One minute guide: Deaf and Hearing Impairment Team (DAHIT)

What is the Deaf and Hearing Impairment Team (DAHIT)

DAHIT is the Deaf and Hearing Impairment Team. They promote the educational inclusion and achievement of all children and young people with hearing impairment and multi-sensory impairment (deafblindness) in Leeds.

DAHIT work with children and young people aged 0-25 years, from the time of diagnosis and hearing aid issue and with their parents/ carers and family to support the child or young person. Referrals are made via NHS Audiology services; this is the only route into the service, and children must have a diagnosis and be under the audiology service to access support from DAHIT. DAHIT work with educational settings (including nurseries, children’s centres, schools and colleges), and liaises with other professionals and organisations.

DAHIT consists of specialist staff, including Qualified Teachers of the Deaf (QTODs); Communication Support Workers (CSWs) who assist with communication and interpretation needs in settings; Deaf Instructors (DIs) whose first language is British Sign Language (BSL) and who teach this and other skills to children, families and staff. Educational Audiologists support liaison with health services and the maintenance of amplification and assistive listening devices.

• assessment of the child or young person's functional listening and communication skills, and their learning and development needs
• coaching and advice for families and professionals on how to meet the identified needs, and to maximise learning and independence
• direct teaching to children and young people of specific skills, knowledge and strategies to achieve good outcomes; including deaf identity, self-advocacy and wellbeing
• ongoing monitoring, challenge and liaison with the team around the child or young person
• support to access the curriculum, for example through differentiation, reasonable adjustments, examination access and through British Sign Language or Sign Supported English
• advice to the local authority, including statutory advice for Education, Health and Care needs assessments
• British Sign Language (BSL) instruction from first language users (deaf instructors)
• acoustic room assessments and recommendations from an Educational Audiologist on request
• electro-acoustic testing of hearing aids to ensure that they are working correctly, assessment and maintenance for Assistive Listening Devices used in settings
• signposting to other relevant services and support

Specialist deaf resourced provisions in Leeds

DAHIT provides the specialist staffing for resourced provisions (RP) for primary and secondary aged children and young people. These provisions are for deaf children with severe or profound hearing loss, who require specialist input above that which can be provided in a local setting.

To attend one of these, the child must have it named on their Education, Health and Care Plan.

The Resourced Provisions are hosted at Moor Allerton Hall Primary School and Allerton Grange Secondary School.

What the Deaf START team do

Deaf START provides a traded service to post-16 providers only, which focuses mainly on access to the curriculum for deaf learners through BSL interpretation and the development of literacy skills. Deaf START consists of a team of specialist staff, including Communication Support Workers and a BSL interpreter.

How practitioners can support children and young people with sensory impairments

If practitioners are working with a deaf child or young person, they should make sure they understand their individual needs. Staff from DAHIT can assist with this, providing support and advice as appropriate. DAHIT use NatSIP (National Sensory Impairment Partnership) criteria

to assess the frequency of visits from a Qualified Teacher of the Deaf, anywhere from ‘visits on request’ to a weekly visit. Deaf Awareness training is available on request and eLearning modules are also available on Leeds For Learning. The team run a weekly online British Sign Language session for practitioners.

If a practitioner has concerns that a child or young person may have an undiagnosed hearing loss, they should advise the child or young person’s parent or carer to visit their GP, a referral can be made to Audiology for hearing assessment.

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