Referrals to us
Resources for referrers
- Guidelines for Cochlear Implant referrals – for professionals working in an ENT or Audiology field
- Go to our Training Programme pages to see what upcoming courses we have for local professionals.
Resources for professionals supporting our service users
Take a Virtual Tour of our clinic
Social stories
For professionals and families supporting children and adults who struggle with changes to their routines, and who perhaps do not have the language skills to understand what a visit to the Cochlear Implant Centre will involve, we highly recommend creating a personalised Social Story. Although Social Stories were originally created to support people with autism, they are widely and successfully used with a wide range of people with communication difficulties.
A Social Story is sometimes misunderstood as an “instruction manual” to tell the person what they should do. It’s not. A Social Story is a way of interpreting what might be unguessable about a situation for the person, an additional communication channel to reassure and support them in an unfamiliar task in an unfamiliar environment. A Social Story might include a couple of suggested choices of action, but mostly it will explain the context in an accessible way.
Below please find some images of the Implant Centre rooms and equipment which you are very welcome to use for Social Stories and other support material for your pupils. If you need any additional or more specific images (for example, pictures of the staff who see the person you support most often), or more specific information about what a visit to the Implant Centre might entail, please contact Amy Stephens by emailing ais@southampton.ac.uk
Please feel free to use these images for your own social story by right clicking and pressing ‘Save image as’
