Requesting a care needs assessment in relation to deafblind children and adults

A care needs assessment must be carried out by your Local Authority to provide services for children and adults who are deafblind.

To request an assessment, contact social services at your local council and ask for a needs assessment. Make sure that care and support assessments are carried out by a person or team that is ‘suitably qualified’. Find out more about the assessment process.

Here’s a letter to send to your Local Authority. Add the information needed inside the square brackets [ ] to personalise the letter. You can see a completed example here. This letter is also available as a Word document.

[Your address and contact details]

[Address of your Director of Children’s Services in your local authority (names of address for England and for Wales. You can use either postal or email address or both)]

REQUEST FOR ASSESSMENT OF CARE NEEDS IN RELATION TO DEAFBLIND CHILDREN AND ADULTS

Dear Director,

My child, [full name] born [date of birth] has care and support needs related to their combined vision and hearing impairment.  My child is deafblind.  I am asking for an assessment of their care and support needs as a deafblind child in relation to the Children and Families Act 2014, more specifically the Deafblind Guidance assessment as specified in the Policy Guidance (2014) for care and support for deafblind children and adults, and about which more details can be found here: https://www.sense.org.uk/information-and-advice/life-stages/deafblind-guidance/. 

My child has [include details of diagnosis, if you have them such as vision impairment, hearing impairment, CHARGE syndrome, Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, ADHD, global development delay. Try to include detail such as vision impairment measurements, hearing measurements, type of cerebral palsy, developmental scores from assessments etc. if you have them]

Examples

My child has CHARGE syndrome. They have colobomas, are registered as severely sight impaired and have a profound hearing loss.

My child is registered as sight impaired and has cerebral palsy, affecting their arms and legs and uses a wheelchair.

Because of these combined sensory impairments my child has the following difficulties with communication, access to information and mobility and orientation. 

Communication;[ give example/s of difficulty with communication in relation to sensory impairments, e.g. my child cannot hear speech clearly, my child uses symbols to communicate, my child communicates only by vocalisations and gestures]

This has the following impact; [howdoes this affect them?  E.g. my child cannot use a café or shop or meet with friends without support.]

Access to information; [give examples of difficulty with vision and hearing in relation to sensory impairments e.g. my child cannot see pictures or books, my child cannot hear the TV, my child cannot see their toys and depends on touch for accessing them. ]

This has the following impact; [how does this affect them?  E.g. my child cannot play with typical toys and needs specialist activities with others and support for learning to play and playing with others.]

Orientation and mobility; [give examples related to vision/hearing/balance e.g. my child cannot see where we are going when using their wheelchair, my child cannot hear the train announcements, my child cannot find their toys in front of them.]

This has the following impact; [how does this affect them? E.g. my child is scared when going out because they cannot see what is round them, so they are not able to attend community activities such as sign story at the library.]

As such, my child has a combined hearing and vision impairment which meets the criteria required for an assessment of their social care and support needs. I understand that this assessment needs to be carried out by a suitably qualified assessor, usually a social worker in co-operation with an MSI specialist.  This also enables a carer’s assessment to be carried out at the same time.

The National Sensory Impairment Partnership – NatSIP provide a list of some assessors who may be able to help if you do not currently have access to a suitably qualified assessor. (https://www.natsip.org.uk/find-advisor).

This assessment can also contribute to an Education Health and Care plan (England), Individual Development Plan (Wales) or needs assessment.

[Use one of the following if you can. 

My child is unable to make their own comments about this assessment request because they are very young/do not have sufficient communication skills. 

OR My child has said they would like to have the following provision in school; or has recognised they need specialist help. If your child has said anything about this, you can include it.]

Example

they would like to be able to go the playground, but they can’t get out by themselves.

 Yours faithfully

[Your name]

Here’s an example of a completed letter:

John Smith
1 Example Street
AB12 3CD

Director of Children’s Services
Forest Authority
ABC 1234

Dear Mr N Example

My child, Alfie Smith, date of birth 32.12.2026, has care and support needs related to their combined vision and hearing impairment.  My child is deafblind.  As their parent I am asking for an assessment of their care and support needs as a deafblind child in relation to the Children and Families Act 2014, more specifically the Deafblind Guidance assessment as specified in the Policy Guidance (2014) for care and support for deafblind children and adults. 

My child has cerebral vision impairment (CVI) and a sensorineural hearing loss.

They also have epilepsy and balance difficulties. 

Specifically, my child has

  • A vision difficulty measured at 6/36 meaning they see only very close to them.  They are registered as sight impaired. 
  • A 50dB sensorineural hearing loss for which they wear hearing aids.
  • Medication for epilepsy and a supported walking aid.

Because of these combined sensory impairments my child has the following difficulties with communication, access to information and mobility and orientation. 

Communication: my child cannot speak and uses a mixture of signs and gestures. 

This has the following impact: my child can’t join an after-school club because they can’t communicate with the others, my child can’t independently buy things in a café 

Access to information: my child cannot see pictures in books or see the TV properly. 

This has the following impact: my child can’t join the dance class because they can’t see and hear the instructor without help.  They can’t join in the sensory story at the library without support.

Orientation and mobility; my child can walk but can’t walk anywhere outside on their own, because they can’t see where they are going, and they can’t ask for help if they need it. 

This has the following impact: my child cannot be independent at all and cannot join in on the playground because they can’t get to it without help. 

As such, my child has a combined hearing and vision impairment which meets the criteria required for an assessment of their social care and support needs. I understand that this assessment needs to be carried out by a suitably qualified assessor. The National Sensory Impairment Partnership – NatSIP provide a list of some assessors who may be able to help if you do not currently have access to a suitably qualified assessor.  (https://www.natsip.org.uk/find-advisor).

This assessment will also contribute to an Education Health and Care plan or needs assessment so should be included in that.

Alfie can’t make their own comments about this assessment because their communication is not yet sufficient.  But I can see they get frustrated and upset when they are not able to join in. 

Yours faithfully

John Smith