View report page

Audiology Unit
The Audiology Unit is within the curtilage of Blanche Nevile School and there is excellent co operation between
the medical and teaching staff. Three sessions are held each week.
The medical team consists of a Consultant Otologist, medical officers, and three audiometricians. There is
regular supervision of pre school children with hearing defects and school children with hearing loss who attend
ordinary schools. Pre school children with hearing loss are admitted where possible to day nurseries, play groups
and where necessary to the nursery class at the Blanche Nevile School. Many of these children wear hearing
aids and those not attending Blanche Nevile School are supervised by two full-time peripatetic teachers who work
in close co-operation with Dr. L. Fisch, the Consultant Otologist.
Dr. Fisch reports as follows on the year's work at the unit: —
"The past year was an extremely busy one. Strenuous efforts were made to keep the waiting list in manageable
proportions.
The investigation and assessment of children with hearing impairment is becoming more complex, a greater
number of people with special skills are involved and investigations are more complicated. Consequently, the
administration of the unit is also more difficult and extra help and additional resources are required on that side
to cope with the work and maintain our high standing. In spite of the difficulties, we were able to maintain the
high standard of the audiology service during the past year.
We were fortunate to have a full complement of peripatetic teachers — 2 for Haringey, 1 for Enfield, 2 for
Barnet. The teachers work with great enthusiasm and dedication. Training of children with hearing impairment,
of pre-school age or who manage in normal schools, is intensive.
Children who are in the School for the Deaf or the special units for the partially hearing are regularly assessed.
During the past year it was almost always possible for the appropriate class-teacher to be present during the
examination. This was a great advantage.
Parent/Teacher meetings were held regularly at least once a term. At one meeting two former pupils of the
School for the Deaf — girls in their late teens/early twenties, both in responsible jobs and one of whom is
married — came to talk to the meeting about their work and experiences.
A considerable amount of teaching has been carried out at the clinic during the year. Student teachers from the
London University Course for training teachers of the deaf, student health visitors, speech therapists, doctors,
student midwives, audiometricians and other personnel attended, either in small groups or individually.
Important new equipment was acquired at the end of the year. Most outstanding is an impedence meter which
enables us to measure the middle ear pressure and movements of the ear drum, and helps in the detection of
middle ear disorders.
/ am very grateful that, also at the end of the year, work commenced on building a new waiting room and
toilet and in the examination room a one-way viewing window was incorporated for better accommodation of
visitors and consequent improved standard of audiological work.
Our audiometricians attended a day course in advanced techniques at Manchester University. The work of the
audiometricians is outstanding.
The Instruction booklets prepared in co-operation with the Health Education Section have proved to be
extremely successful. / am extremely grateful to Health Education Section. Several thousand copies have been
sold and the booklets are used in many audiology centres throughout the country and even overseas.
In July 1973, a very successful two-day course on "The Detection of Hearing Defects in the Infant and Preschool
Child" was held for health visitors from Haringey and surrounding Boroughs, in co-operation with the
Health Education Section of the Health Department and teaching staff of the Education Department."