Teachers of vision and multi-sensory impaired children and young people
Teachers of vision and multi-sensory impaired children and young people
Teachers of vision or multi-sensory impaired children and young people support babies, children and young people in their homes, nurseries, pre-schools, primary and secondary schools and colleges.
We support young people up to the age of 25 if they are still in education.
Support we provide
Our team can:
- advocate for vision or multi-sensory impaired children and young people
- inform parents to help make decisions for their child’s education
- explain audiograms and talk about hearing loss and its impact
- assess and monitor needs – academic, social, emotional
- teach and support in or out of the classroom, nursery or home
- write reports for annual reviews
- share knowledge, information and develop skills of educational staff
- present vision and multi-sensory impaired awareness training
- provide technical support for example assistive listening devices (ALD)
- carry out environmental audits
- share information about local and national support groups
Working with other professionals
We also work together with other professionals including:
- ophthalmologists
- health visitors
- paediatricians
- educational psychologists
- other therapists
- social care
- other local authority teams for example the early years specialist teachers and Portage
- VIEW
Accessing the service
Referral
Children and young people with a vision impairment are often referred to us by Eye clinic liaison officers, optometrists or ophthalmologists. They can also be referred by parents, early year settings and schools with supporting clinical information.
Referrals for children and young people on SEN support (without an EHCP) need to be send to our Inclusion teams:
North - Fylde, Wyre and Lancaster
Tel: 01524 581 200
Email: Inclusion.North@lancashire.gov.uk
South - Chorley, South Ribble, West Lancashire and Preston
Tel: 01772 531 597
Email: Inclusion.South@Lancashire.gov.uk
East - Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, Burnley and Pendle
Tel: 01254 220 553
Email: Inclusion.East@lancashire.gov.uk
Once we receive the referral we contact either the parent carer or the educational setting to arrange support.
For children and young people with an EHC plan funding is delegated to schools. It is school's responsibility to arrange access to specialist teachers of vision and multi-sensory impaired children and young people in line with the needs and provision outlined in their EHCP. Schools can buy in this support through the Specialist Teaching Service: packages of support.
Funding
For information about funding for early years see: