Hearing support

The Hearing Support Team (HST) are a team of teachers of the deaf who provide information, advice and support. We work with deaf babies, children and young people, their families, educational settings and other professionals.

Our aim is to ensure that all deaf children and young people have appropriate access to educational opportunities, so that they can achieve their full potential. This is irrespective of their deafness or preferred communication mode.

Please note: The term ‘deaf’ is used throughout this page and refers to all children and young people with an educationally significant hearing loss. It is used to describe all types and degrees of deafness. 

The Hearing Support Team (HST) provide advice and support to children and young people from birth to 25 years who live in, or are educated in, a setting in the Borough of Swindon. For those that are of pre-school age, we support the child in the home or educational setting. 

We also provide support for children and young people in independent schools if the child or young person has an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. 

Children and young people must have been seen by audiology. They must have had a medical assessment to confirm the level and type of their deafness prior to their referral to our service. 

Our support covers: 

  • assessment and identification of a child or young person's needs, including statutory assessments of Education, Health and Care Needs
  • advice and support to families enabling them to encourage their child’s development
  • advice, support and training to ensure the educational setting meets the needs of their deaf children and young people 
  • the development of programmes of work and provides direct teaching of specialist skills for deaf children and young people
  • information and guidance about useful strategies, resources or other organisations
  • deaf awareness and professional development for staff working in settings

The level of support we offer depends on the needs of the child or young person and may change over time. We use the National Sensory Impairment Partnership (NatSIP) eligibility framework to allocate our support.

Cost of hearing support

We are a statutory service and there is currently no charge for the core services we provide to families, early years settings, schools or colleges. 

How do I refer to the Hearing Support Team?

Referrals to HST via the newborn hearing screening programme

The newborn hearing screening test is offered to all babies born in hospital and helps to identify permanent hearing loss as early as possible. Newborn hearing screening is recommended as part of a variety of tests carried out before the baby is discharged from the maternity ward.

The screening is not compulsory and can be done a few hours after birth or up to 4 to 5 weeks of age. Finding out early gives babies a better opportunity to develop their language, speech and communication skills.

The first hearing screening takes approximately 15 minutes. The screening will indicate whether there is a clear response to clicking sounds, played into the ear with a small soft-tipped ear piece, while your baby is asleep. 

Babies can be referred for a second hearing screening process taking 30 minutes, if a clear response was not recorded during the first test. This screening is also offered to all babies who need neonatal intensive care support for 48 hours or more. 

Further testing is offered by the audiology team if there is any possibility of your baby not responding to sounds. This may take up to 2 hours and is more detailed.

Further information is available from newborn hearing screening.

Newborn babies can be referred to our service if there are any concerns about hearing and support provided to families. Hearing screening may not identify all types of deafness, as some children develop a hearing loss later on.

You will be given a personal child health checklist (red book) and you can also visit the newborn hearing screening: making and reacting to sounds checklists on the Government website. This lists things to look for as your baby develops. 

Referrals to HST via preschool, schools and colleges

The majority of our new referrals come from audiology or ear nose throat services. We will accept appropriate referrals from other sources too, including educational settings with parent or carer consent.

Please contact HST for a referral form. 

We support all children with an identified hearing loss who meet our eligibility criteria

We provide information and advice to educational settings in the Swindon area across the 0 to 25 age range

Our aim is to ensure that deaf children and young people have appropriate access to educational opportunities so they can achieve their potential irrespective of their hearing loss or preferred communication mode.

How we can support you with equipment

Latest news

View our latest newsletter, which we will send out each term to our young people, families and schools.  

Contact information

Hearing support team

Paediatric audiology

The Hearing Support Team (HST) provide liaison with audiology (and vice versa) ensuring an accurate understanding of the babies, children and young people’s needs to facilitate giving appropriate advice. 

The audiology service is open to all babies, children and young persons from 0 to 18 years who are referred with a suspected hearing loss or communication difficulty. 

We work with our audiology department in Swindon on two sites

  • Great Western Hospital Audiology Department - Tel: 01793 604201 
  • West Swindon Audiology Clinic - Tel: 01793 696640

Referrals can be made by contacting:

Paediatric Audiology
West Swindon Health Centre
Link Avenue
Swindon
SN5 7DL

Tel: 01793 696640
Email: gwh.audiology.dept@nhs.net

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