Welcome to the NatSIP Website
This website offers access to a wealth of SI resources, most of which are now freely available. We encourage you to register on the site for full access to everything we have to offer. Registration is free, and open to anyone. A walkthrough/howto on the registration process is here.
- Written by: Emma Fraser
The National Deaf Children’s Society is launching a short story gathering survey about Teachers of the Deaf.
The survey is for deaf young people and parents/carers of deaf children. It will ask about their experiences of accessing support from a Teacher of the Deaf so we can gain a better understanding of the impact Teachers of the Deaf have on deaf children and their families.
This will help shape our future work around raising the profile of Teachers of the Deaf and helping to make sure specialist support is always there for deaf children.
Teacher of the Deaf Campaign - story gathering (BSL)
The survey will take five to ten minutes to complete and will close on 18 December.
- Written by: Jane Sharp
If you’re looking for fun and accessible ways to bring the joy of Christmas to life, The Joy Makers’ Guide to Christmas is full of tips and ideas designed especially for children with vision impairment. From unique festive decorating guides to recipes for special Christmas treats, this guide offers plenty of inspiration for an inclusive and joyful Christmas.
The Joy Makers' Guide is available in English and Welsh. To view accessible activities for cultural and religious celebrations taking place throughout the year, please visit: How to make celebrations accessible for all the family | RNIB
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
Jenny Fletcher's 5-day Intervenor Course will be running in:
- Cardiff between 18 to 22 November 2024
- Chailey Heritage Foundation between 2nd and 6th December 2024
This 5-day course is specifically designed for teaching assistants, healthcare workers, learning support workers, social care workers and those employed to work on a 1:1 basis with a child or young person who is congenitally multi-sensory impaired/deafblind, or has a single sensory impairment with additional complex needs.
Further information can be found here.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
| Event: |
Conference: Raising the profile of multi-sensory impairment |
| Date: |
Wednesday 21 May 2025 09:30 - 15:30 |
| Venue: | In person at Sense Touchbase Pears, 750 Bristol Road, Birmingham BN29 6NA |
| Cost |
Early Bird Rate if you book before 31 January 2025: |
| Booking: | Open now via the University of Birmingham's Online Shop or through invoice and purchase order. |
Calling all MSI specialists!
University of Birmingham, Kent STLS Sensory Service and NatSIP are delighted to invite you to join a learning and networking event for specialists working with those with multi-sensory impairment (or single sensory impairment) focused on practical applications for inclusive education.
Wednesday 21 May 2025 09:30 - 15:30
In person at: Sense TouchBase Pears, 750 Bristol Road, Birmingham BN29 6NA
With keynote speakers in the morning, sector stallholders over lunch, and workshops in the afternoon, there will be presentations and discussions around some of the most pertinent areas in multi-sensory impairment provision and support.
Speakers will include:
- Dr Paul Hart: MSI Assessment and Interaction
- Caireen Sutherland (NatSIP): Updates from the sector
For more details and a link to the online booking form, see here.
- Written by: Jane Sharp
Christmas is just around the corner so make sure your children with vision impairment get their letter from Santa in an accessible format by completing the online form on RNIB’s website: Letter from Santa
Requests must be received by Sunday 1 December.
- Written by: Ian Noon
Last year NDCS published a summary of some research led by Dr Hannah Cooper at UCL Ear Institute, and funded by the National Deaf Children’s Society. It sought to explore the early auditory experiences of deaf toddlers and identify if/when radio aids might be helpful, whilst still being mindful of other environmental sounds that might be important for deaf children to access.
We are now able to publish the full report for this research.
A research article on Deafness and Education International is also available separately.
Both can also be accessed via our website at www.ndcs.org.uk/research.
By way of reminder, the full recommendations of the research are as follows:
- Professionals should consider the full sound environment of deaf children under 18 months of age when recommending technologies to parents.
- With good guidance for use, radio aids would be beneficial for deaf children under 18 months of age, enabling parents to use radio aids effectively.
