachers of deaf children.  DELTA is a national charity which supports and develops the Natural Aural  Approach to the education of deaf children.

FEAPDA: Federation Europeenne des Associations de Professeurs de Deficients (European Federation of Associations of Teachers of the Deaf)

ICP: International Communication Project is an advocate for those with communication disabilities, as well as their families, caregivers and communication professionals.  The ICP highlights the importance of human communication and how communication disabilities significantly impact every aspect of life.

IHV: Institute of Health Visiting works closely with its members, the public health workforce and wider community to develop and implement a wide range of policy and projects to educate and empower individuals, effect change and celebrate excellence.  Its focus is excellence and consistency in health visiting practice improving health outcomes for everyone

LA: Local Authority - Local Authorities ('LAs') have legal duties to identify and assess the special educational needs ('SEN') of children and young people for whom they are responsible.  LAs become responsible for a child or young person in their area when they become aware that the child or young person has or may have SEN.  Under the Children and Families Act 2014, the LA must always think about how the child or young person can be supported to facilitate their development and to help them achieve the 'best possible educational and other outcomes'.

LAP: The Learning Accomplishment Profile (LAP) System is a comprehensive approach to understanding and facilitating the development of young children, 4 weeks to 72 months of age. From initial screen to ongoing assessment, to a web based application for simplified scoring and detailed reporting, the LAP System does it all!

MAPIT: The Multi-Agency Planning and Improvement Tool (MAPIT) supports service improvement for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their families. It allows multi-agencies, including schools and service users to identify service development priorities and track progress over time.

NDCS: The National Deaf Children's Society: a charity dedicated to creating a world without barriers for deaf children and young people.

NHS: Newborn Hearing Screening Programme (NHSP)

NICE: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health in the United Kingdom.

PCHL: Permanent Childhood Hearing Loss

PLS: Preschool Language Scale

SEN or SEND: Special Educational Needs or Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.  The SEN Code of Practice suggests four main areas of special need; cognition and learning; behaviour, emotional and social development; communication and interaction; sensory and/or physical needs.

SEND: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

ToD/ToDs:  A Teacher of the Deaf is a qualified teacher who has an additional mandatory qualification in teaching deaf children.