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Vision impairment team

Who do we support?

We give general advice and resources to schools for pupils with less complex needs, whose vision is corrected by glasses.

We offer more targeted and specialist support to schools for pupils with a diagnosis of sight loss, where their vision is not fully corrected by glasses. Most pupils we work with are under the care of the ophthalmology department at the hospital.

The pupils we are likely to work with:

  • will be unable to read standard size, age appropriate text
  • will need enlarged text resources and a lot of adaptations made to the classroom
  • will need to be taught specialist skills to help with their learning such as braille, and need to learn independent living skills.

What can you expect from the service?

For a child under 5, support may take place in the home or pre-school setting. For a school aged child support will be provided in their place of education.

Preschool age

We:

  • work directly with children and families, consultants and medical staff on vision development
  • support families and settings during a child's transition to early years settings and school
  • suggest activities for your child, such as books and games which help to develop skills
  • provide guidance on how to develop your child's mobility and independent living skills through our habilitation specialists

DOVES:

DOVES is a pre-school group for children who are blind/ partially sighted. Its aim is to help families and carers to support the development of their child’s visual, mobility, social, communication and independence skills, so that they can start school with confidence. DOVES allows parents and carers to learn from specialist staff and each other and develop support networks early on.

DOVES happens in Welwyn Garden City, every 2 weeks during term time and are open to all pre-school children who are on caseload with our team.

At school

Our Specialist Advisory Teachers:

  • assess the child to identify need and provide tailored advice
  • teach pupils to read and write in Braille
  • provide technical support for pupils using sight loss equipment
  • advise how to modify resources and improve the classroom environment to help pupils learn alongside their classmates
  • offer ongoing training to staff, to give them the resources and skills they need to support their pupils with confidence.

How to refer

Sight loss is often identified at an early age or from birth, however some sight loss is diagnosed or acquired later on.

Referrals are almost always done by the ophthalmologist, or eye hospital. If the child is preschool age, the referral may be done by the health visitor. However, we can also accept a request for involvement from schools or parents:

Complete a service request form

ISL Baseline Assessment Form for School Staff only

All referrals must have signed parental consent.

You should include:

  • information about their sight loss diagnosis
  • how this affects them
  • details of their ophthalmologist and setting
  • any other additional needs
  • what you would like the outcome from the referral to be

What happens after the referral?

If your child is preschool age, a specialist advisory teacher will visit you at home. They may also visit your child in a nursery or pre-school setting, if they attend. The specialist advisory teacher may invite you to DOVES group, and will signpost you to other support as well. You may also receive support from our vision impairment early years specialists.

If your child is school age, a specialist advisory teacher will visit their place of education. After that the advisory teacher will send you and the school advice and strategies, and signpost to other support as appropriate.

Can any organisations support me?

Herts Vision loss

Supporting and empowering people in Herts with a visual impairment.

Victa

VICTA is a national charity that provides support to children and young adults from 0 to 29 who are blind or partially sighted and their families.

Page was last updated on: 09/04/2021 16:58:57

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