- Further research should identify the finer requirements for the use of radio aids for access to both speech and the meaningful sound environment for deaf children under 18 months of age.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The NHS in England has published a new guide on glue ear for children with hearing loss:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/PRN00675-iii-making-a-decision-about-glue-ear-if-your-child-has-hearing-loss.pdf
- Written by: Jane Sharp
RNIB's free CPD training for VI professionals is now open for booking. This term the topics will cover:
- Exams
- Complex needs
- Retinitis pigmentosa
- Technology
All sessions can be booked via RNIB's webpage: Training for professionals supporting learners with VI
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The National Deaf Children’s Society teamed up with the University of Manchester, Aston University and Lancaster University, to find out what the research priorities are in childhood deafness, according to the people with real experience. Children, parents, and professionals working with children with deafnes/hearing loss. A survey opened in May 2024 and has now closed. A basic summary of the respondents to both the adult and children versions of the JLA surveys can be found on the following pages
https://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/anisa.visram/JLA_adult
https://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/anisa.visram/JLA_children
- Written by: Brian Lamb
'Meeting Local Hearing Health Needs: A Guide for Integrated Care Systems' has been produced by the Hearing Loss and Deafness Alliance, 29 organisations spanning the voluntary and independent sectors and professionals working in the NHS, to ensure that commissioners and health providers are aware of the resources developed to support the NHS Action Plan on Hearing Loss and other relevant guidance produced by NICE and other health bodies. By following the guidance commissioners and providers can be assured that they will be following best practice requirements to ensure that hearing health is promoted and hearing loss is addressed within health systems, improving lives and saving the NHS money.
The guide is now live in the News Section of the Alliance website https://www.hearinglossanddeafnessalliance.com/news-and-updates/more/118/page/1/alliance-publishes-new-guide-to-support-the-action-plan-on-hearing-loss/
- Written by: Lindsey Jones
Deaf education department colleagues in the University of Manchester have been granted the funding for a PhD for the study on risk and protective factors for deaf children's spoken language. They are now accepting applications. Details are available through this link:
https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/risk-and-protective-factors-to-spoken-language-acquisition-for-deaf-children-in-the-uk/?p172645
- Written by: Katy Mitchell
An exciting new booklet ‘Listening to Learn’ is available from the Ewing Foundation website: https://ewing-foundation.org.uk/listening-to-learn/
Listening to Learn is an e-booklet which is succinct and contains just the key information needed for busy people involved in the education of deaf children.
- It explains what glue ear is and how it can make listening hard work and tiring.
- It outlines the simple steps that can be taken to help children to hear at school.
- It provides information about improving the listening environment.
- Written by: Ian Noon
A new set of Family-Centred Early Intervention (FCEI) principles for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) was published in February in a special edition of the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. There is free access to this at: https://academic.oup.com/jdsde/issue/29/SI
This is an expanded version of an international consensus statement on evidence-based practice, that was first published in 2013 by a consensus team of international experts in early intervention. The revised/expanded Principles have been refreshed with the latest evidence. There has also been a stronger focus on coproduction with family leaders and DHH leaders in the expanded version.
As before, there are ten Principles where there has been found to be strong consensus – these are summarised in this slide.
- Written by: Martin Thacker
The National Deaf Children’s Society is thrilled to announce that My NDCS, a brand-new app for parents of deaf children is available to download for free.
The app is there for every family, no matter their child’s level or type of deafness. To support their child today and as they grow, parents can:
- Explore tailored information and support whenever they need it.
- Read real-life stories from other families and deaf role models.
- Record key moments using the journal.
- Find out about events led by our experts.
Visit the NDCS website for more details and a poster that you can print and share: ndcs.org.uk/my-ndcs-app.
- Written by: Jane Sharp
The latest Freedom of Information reports from RNIB are now available: England 2023 and Northern Ireland 2023.
These reports contain a summary of findings from RNIB's Freedom of Information requests into education service provision for children and young people with a vision impairment.
The new FOI reports are available here: Freedom of Information Reports | RNIB
- Written by: Jane Sharp
RNIB is pleased to announce that their CPD sessions for education professionals for the summer term are now open for booking:
Training for professionals supporting learners with VI | RNIB
Page 1 of 3