A Single Strategy for Sensory Needs - The Highland Council

Access to transport where links are poor, particularly in rural areas. Community Transport schemes exist in some areas.
Although one-to-one guide communicator support is the ideal, this may not be easy to achieve throughout the Highlands.
Social Inclusion of Deaf Children and Young People
It has to be acknowledged that the position now for deaf Highland youngsters is very much better than it was twenty five
years ago, and has been rapidly improving since 1995. Before about 1980 deaf children were removed from home at a very
early age to be educated in specialist schools for the deaf. This resulted in poor relationships with parents and siblings,
frustration and difficult behaviour due to impoverished communication and language deprivation, family guilt and ultimately
community and family exclusion.
In 1995 The Highland Deaf Education Service was created following extended interagency consultation. This meant the
beginning of systematic early teaching for deaf children by qualified teachers of the deaf from diagnosis, as well as widespread
introduction to sign language for the children and their families. Since that time there have been a number of positive
developments:
new Head of Audiology appointed
new Social Work Team for Deaf Services and Hearing support created
new post of specialist Speech and Language Therapist for the Hearing Impaired created
Highland Co-ordinating Committee (Deaf Services)
Highland Paediatric Audiology Group set up
Deaf Communication Project
Universal neo-natal screening of hearing
Although Highland is seen as a model authority in many respects there is still a long way to go and, outwith school hours (and
school years), our children and young people remain very socially isolated. Our group recognised the need for much
development in the three undernoted areas if deaf children and young people are to begin to feel socially included.
Communication
Deaf awareness
Praise and recognition of good practice
Because deafness is an “old” disability, it lacks the glamour of the “newer” developmental disorders, which gain so much
media attention. It is recognised that the general public has a limit in terms of ability to respond to demands for sympathy
and understanding – especially towards deafness, which people are likely to think they do understand. Hence the emphasis is
placed upon positive ways forward which view deafness more as a culture than a disability.
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