klc106 Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Hi We could do with some advice about a little girl at our setting. She is 2yrs old and has been with us since september. She has no language but makes lots of noises and babbles like you would expect from a baby. She also doesn't acknowledge you when you talk to her or call her name. It's not just at playgroup, mum said she is the same at home. She needs watching all the time else she will do things like paint the walls, climb on windowsills, put things in her mouth. She has no sense of danger and takes no notice of rules or boundaries and the other children are beginning to copy her doing the wrong things. At the moment one of us can be with her all the times because we have only got 6 children and 2 satff but when numbers build up this won't be possible. I have seeked advice from our area senco (in october) and she said to just observe the child and she is coming out at the end of this month. I just wondered if anyone has any advice as I don't think we are meeting her needs as well as we could. Any advice would be fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondie Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 just a thought - has she had her hearing tested - could be she doesnt hear you and would also account for her lack of speech? re her behaviour - perhaps keep a record of what she does so you can look back at it and also there for reference when your support comes in. just another thought- does mum baby her / give her boundaries ? x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apple Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I would second a hearing test. Also keeping language to the minimum when talking to her or requesting something of her e.g. instead of 'Matilda go and get your coat'... 'Matilda coat' cutting out unnecessary words from the request may help and always, always start with the child's name so that she knows you are addressing her. It also may help to ensure that you are right down at her level and with eye contact so that she know it is her you are addressing. When playing alongside her use your simple language to verbalise what she is doing e.g. if the little girl is playing with the dolls you could say 'Matilda combing baby's hair' etc. ' etc.. These are just a couple of strategies that our speech and language therapist has told us about when supporting children's language and communication difficulties. In fact we have a little boy who is 3.5 who is very much like your little girl. it is a huge concern but you are on the right track with asking for SENCo support and ensuring the parents are fully involved throughout. One other thing... our authority has a Communication and Autism team (some parents panic when I mention the A word) but it is just how the team is set up and deals with all manner of language and communication difficulties. It might be that your Senco or authority know of such an agency to offer help. The other place is your nearest Children's Centre who also might have a network of support. Above all try not to beat yourself up about this. You are on the right track in that you have identified the child's needs, spoken to mum and sought further support. Sometimes certain children are beyond our own professional capabilities and we need the support of other agencies to help us to identify the specific problems and how to address them appropriately. Good luck the little girl sounds like she is very lucky to have you as her keyworker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klc106 Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thank you both for your replies. It's nice to know I am on the right track. I will also ask mum about hearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klc106 Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 An update.... Our area senco has cancelled and is now coming in March. We had a visit from our outreach worker yesterday and she is very worried about this child and why we have had no support. The child's parents have got her in for speech therapy in March. But after a discussion with the outreach worker we are sure that the main issue is her hearing. Mum said she has not had a hearing test and so we are referring her to the paediatrician and some sessions at the children's centre linked to speech and language. Does anyone have any advice or experiences of working with children with hearing impairments or things we could do that will help her. Any advice would be great!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klc106 Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 Ok so this little girl comes to us for 2 mornings a week. She is normally really happy and comes straight into playgroup to play. Last wednesday mum brought her and she would not let go of mum and cried so mum took her home saying she perhaps wasn't well as she had a temperature in the night. Mum then brought her back to us at 10:30 saying she was fine so could she stay. I said yes and mum left the child screaming. We tried for 40 minutes to calm the child down but she got herself into such a state, I called mum to collect her. Today, she comes in with mum and grandma and we are due to go on our trip to the farm and so the room was not set up in the usual way. The child was fine until mum went to leave. So we told mum to go and grandma stayed for a few minutes until she was settled. As soon as she noticed grandma was gone she threw herself to the floor screaming. Grandma seen her through the window, came back and took her home as she didn't want her to upset the others on the trip. Any advice on what we can do to settle her back in? We are not sure why she has suddenly gone like this and nothing seems to calm her down other than mum or grandma. I feel that mum needs to keep bringing her but mum keeps asking what should she do? Any help please!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klc106 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Anyone got any advice??? Please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shazzam Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Maybe she is still unwell? There are alot of virus's going around and lingering at the mo, or it maybe that she realised last time she didnt settle mum was called? It may mean you have to start right back at the beginning! Plan activities for her that you know she loves. Tricky one :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 think I'd go back to the beginning again too, re start induction process with mum or grandma staying until her confidence has grown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 i would be wary of having mum or grandma in if you feel that there may be some sen needs (some children will have an issue if the routine is not the same so if you have adults in they will expect it every session). I would suggest that Mum drops off quickly says goodbye (NEVER let them leave without saying they are going or children will not trust what you say) and says she will be back soon. Then try anything to get her to settle...outside play/bubbles/painting .....whatever floats her boat! arrange with Mum to come back within 20 mins (or less if you want) tell the child that you understand and that Mummy willl be back soon. When Mum returns hand over the little girl and get them to leave straight away (if neccessary get a member of staff to pop out and have a quick word so that she knows what to do next time) if possible extend this routine next time to 30 minutes and build up slowly (if mum is able to do so) if possible try to have the motivating game/activity out every session until she settlesand try to keep it in the same place in the environment. The good thing about doing it this way is that if you have a good day and she settles welll you can always ring mum and extend the time...but be careful not to go too quickly. The aim is for the girl to leave in a happy state if that takes 5 minutes or 2 hours! be patient! :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klc106 Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 Thanks everyone. I agree with finsleymaid about not having mum/grandma in as she does like a routine and it would confuse her. She didn't come today as she is unwell so this may be why she was unsettled? We will see what happens on monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klc106 Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 A quick update. This little girl's parents decided not to send her back after she got upset but have put her name down to come back in september when she get government funding. I seen them today at a birthday party and the little girl has had her hearing test and has glue ear and needs an operation to put in grommets as her hearing is very poor. Mum thanked me for referring her for a hearing test and said she will see us in september. