Specialist Speech and Language Therapy Network for Deaf People

Our aim is to provide a high-quality Specialist Speech and Language Therapy service to children, young people and adults with permanent severe to profound deafness. Our role is to assess communication and offer ideas and suggestions to help in partnership with our clients. We also work closely with other professionals to provide advice and information.

All the Network therapists are highly trained and experienced, having carried out further studies in deafness, including qualifications in British Sign Language.

Referral information

Children or adults of any age, with permanent severe to profound deafness can be referred to this specialist service.

For children, referral is usually made via the Teachers of the Deaf or Audiology team who complete a specific referral form. However anyone can make a referral, as long as parental consent is obtained for under 18s. Adults can self-refer.

As we work across Cheshire and Merseyside, please contact us using the details above for the relevant referral form for your area.

Meet the Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist in d/Deafness team

Ellen Swann, Deputy Network Manager, Liverpool/Regional
Louise O’Toole, Knowsley & Liverpool
Ursula McCormick, Liverpool
Karen McIver, Liverpool
Rebecca Sarker, Liverpool
Vicky Grey, Sefton & Liverpool
Emma Mottram, Wirral
Catharine Clarkson, Mid Cheshire
Helen Chidlow, East Cheshire
Sarah Rae, Halton
Helen O’Donnell, St. Helen’s and Warrington
Lois Hatfield, West Cheshire
Adam Oicepka, Hearing Impairment Network Administrator & Project Support, Regional

Top tips for communicating with Deaf People

For those who don’t have issues with hearing, it can be difficult to communicate with deaf people. So we asked Kim, a Cochlear implants user, to provide some top tips to help out.

An image of a thought bubble with 'Top tips for deaf people' inside of it. Coming off from the centre bubble are numerous tips for communicating with deaf people.

We are all community-based in the geographical areas listed above (‘Meet the Team’ section) and children and adults can be seen in a number of locations, which are flexible to meet individual needs. These include:

Mainstream schools/nurseries
Deaf resource bases in certain districts
Colleges
Clinics
Merseyside Society for Deaf People (Liverpool only)

Children or adults of any age with permanent severe to profound deafness can be referred to this specialist service.

Once a referral is accepted children and adults will receive an initial assessment which looks at communication in a range of contexts. This will involve formal and informal assessment and may include areas such as: listening, turn-taking, understanding, expressive language, speech sounds and use of signing and overall communication skills.

Our service provides support in a range of ways that are discussed and agreed with the individual/their family.
This may include:

Making recommendations and monitoring their effect.
Providing advice and agreeing on targets that can be carried out by everyone involved with the child/adult.
Agreeing to a set number of sessions with a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist to work on specific targets.

Sometimes a person will not require input from us at this time and will be discharged from the service. We may suggest other services that could be accessed at this time.

We work closely alongside other teams that support deaf children/adults, including Teachers of the Deaf and Audiology departments.

Both formal courses and informal training can be provided to parents, education and support staff and other professionals.