Health visitor:

A health visitor is a qualified nurse or midwife with additional special training and experience in child health.  They visit family homes in the child’s early years to check on their health and development and to give help, advice and practical assistance about contacting doctors, hospitals and other services in your area.  They also perform the hearing screening tests.

General Practioner (GP)

A GP is a family doctor.  They are the first point of contact for many families.  They deal with your child’s general health and can refer you on to clinics, hospitals and specialists when needed.

Social Worker for Deaf People

Cumbria Deaf Association provides services for deaf children and their families on behalf of Social Services and has qualified, specialist and experienced social workers based in Cumbria. 

Full details of the service  and where to contact the Social Workers for Deaf People can be found on the following link:

www.cumbriadeaf.co.uk

Audiologist

An audiologist performs further hearing tests to find out if your child is deaf.  If your child is deaf, the audiologist will advise whether an hearing aid would be useful; give information about hearing loss and other forms of support; monitor your child’s hearing levels; works with other professionals such as an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) consultant.
Most Audiologists are based in hospitals and work closely with ENT consultants.

Specialist Advisory Teaching Service

These are often the first professionals after the Audiologist to see your child. They work with families to help access information on services available in the area.

Ear, Nose and Throat Consultant

An ENT consultant is a doctor who specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of ear, nose and throat conditions.  When a hearing loss has been identified, they can help in trying to discover the cause of the child’s deafness. 

Community Paediatrician in Audiology

This is a doctor with special knowldge of child development and hearing problems. He/she is often involved in the first assessments of a child if there is a worry about hearing, e.g.if there is speech delay.

Local Co-ordinator for the Newborn Hearing Screen

In each area this person supervises the routine hearing test for newborn babies. She/he is often involved in the followup test for babies who do not have a clear result after the test. There is one co-ordinator for North Cumbria (an Audiologist by training) and one for South Cumbria (a Health Visitor).

National Deaf Children's Society and DELTA have good web sites providing complimentary support for families.  If you would like to find out what other families are doing contact:

www.cumbriadeaf.co.uk

www.deafeducation.org.uk

www.ndcs.org.uk