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klc106 Posted June 24, 2012 Author Share Posted June 24, 2012 Seen the little girls parents yesterday. It seems she doesn't have glue ear after all but she is partially deaf and will need to wear hearing aids. She has been referred for a brain scan. She is due to start back with us in the autumn term. Has anyone got any advice on what we need to put into place for when she comes back (she should have hearing aids by then) Also ahs anyone got anything they use to monitor progress for a child with hearing impairments? She is obviously very low in all areas of development due to the impairment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pamgreen Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 We recently had a child with quite challenging behaviour and we were advised to have a risk assessmeny in place for the individual child. with her other issues she needs referring to your area SENCO ( if you have one)and possiblbly and IEP drawn up, also do you have a hearing impairment team, and perhaps send a member of staff on a Makaton course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redjayne Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 You will need to introduce lots of visual clues - these are helpful for all children. Things like a visual timetable, small fans of main items the child will need to refer to like toilet, drink, snack, different areas in the room etc. are useful - you can laminate these and she can have them on a lanyard or keyring for her to carry with her.Also using visual when you are telling a story etc. to hold her attention, what her hearing lacks her brain will make up for in the other 4 senses so use these as much as possible. Making sure you are facing her when talking to her and getting her attention is one I'm sure you already do, another thing our H/I children like is 'balloon talk' where you have a balloon between your face and hers and when you speak onto it she feels the vibrations, ( Can't do this at present as we have child with latex allergy!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redjayne Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 As for the monitoring we just use the usual sheets we use for the other children - the general development matters and the DFE speech development tracker as recommended in our ECaT training, plus an IEP for her individual need as others have stated. Good Luck and let us know how she is getting on. :1b 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Are you sure it's only the child's hearing that's the problem - being unhappy when things were different could suggest something else!! My daugher has a moderate hearing loss - can't remember her ever behaving in the way you describe. I have also for the past 3 years had children with hearing impairment in school - they never exhibited this sort of behaviour! I know she is very young but perhaps she needs looking at by an Ed Psych. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klc106 Posted June 24, 2012 Author Share Posted June 24, 2012 Yes I have also thought she could be on the autistic spectrum from the behaviours we saw. She is not currently attending our setting but is due to start back in september. I have got the area senco and childrens centre on board already from when she attended before. I have no experience working with a child with a hearing impairment. So any advice would be most welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 This sounds like a tricky situation but I can offer some useful tips. The national deaf childrens society produce a booklet on creating a deaf friendly nursery environment and also offer other advice too. I would echo the discussion before as it is likely the child has other needs as well as the deafness. Have you used the Early Support Developmental Journals? these are created to be used instead of the main EYFS and are very detailed but they are compatible with the the EYFS too and one has been specially produced for deaf children and another one for those with undiagnosed needs. I would suggest using both. In April 2012 the government stated they were committed to this programme. Hard copies can be ordered from departmnt of education or you can download them - link is - http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/sen/earlysupport/resources/a0067339/early-support-materials-and-resources As stated before lots of visual clues for instance in our setting we play a tamborine when its tidy up time, show a wellie when its time to go outside, sing a sitdown song at the same time as patting the floor for circle/music times etc. All staff will quickly need to learn to approach quietly from her front and lightly touch her to gain her attention, to avoid startling her and this may also help with some of the behaviour issues. from personal experience have a pretty container with a secure lid availiable for her to place her hearing aids in if she takes them out. when children first have aids they can irritate them and they can be overwhelmed by the noise so they tend to take them out. if she has a secure place for them to go that she can access she is more likely to place them here rather than hide them or break them. hope this helps. I post again if I think of anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klc106 Posted June 24, 2012 Author Share Posted June 24, 2012 Thank you Enid. Lots of great advice! I will look into the development journals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Hi, In my Authority we have an Advisory Inclusion Service, they come in and give advice as to what you should be doing/good practices etc. They also come in and work with children for short sessions once or twice a week. Its really good because if you have any real problems they can offer solutions, help and support. Have you checked with Education Authority? They often visit at home before children start any pre-school so its worth checking that she has been refered. I always make sure I have the attention of my hearing impaired child before I speak. Make sure you say her name before starting to talk so she knows that youre talking to her. Give instructions in small steps making sure she has understood what you want her to do. All children behave differently one child never stopped talking, much of it was unintelligible but we used to listen and model good speech back, another child didn't speak for ages and even now needs to feel really comfortable before opening up. I used to talk to her all the time and always include her in conversations, asking questions and suggesting that maybe she would come and tell me later when she had remembered. I used to play alongside her, showing her, without showing her how to play. I would model language throughout - when I observed later she would use much of the language she had heard me using earlier. Sure there's lots more I could say - can't think at the moment! I'll get my cap on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klc106 Posted July 20, 2012 Author Share Posted July 20, 2012 I've been thinking about this little girl again and I've got a few more questions. I have still not done my SENCo training, our area senco is chasing it up but its been over a year now! I assume I need to get parents permission to put her on a special needs register? Has anyone got a template of a form/letter for parents to sign? I also expect she will need an IEP? Has anyone got a template for one? I have done none of this before and I've left a telephone message and email for the area senco around 2 weeks ago and heard nothing! A friend of mine suggested signposting her parents to a setting with experience of hearing impairments but we are a small village and mum doesn't drive and has told us before if we weren't there then she would just not send her to pre-school as there is no-where else nearby! ANY advice would be greatly appreciated as I want everything ready for her in september. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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