Visual, Hearing and Multi-Sensory Impairment
Deaf or Hearing Impaired
Almost all babies are screened for hearing impairment soon after birth as part of the NHS Neonatal Screening Programme. There are occasionally later diagnoses of permanent hearing loss.
If your child has permanent hearing loss, the Sensory Needs Service (SNS) will provide you and your family with specialist help from the start.
As Hearing Impairments are often identified prior to a child starting school, referrals typically arrive directly from the health service.
Millbrook Healthcare Group
The Millbrook Healthcare Group provide healthcare services on behalf of the NHS and local authorities, which include sensory impairment services.
Find out more by visiting the Millbrook Healthcare Group website
NHS East Sussex Healthcare
Paediatric (children’s) audiology provides a comprehensive, family friendly, integrated screening, diagnostic and rehabilitation service, for babies and children with hearing difficulties.
Find out more by visiting the NHS East Sussex website
You can also visit the main NHS website, for additional information and advice about hearing loss.
Blind or Visually Impaired
Referrals for children and young people with visual impairments also come primarily from health, although the Sensory Needs Service welcomes referrals from schools as problems are sometimes not fully evident until a child starts school.
If your child has permanent visual impairment, the Sensory Needs Service (SNS) will provide you and your family with specialist help.
The SNS do not provide support for children whose vision is corrected with glasses, as this care is provided by opticians. The service would only be needed if there were other conditions impacting on their vision in addition to this:
Millbrook Healthcare Group
The Millbrook Healthcare Group provide healthcare services on behalf of the NHS and local authorities, which include sensory impairment services.
Find out more by visiting the Millbrook Healthcare Group website
School Health Service
When your child starts school, they will be seen by the School Health Service to check their vision, in line with government guidelines. Checking their vision aged 4 to 5 years is important.
Vision screening aims to pick up a range of common eyesight problems, including amblyopia (commonly known as ‘lazy eye’). This is where the vision in one or both eyes does not develop properly.
Find out more by visiting the NHS East Sussex Children website
You can also visit the NHS website, for additional information and advice about blindness and vision loss.
Deafblind or Multi-Sensory Impaired
Deafblindness is a combination of sight and hearing loss. It affects a child’s ability to communicate, access all kinds of information, and get around. Children born with a multi-sensory impairment may also have physical or learning needs.
If your child has multi-sensory impairment, the Sensory Needs Service will provide you and your family with specialist help from the start:
The Millbrook Healthcare Group provide healthcare services on behalf of the NHS and local authorities, which include sensory impairment services.
Find out more by visiting the Millbrook Healthcare Group website
You can also visit the NHS website, for more information and advice about deafblindness.
Additional Help and Services
Amaze SENDIASS
Amaze SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service) are a local charity who offer free, independent, and impartial advice for all matters relating to SEND. Contact Amaze SENDIASS:
- Phone: 01273 772 289
- Email: sendiass@amazesussex.org.uk
East Sussex Local Offer directory of services
You can visit our SEND-specific online directory, hosted on East Sussex 1Space, that lists many different services both throughout the county and online. Services include advice, guidance and support groups, activities and events and mental health and wellbeing support among many other topics:
All services on 1Space have been split into categories. Once you have selected the category that you wish to visit, you can then use the filters and search function to further refine the results, depending on your need:
NHS - Health A to Z
While the East Sussex Local Offer aims to provide as much information as possible, there may be some conditions that aren't covered in thorough detail. The NHS website has pages that list all conditions, with information and advice on how to get extra support:
Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms
Some of the terms used on this website are explained on our page, Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms.