Parents » SEND/Inclusion » SEND Parent Zone » Visual Impairment
Sight is a powerful sense; providing instant access to information to help understand the world around us. It plays a vital part in children’s play and in their development of language and social skills.
Vision impairment creates unique challenges to learning that can only be addresed with specialist knowledge and understanding. Children and young people with vision impairment are a small but diverse population and many have different needs to their peers.
It can be overwhelming in the early stages, but there is lots of support available to help families with children who have vision impairment – you are not alone.
If you are learning from home with your child, there are hints and tips to support a child with visual impairment in the home - click here for more information.
| VICTA – Visually Impaired Children Taking Action ‘VICTA’ is a national charity that brings together children with visual impairment as well as their families to exchange experiences and obtain mutual support through: - Online groups on Facebook and Twitter (for children and young people with visual impairment, parents and siblings) - monthly newsletters - family weekends with information sessions for parents, activities for children with visual impairment and their siblings (like mountain climbing and kayaking) and a space to meet other young people and families and talk about things that bother you. VICTA provides grant-giving schemes to children and young people (up to age 25) for specialist equipment for home-use or vacation schemes. Their website provides further links to national charities, condition-specific charities, specialist equipment suppliers and local blind associations, which provide nationwide services, condition-specific information and local support services. Information and contact details: Tel: 01908 240831 Email: admin@victa.org.uk Website: www.victa.org.uk |
| Living Paintings - This is a free postal library service of tactile books with audio description, which makes the experience of pictures and images accessible and enjoyable for people with visual impairment. They also provide: - Living Picture Books (tactile and braille versions of wellknown children’s books) and special interest books that supplement the school curriculum for children and young people - Services for galleries and libraries across the U.K. to make art more accessible for visitors who are visually impaired, by providing their ‘Bat Service’ – relief images with Braille headings. Information and contact details: Phone: 01635 299 771 Email: info@livingpaintings.org Website: www.livingpaintings.org |
| British Computer Association of the Blind, a charity which actively promotes the use of computers and technology at home, in work and in education. Information and contact details: Phone: 0845 643 9811 Email: info@bcab.org.uk Website: www.bcab.org.uk |