Help with sight and hearing issues

Where to start

I am concerned my child has a vision problem.

It is very common for a child to have a problem with their eyesight and many problems can be sorted out by them being given a pair of glasses.

How do I know if my child has a problem?

Your child may complain of headaches, sore eyes or they may be finding things difficult at school and may be falling behind with their work. If your child is not yet at school you may be concerned that they have more bumps and falls than you would expect for a child their age. If your child goes to a nursery or a school talk to someone there who know them well and see if they have concerns. 

All nurseries and schools will have a Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCo), who is the person in the nursery or school who works with and helps children who require additional support. Ask your child's school or nursery who this person is and talk to them about your concerns.

In the first instance you should also take your child to the optician. If there is a problem they will refer you to the specialist at the hospital.

Your health visitor is also available until your child is 6 (until the end of your child's reception year at school). They will help you to understand the issues and help you to decide the best course of action.

How do I know if my child has a hearing problem?

Your child may mishear things you say to them or not respond when you talk to them. You may notice that your child has become quieter than usual or withdrawn. Alternatively you may be feeling that your child is becoming frustrated and have noticed changes in their behaviour. Your child's speech may not be as clear as it was or you may be worried that your child is not yet talking, they may be finding things difficult at school and may be falling behind with their work. If your child goes to a nursery or a school talk to someone there who know them well and see if they have concerns. 

All nurseries and schools will have a SENDCo, who is the person in the school who works with and helps children who require additional support. Ask your child's school or nursery who this person is and talk to them about your concerns.
You should also take your child to your doctor, who will refer them to a specialist at the hospital.

Your health visitor is also available until your child is 6 (until the end of your child's Reception year at school). They will help you to understand the issues and help you to decide the best course of action. 

What next?

If you have taken your child to the GP or the opticians, they will decide the next thing for you to do.

Vision

The optician may give your child glasses. They won't need to be referred to anywhere else, just have regular appointments to make sure the glasses are working and that their vision has not changed.

If there is a more detailed problem with their eyesight, the optician may refer your child to the hospital to see a specialist. This may take a while to get a date to go, the hospitals are always very busy.

In the meantime, there may be some things you can do to help.

  • if your child attends a nursery or school talk to them about your concerns as there will be some simple things that they can put in place that might help.  
  • if your child is older, they may want to look at the emotional health pathway to help them deal with anxiety or stress relating to this. 

Get further help

Hearing

If the doctor suspects that your child has a problem hearing, they will refer them to the hospital to see a specialist. There are many reasons that your child may have problems hearing, they are not all long term.

Your child may have glue ear which is when the middle section of your child's ear behind the eardrum becomes filled with fluid making it difficult for sound to pass through. This is a very common problem for children and can occur many times throughout childhood. 

In the meantime, there may be some things you can do to help.

  • if your child attends a nursery or school talk to them about your concerns as there will be some simple things that they can put in place that might help. 
  • if your child is older, they may want to look at the emotional health pathway to help them deal with anxiety or stress relating to this. 

Get further help

For both hearing and vision, once you have seen the specialist at the hospital and have a clinical diagnosis, you can then look at accessing the extra support. 

If you are a teacher, you can refer a pupil to SEST

How we can help

If your child has had a medical diagnosis for their sight or hearing, we are here to help. 

Refer a pupil to SEST

SEST are the Sensory Education Support Team, part of Children's Services within Lincolnshire County Council.

We offer support, advice and specialist teaching to children and young people with a visual impairment, hearing impairment or multi-sensory impairment (children with needs relating to both their hearing and vision). We support and work closely with families, nurseries and schools.

We aim to ensure that children and young people with sensory impairment are able to have full access to their learning environment, for them to make progress and for them to achieve their full potential.

Who we are

  • specialist teachers
  • specialist teaching assistants
  • specialist habilitation post
  • resource and technical Officer 

All our teachers and teaching assistants have worked and taught in a range of schools and settings. They have or are in the process of gaining the additional mandatory qualification for teaching and working with children and young people with a hearing, vision or multi-sensory impairment.
All our teaching assistants have attended a wide range of courses relating to supporting and working with children and young people with a sensory impairment and are highly skilled and experienced.     

What we do

  • advice around strategies that will support your child's learning in the classroom 
  • support and advice for you when you are with your child at home
  • training for nursery and school staff
  • advice around and provision of specialist equipment.     

The team may visit you and your child at home if they are not yet in a nursery or school. If your child is at school then SEST would visit them there and talk with school staff and yourselves after a visit is completed.

We can attend clinic appointments and multi-agencies meetings that may take place for your child.

The frequency of our visits would depend on a number of factors including the level of hearing or vision that your child has. The number of visits may change as your child gets older or as their needs change. We can discuss the level of support your child will receive and explain the reasons why. 

We can help with a variety of aspects of school or nursery life. We would be happy to talk with you and your child's setting about delivering a session to your child's friends.