'Some children and young people  require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many children and young people with  vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI)  will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning, or habilitation support. Children and young people with an MSI have a combination of vision and hearing difficulties.' 

Code of Practice 2015

At Reading Girls' School, students with disabilities that make it challenging to access lessons—such as those with visual, hearing, or multisensory impairments—receive support from the SEND Department. We work closely with external agencies to provide expert advice and recommendations to teaching staff on how to best accommodate these students through tailored differentiation. 

Physical & Sensory needs can include:

Visual Impairment -is the partial or total inability of visual perception. 

Hearing impairment - not able to hear as well as someone with normal hearing, meaning hearing thresholds of 20 dB 

Multi-sensory impairment - Impairments in both sight and hearing. 

Physical Disability - limitation on a person's physical functioning, mobility, dexterity or stamina having a substantial or long-term effect on their life. 

Sensory processing disorder - a condition in which the brain has trouble receiving information from the senses this can cause anxiety and frustration. 

Useful website links

Websites parents may find useful to support their child with P&S needs are:

Sensory needs - https://www.handinhandparenting.org/

https://standishfoundation.org/?

Visual impairments - https://www.rnib.org.uk/living-with-sight-loss

Hearing difficulties - https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/hearing-factsheet.html