Young people can experience a wide range of sensory, physical and/or medical needs, resulting from congenital conditions, illness or injury. The majority of these needs can be met within the school’s resources with reasonable short or long term adjustments. There are many different types of sensory, physical and/or medical needs so it is important for schools to have an understanding of how the young person’s needs impact on their learning and emotional well-being.
Examples of these physical and sensory needs include chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, epilepsy, ME, MS, cancer and asthma; chromosome, birth and genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis and cerebral palsy; degenerative diseases such as muscular dystrophy; hearing and visual impairment; life limiting conditions and many more.
As a result of these conditions, pupils may need, for example:
- modifications to physical access and the physical environment;
- modifications to curriculum access and curriculum content;
- specialist equipment;
- appropriately trained staff to focus on health care needs;
- support with social and emotional needs.
If the pupil has needs requiring modification to curriculum content in addition to their main physical needs, then more information is available in other sections of this guidance.
It is acknowledged that all young people are individual and each young person needs to be considered on a separate case by case basis. The emphasis, however, should be on encouraging independence as much as possible.
Statutory guidance in this area is outlined in the DfE document Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions (PDF, 310 KB). More information about specific conditions including advice about management and available support for families of children with medical needs can be accessed via Contact.
Pupils with a hearing impairment range from those with a mild hearing loss to those who are profoundly deaf. They cover the whole ability range.
Pupils with a hearing impairment may require hearing aids, adaptations to their environment and/or particular teaching strategies in order to access the concepts and language of the curriculum.
A number of pupils with a hearing impairment also have an additional disability or learning difficulty.
A hearing loss may be conductive or sensori-neural and can be measured on a decibel scale. Four categories are generally used: mild; moderate; severe and profound and the hearing loss can be in one or both ears. Some pupils with a significant loss communicate through sign instead of, or as well as, speech.
Visual Impairment (VI) refers to a range of difficulties from partial sight through to blindness. Young people with visual impairments cover the whole ability range. For educational purposes, a young person is considered to experience VI if they require adaptations to their environment or specific differentiation of learning materials in order to access the curriculum.
Degrees of visual impairment
The following are nationally agreed definitions of degrees of vision loss. They refer to the corrected vision (with glasses/contact lenses if worn) in the better eye.
- Mild loss – slightly reduced distance vision of 6/12- 6/18 with good near vision OR a diagnosed visual condition
- Moderate loss – reduced distance vision of 6/18- 6/36 and slightly reduced near vision OR moderately reduced distance vision of 6/24-6/36 but poor near vision requiring enlargement of materials.
- Severe loss – 6/36 – 3/60 may have some, but not necessarily all, of the following in addition to those in levels 1 and 2: difficulty accessing large amounts of text so that modified materials are required / safety issues with regard to PE, practical science, technology / requires mobility and independence and daily life skills training
- Profound loss – educationally blind, using Braille to access the curriculum, 3 /60 or less. May have some, but not necessarily all, of the following in addition to those in levels 1, 2 and 3: inability to handwrite / need to use mobility aids and training to move around safely / use Braille or audio to access text
All young people diagnosed with a mild, moderate, severe or profound loss in accordance with the nationally agreed definitions meet the criteria for referral for their visual impairment.
The involvement of the Vision Support Service requires a medical diagnosis prior to referral.