Sensory disability care

The care consists of:

• setting a diagnosis
• care aimed at learning to live with the impairment from a psychological viewpoint
• care that removes or compensates the impairment, thereby increasing your self-reliance

The care also includes 'secondary' treatment of the people close to you. They will be learning certain skills, so they can help you. This is also covered by your health insurance

When do you qualify for reimbursement?

Impaired vision
This is subject to:

• visual acuity of < 0.3 in the best eye;
• range of vision < 30 degrees; or
• visual acuity between 0.3 and 0.5 in the best eye in combination with related, serious impairments in the daily functioning.

Impaired hearing
You are entitled to care if:

• you suffer from a threshold loss in the audiogram of at least 35 dB, obtained by averaging the hearing loss at frequencies of 1000, 2000 and 4000 Hz, or
• you suffer from a threshold loss in excess of 25 dB when measuring in accordance with the Fletcher index, the average loss at frequencies of 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz.

Speech and linguistic difficulties
You qualify for this type of care if you no more than 22 years old. You need to suffer from serious difficulty in acquiring your native language due to neurobiological and/or neuropsychological factors. Other (psychiatric, physiological, neurological) issues need to be subordinate to the language development disorder.

An admission for sensory disability care is subject to our written consent prior to the admission commencing. You must enclose a (copy of the) treatment plan with your application.

Referral needed

You need an initial referral from a medical specialist or a clinical physical audiologist. You need a second or subsequent referral from a medical specialist, clinical physical audiologist, youth doctor or general practitioner. A second or subsequent referral is not required if you have a visual impairment and the following conditions are met:

• you previously received sensory disability care for your visual impairment
• there has been a change in your medical or personal situation, as a result of which you have a new requirement for treatment
• the healthcare provider who provides the sensory disability care establishes that your treatment requirement is non-complex and can be dealt with in a short programme, the so-called care programme 11
• If you're under 18 and your new requirement for treatment is a predictable consequence of growing up

Reimbursement of sensory disability care

By virtue of the basic health insurance, you are entitled to sensory disability care.