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Funding to help buy equipment to support your child’s vision.
Guide Dogs assistive technology grants
Guide Dogs can help fund assistive technology for your child.
You can apply for funds for technology or sensory items where there’s no source of statutory funding, including:
- tablets, for example iPads
- braille devices
- laptops and specialist software
- video magnifiers (CCTV)
VICTA visual aid support grants
Victa supports children and young adults who are blind or partially sighted by providing grants that support the purchase of equipment to aid their visual impairment.
VICTA grant guidelines
You can apply for a grant if your child is:
- registered or are register-able blind or partially sighted
- up to and including 29 years old
- a permanent resident in the UK
All items supplied through the VICTA grant scheme are for home use only, not for school or college.
Organisations and websites that offer books and toys for children with vision impairment.
Toys for children with vision impairment:
- The Best Sensory Play Toys for Visually Impaired Kids | WonderBaby.org
- Sensory toys and play for your visually impaired child | VICTA Parent Portal (victaparents.org.uk) Go to https://www.victaparents.org.uk/toys-sensory-play/ (opens new window)
- Let's play! A guide with toy and play ideas for children with vision impairment - RNIB - See differently
Books for children with vision impairment:
What monocular vision is, how to help a pupil with monocular vision.
What monocular vision is
Monocular vision is vision in one eye only.
It can reduce:
- three-dimensional perception
- the peripheral visual field: approximately a fifth of the field of vision may be lost
- visual acuity: people generally see better with both eyes together than with either eye separately
Generally, people with monocular vision from birth have naturally adapted to this and don’t have significant difficulties. People who suddenly lose vision in one eye can have more difficulties.
People with monocular vision might find it difficult to:
- judge unfamiliar stairs, steps, curbs, slopes, uneven ground, and escalators (depth perception)
- take part in sports or any other activity involving judgment of speed, depth and direction, including oncoming traffic
- recognise three dimensional images: things may seem ‘flat’
How to help a pupil with monocular vision
Things that can help a pupil with monocular vision include:
- lighting: light helps with depth perception, so lights that create shadows for objects may give depth clues
- contrast: contrasting colour doorframes, reflective strips on the edges of stairs, or painting walls contrasting colours will help with depth perception
- positioning: consider where the pupil should sit in your seating plans, position yourself on the student's ‘good side’, and make sure most of the room is on their 'good side'
- attention gaining: you may be just outside of the pupil’s field of vision, so they won’t have picked up on visual clues. Say their name to attract their attention, and then talk to them.
- activities and games that involve catching and throwing: these can help a pupil begin to adjust in terms of where things are in relation to other objects and judging distances
- eye and head movements: these can compensate for field loss, for example, by moving the eyes or head from side to side a pupil can work out the width of a door and how to move safely
Pupils with monocular vision might also need help with:
- corridors: if walking down a narrow walkway, encourage the pupil to have their ‘blind side’ nearest to the wall
- landmarks: teach the pupil to notice permanent landmarks, to help them identify where they are
- road crossings: teach the pupil to look for and use controlled crossings
What hypermetropia is, how it affects vision, how to support pupils with hypermetropia.
Hypermetropia or longsight is usually characterised by being able to see better at long distance than short.
For clear and comfortable vision, light must be focused sharply on to the back of the retina at the back of the eye.
A hypermetropic eye has difficulty focusing the light from an object at short distance. Instead, the light focuses to a sharp point in behind the retina. The vision is then blurred.
If the object is taken further away from the eye, the image will become clearer.
At times, hypermetropia develops alongside or as a result of other eye conditions.
These include:
- glaucoma
- squint
- amblyopia
How hypermetropia affects vision
A child who is long sighted:
- will find it easier to see objects in the distance: for example, they may be able to see clearly when watching the television or looking at the whiteboard but may find reading a book difficult.
- may have to focus very hard to see near things clearly, which may cause eye strain and headaches
At school, they may:
- have difficulty seeing textbooks
- occasionally squint to see small detail in text and pictures
People with hypermetropia often find it difficult to quickly change focus from near to distance (and vice versa), such as when copying from the board.
What can be done to help
Spectacles or contact lenses are often prescribed to improve vision.
How to support students with hypermetropia
Students may need:
- clearly presented worksheets and reading materials with a good contrast between text image and background and, possibly enlarged or modified
- work to be presented on A4 rather than enlarge to A3: A3 size can be unwieldy and affect pixilation, blurring the content
- extra time to study objects, demonstrations and visual displays closely
- modified programmes for PE and Games, as fast moving team games may be difficult
- to sit near the front of the classroom or to one side, depending on the preferred angle of vision
- good levels of lighting, neither bright sunlight nor semi-darkness: the light source should come from behind the pupil and onto the object being viewed
- verbal descriptions of objects and displays which are outside the range of vision
- encouragement to use glasses, contact lenses and low vision aids
For more information, visit the:
What colour blindness or Colour Vision Deficiency (CVD) is, how it affects day-to-day life, how to support pupils with CVD.
Colour blindness, also known as Colour Vision Deficiency (CVD) is a condition in which certain colours cannot be distinguished.
It's most commonly due to an inherited condition.
Forms of CVD include:
- red and green CVD: by far the most common form, about 99%, it causes problems in distinguishing reds and greens
- blue and yellow CVD, which is rare
- total CVD: seeing in only shades of grey, which is extremely rare
CVD seems to occur in about:
- 8% to 12% of males of European origin
- one-half of 1% of females of European origin
There's no treatment for CVD.
CVD is not usually the cause of any significant disability. However, it can be frustrating for those affected by it.
Being colour blind can:
- keep a person from performing certain jobs
- make other jobs difficult
Day-to-day issues that CVD may cause
People with CVD might have problems with:
- colouring, for example when they have to use the blue crayon, not the pink one, to colour the ocean
- weather forecasts, where certain colours cannot be distinguished
- maps, because of the various subtle shades of colours generally used
- traffic lights and caution lights: colour blind people have to know the position of the colours on the traffic light
- colour observation by others, for example pointing at the colours of flowers
- clothing, for example matching an outfit
- observations during Science lessons
- cooking and foods: people with CVD might not be able to tell:
- whether a piece of meat is raw or well done
- the difference between green and ripe tomatoes
- the difference between ketchup and chocolate syrup
- some food, which can look unappetising to colour deficient individuals
How to support pupils with CVD
Ways to support pupils with CVD include:
- colouring pencils with the name of the colours written on the side
- on a map, features can be distinguished by photocopying the map in colour and marking the features in black or using a strong primary colour to show the area being focussed on
- using black font on the whiteboard, as opposed to yellows, reds, and so on
- using shading in graphs, charts, and whiteboards instead of requiring the student to see colour to disseminate the information
- labelling items that require colour recognition
- maximising colour contrast where possible, for example wall display background with the colour of the pages the children have done their work on
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