I have recently had a number of meetings in Parliament with organisations supporting people with sight loss, including attending an event organised by Guide Dogs, highlighting the impact of vision impairment on young people’s education.
It was fascinating to learn more about the charity’s All Things Equal campaign, and I was grateful for the opportunity to hear young people and their families discuss the challenges they face in the education system. I also could not resist saying hello to Kelsey the guide dog.
Academic outcomes for children with sight loss are significantly behind their peers in terms of academic attainment, with the All Things Equal campaign calling for greater recognition of vision impairment throughout the Special Educational Needs & Disability (SEND) system.
Recent research conducted for Guide Dogs highlights the importance of ensuring that teachers are given the support they need, to have the confidence that they have the right skills to support disabled children including those who have a vision impairment, to reach their full potential.
The charity is urging for an enhanced priority to be given to the role of specialist professionals, in addition to greater support being provided at an earlier stage of children’s education to prevent young people with sight loss from falling behind.
We need to ensure children get the support they need as a lack of help at a young age can have an effect in later life.
I am always pleased to meet with Guide Dogs, and I have recently been liaising with them over transport provision in Crawley. I was glad to receive confirmation from Network Rail that all train stations in Sussex will shortly have tactile surfaces fitted on their platforms.
Also recently I found out more about the Braille Bricks programme; a partnership between the RNIB and Lego which helps young people with vision impairment learn Braille.
This was an insightful opportunity to try out these bricks for myself and to learn more about the RNIB’s work in this area.
It was interesting to hear about how the Braille Bricks teach Braille to children who are blind or have a vision impairment.
Each brick keeps the traditional Lego shape, while the studs are placed to correspond to letters and numbers in the Braille alphabet.
The pieces show the printed version of the symbol or letter, therefore enabling sighted and blind children to play and learn together.
Equality of opportunity for all is an essential mission and one I will continue to pursue through my representations in Parliament.
Henry Smith MP