Treatment
Treatment varies depending upon the condition present and is specifically covered in the links listed on the 'Clinical Features' page of this guidance.
Services for visually impaired children
If a child has severe visual impairment, the local authority is informed. Local authorities employ specialist teachers and Rehabilitation Officers called ROVICs (Rehabilitation Officers Visually Impaired Children) who provide support to visually impaired children and their parents. Some Rehabilitation Officers work for voluntary organisations for the visually impaired.
Rehabilitation officers can provide support and training in:
- Crossing of roads, independent travel,
- Cooking and other activities of daily living,
- Use of magnifiers and low vision aids,
- Modifications to the home to make them more accessible,
- Advice to parents about support groups, societies, clubs, benefits, travel concessions, car badge schemes etc,
- Counselling or referral to counselling services.
Examples of voluntary organisations who work with visually impaired children include:
- Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) http://www.rnib.org.uk
- National Blind Children’s Society (NBCS) http://www.nbcs.org.uk/
- Vision Aid http://www.visionaid.org.uk/
- LOOK http://www.look-uk.org/
- Sense – the National Deaf/blind and Rubella Association http://www.sense.org.uk
Many visually impaired children can be successfully integrated into mainstream schools, while special schools may be more helpful for children with additional learning difficulties.
