The philosophy for supporting children and young people with MSI is summed up by Miles & Riggio (1997):
Individuals with MSI … "deserve to be heard and respected for what they have to say, however they say it – with language, with gesture, with movement, with voice, with hands, with eyes, with silence."
The combined effects of hearing and vision impairment impact profoundly upon a persons ability to gather information from the world around them because someone with multi-sensory impairment has less chance of their poorer senses being enhanced by another and so the adverse effects are greatly increased, more so than someone suffering from a single sensory loss of the same degree of impairment.
Advice and guidance is made available to parents and schools regarding beneficial strategies, establishing appropriate programmes and monitoring the development of communication.
The Qualified Teacher of MSI will aim to do the following:
- Provide learners with a structured programme leading to an appropriate means of communication
- Promote awareness and understanding of communication needs and methods
- Identify individual needs and abilities through an ongoing process of monitoring and review
The principles of the approach to engaging with learners with MSI, their families and schools are:
- Communication is the core aspect in the education and development of learners with MSI
- Communication development requires a consistent approach and should be an integral part of everyday life across all settings
- An acknowledgement that all MSI learners can and do communicate
If there are any questions regarding MSI please contact the Vision impairment service for further information.