Assessment & Therapy

Experience

I predominantly support and provide assessment and therapy services to children who are deafblind/multi-sensory impaired, deaf or vision impaired/blind or with multiple disability. I usually work with children up to the age of 18. Please contact me using the contact form below to see if I can help you.

I am experienced at working with families and children with:

• Deafblindness (co-occurring hearing and vision impairment)

• Vision impairment

• MDVI (Multiple Disabilities Vision Impairment)

• PMLD (Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities)

• Cerebral Palsy

• Autism with additional needs (such as learning disabilities or sensory impairment)

• Down’s Syndrome

• Epilepsy

• Other low incidence/ rare conditions (CHARGE syndrome, Usher syndrome, CMV, Meningitis, Zellweger spectrum disorders)

Services

I can provide:

• Communication assessments, including communicative strengths and needs, choosing and using communication systems, development of communication skills.

• Dysphagia assessment (eating and drinking), including strengths and needs, development of eating and drinking skills.

• Support for Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans

• Support for dispute in Special Educational Needs and Disability provision (mediation and tribunals)

• Therapy programme development and monitoring

• Direct regular therapy can only be provided within my local area

• Teletherapy (video based) consultation and therapy sessions

• Specialist deafblind assessment compliant with ‘Care and Support for Deafblind Children and Adults Policy Guidance (2015)’

• Tactile Working Memory Scale assessment

• I collaborate with a group of experienced colleagues to provide multi-disciplinary assessments, this includes involving specialist sensory impairment teachers (MSI, VI, Deaf), OT etc.

How I help

Some of the ways I help include using:

• Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

  • Message switches (single, and multi-level messages)

  • Symbol based communication (direct access, and partner assisted scanning)

  • Powered communication aids/speech generating devices (direct access, and switch scanning)

• Intensive Interaction

• Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

• Personal narrative/stories

• Objects of reference (OOR), Tangible/Tactile Symbols

• Sign language (British Sign Language, Sign Supported English, Tactile sign, Makaton)

• Social scripts & Social stories

• Tactile communication

• Talking mats

• Touch cues and haptics

• Video analysis and ‘VIG – Video Interaction Guidance’

• Visual supports