The Vision Impairment Support Team provide support for children and young people whose sight cannot be corrected solely by the wearing of glasses, and who have a vision impairment which has an impact on their education.
We're a team of 4 people:
- a Senior Teacher and Qualified Teacher for Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (QTVI)
- a Teacher
- 2 Specialist Teaching Assistants
The Senior Teacher and QTVI is Abi Hall, who you can contact on email: abi.hall@york.gov.uk.
- Vision Impairment Support service
- Vision Impairment Support Team referrals
- Specialist equipment
- Supporting your child
Vision Impairment Support service
As part of our service we:
- provide functional vision assessments
- attend meetings, including Education Health and Care Plan annual review meetings and multi-agency meetings
- liaise with parents and carers at home visits, via email and phone calls, as well as at meetings
- have a monthly playgroup for families living with vision impairment
- work with other agencies including MySight York, Guide Dogs, The Wilberforce Trust and the RNIB
We support your child through the different stages of life from pre-school right up to Further and Higher Education or employment, arranging familiarisation visits, environmental audits, staff training, advice on classroom management strategies, advice on managing learning environment, ICT assessments and recommendations along with one-to-one and small group interventions.
We provide support to assist the development of independence and mobility skills, and provide advice and training for families and school staff to assist the development of these skills.
When visiting schools, settings or homes, the team will always wear a City of York staff badge with photograph.
All members of the Specialist Teaching Team have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, and attend regular safeguarding training.
See further information about the Specialist Teaching Vision Support Team.
Visit the Local Offer to find out what is available in York for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
Vision Impairment Support Team referrals
We accept referrals directly from NHS professionals who believe a child or young person has a vision impairment that would benefit from our support service,
If you have a concern regarding your child’s vision, please ask your GP for a referral to the Eye Clinic, who will assess your child’s vision. If appropriate, and with your permission, they will make a referral to the Vision Impairment Support Team.
Specialist equipment
There may be specialist equipment which is important for your child to cater for their vision impairment.
We're able to provide advice and training to you and your child’s school or setting on the use of equipment such as mainstream technology with accessibility options enabled and specialist, assistive technology, including refreshable braille displays.
Supporting your child
It's important that, wherever possible, your son or daughter is included in decisions about the support we offer.
Your child will be invited to attend review meetings, where their views will be sought. Your child’s views will also be discussed during monitoring visits. We're able to help your child with social and emotional wellbeing and development, through local groups and organisations.