Sense (charity) - Other Information

Other Information

Branches are groups of people who are interested in deafblindness and other associated disabilities who come together to offer each other mutual support. They can campaign for services and the needs of deafblind people, share information, experiences and ideas and have fun socialising together.

Sense campaigns with deafblind people and their families. Sense supports deafblind people to campaign for themselves, is involved in European campaigning and undertakes campaigns on specific issues affecting older people, children and families.

Some deafblind people will use the support of a person known as a Communicator Guide. They act as the eyes and ears of a deafblind person and are trained to provide one-to-one communication support and guiding. The communicator guide's role is to provide practical help with every-day tasks such as shopping, dealing with mail.

Early intervention is vitally important for deafblind children. In the past, the age at which deafblindness is confirmed has varied widely. The introduction of Newborn Hearing Screening (for all babies) makes it much more likely that deafblind children will be identified when they are still very young babies.

Sense provides a range of support and advice in this area including: choosing the right school, supporting children with special educational needs and working with teaching professionals.

Sense organises holidays that give deafblind people the chance to get away from it all, taste new experiences and have a lot of fun! These holidays also give families a much-needed break from the often-demanding work of supporting a deafblind person.

Sense provides an advice service that is open to deafblind people, their families, professionals working with deafblind people and anyone who has a general enquiry about Sense or any aspect of deafblindness. Individuals who are looking for support or services will be put in touch with the appropriate Sense office. Enquires by telephone, textphone, email and letter accepted.

Sense has created a range of accommodation choices in the community to offer individuals the support they need to live as independently as possible and in the way that they choose.

Sense offers specialist assessments, advice and training on all aspects of working with deafblind and multi-sensory impaired people.