Meeting the needs of children with glue ear

What is glue ear?

Glue ear refers to a build-up of fluid in the middle ear section (behind the ear drum). This can result in a temporary hearing loss.

Glue ear affects up to 20% of pre-school and reception aged children at any one time, and up to 80% of all children before the age of 10 years. Glue ear usually resolves spontaneously within 3 months. However, 30-40% of children have recurrent episodes and 5-10% of episodes last for more than a year.

During this time, and without appropriate awareness and support, glue ear can also have a significant impact on a child's language development and educational attainment.

Some groups of children are known to be at risk of having long-term glue ear, eg those born with a cleft palate or Down's syndrome.

Help available

Virtual School Sensory Support is offering a virtual training session via TEAMS, free of charge, to ensure that people working with children have a basic understanding of glue ear, its prevalence and impact, and giving ideas on how to create a deaf friendly environment and strategies to support children with glue ear.

Session: Glue Ear Training
Audience: Teachers, Teaching Assistants, SENDCos
Date & time: Thursday 13 May 2021, 4pm to 6pm
Where: online via MS TEAMS
Trainer: Delyth Crook, Educational Audiologist

For more information and to register, please email sensorysupport@norfolk.gov.uk