Functional Assessment of Vision
Thursday 8 and Friday 9 March
Minimising the Impact of Visual Problems On Learning
Dr Jennifer Skillen - Research Orthoptist, Monklands Hospital
Lanarkshire Orthoptic ASL Project : Orthoptic Project Group : 3 Orthoptists
Gladys Henderson
Jennifer Skillen
Jillian Campbell
Visibility
Shelagh Palmer
Valerie Breck
VIScotland
John Ravenscroft
Project Aims Visual Problems + Learning
- To identify the number of children who could benefit from a comprehensive service.
- To evaluate the current service.
- To consult with parents, children and teachers about their past experiences and future expectations.
- To explore models of service in other health boards.
- To review current thinking and best practice quoted in the literature
- To design an orthoptic report for children with visual impairment.
- To make recommendations for both the short and long term.
Project Design
- Questionnaires
Parents, teachers and orthoptists working across Scotland - Focus Groups
Parents, Teachers - Semi-structured Interviews
Professionals from health, social care and education and a sample of parents
Commonalities: Minimising impact relies on four things
- Recognition and identification of a barrier to learning
- Accessing services to investigate nature of barrier
- Sharing of information with parents and other relevant professionals
- Formulation of a common strategy to overcome
barrier.
Areas identified by Project
- Communication problems –
parents and between clinicians and education professionals - Limited access
to comprehensive service
lack of multidisciplinary approach - Informal sharing of information
success dependent on personalities involved - No dedicated referral pathway
- Inconsistencies across different sites re assessments and information sharing
- Inconsistent awareness and knowledge of VI
Health + Education VI – current situation
Health
- Identify condition
- Give treatment/monitor as necessary
- Measure thresholds of vision
- Understand problems of visual acuity and visual fields to aid identification of problem/condition
Education
- Know a child has VI
- Find out what they are able to see
- Use strategies to aid learning – large print/braille
- ? Need additional help with magnification
Sharing of information - Teacher's response
‘Difficulties can arise when parents fail to keep appointments or feedback information’
‘The school would welcome closer working relationship with the service. There may be more pupils in the school with VI but we may not be aware until a situation arises in which the problem has implications’.
Strategies to improve VI
- Development of a new orthoptic reporting form
copies to be distributed to parents and teachers - information to be child
specific
include simple day-day strategies to make life easier for the child - Instigate
joint vision assessment of children with VI in school setting
VI teacher and orthoptist
Strategies to improve VI +
- Development of a MDT for children with VI and complex needs
- Development of a key worker for VI
to guide parents through system and liase between health and education - Low Visual aid assessment within the locality for each child who may benefit
Health + Education VI – current service
Health
- Identify condition
- Give treatment/monitor as necessary
- Measure thresholds of vision
- Understand problems of visual acuity and visual fields to aid identification of problem/condition
Education
- Know a child has VI
- Find out what they are able to see
- Use strategies to aid learning - large print/braille
- ? Need additional help with magnification
Health + Education VI – proposed service
Health
- Identify condition
- Give treatment/monitor as necessary
- Measure thresholds of vision
- Understand problems of visual acuity and visual fields to aid identification of problem/condition
Education
- Know a child has VI
- Find out what they are able to see (functional vision clinics)
- Use strategies to aid learning – large print/braille
- ? Need additional help with magnification
Visual Impairment Assessment
