SSMU3.1 – Understanding Sensory Loss –
Gemma Nelson (Ashcroft House)

1.1 Analyse how a range of factors can impact on individuals with sensory loss

* Impact on Communication
Sensory loss can frequently lead to isolation and frustration at not being able to communicate efficiently with other people. With hearing loss, day-to-day activities such as hearing a doorbell, using the telephone, watching television or taking part in conversations can produce feelings of inadequacy within the individual. Not being able to distinguish faces, read the time on a clock or drive can produce the same feelings in a person who has vision loss. Hearing loss interferes with face-to-face communication and can often cause older people to lose …show more content…

Most people are now offered a personal budget that enables them to work out a support plan based on what they are able to do for themselves, the informal support they have and identifying where paid support is needed to fill the gaps.

Personal budgets give people the chance to decide:

* what support they need * how they want the support delivered * whom they want to deliver the support * when they want support.

This is in total contrast to earlier models where services were delivered in the way most convenient for the organisation providing them and people were expected to fit in.

The RNID “Open to All” report, 2009, commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government identified the following:

* 89 per cent of respondents believed that being deaf or hard of hearing makes it harder for them to use services * 80 per cent of respondents identified that a lack of deaf awareness was the main barrier to using services * 36 per cent identified the attitude of services providers as a barrier. * 23 per cent said it was difficult to get information about services provided by local authorities. When discussing local authority services, open forum participants raised the need for specialist social workers for deaf people in every local authority as well as the lack of lipreading classes across Wales. * 15 per cent said it was difficult to get