STA assessments for vision impaired students
Our team assess the support your child or young person needs to access learning.
We regularly assess the functional vision of your
child. This means how they manage day to day life and how their vision
impairment affects their life and learning.
Observations and visits
We will observe the child playing or learning and talk to parents, carers and those who work with the child.
Assessments are very informal in the early stages. We play games and activities with the child to stimulate their vision and assess the impact on the child due to their vision loss. We can even use their own toys as part of the assessment. We use brightly coloured objects for babies, and when the child is older we use black and white pictures.
When the child is of school age and old enough to read letters, they are tested with letters using various print sizes.
We will assess your child's vision at least every year.
Your child will be assessed by one of our teachers called a Qualified Teacher for Vision Impairment or QTVI for short. Your child will be supported by a QTVI from 0 to 25 years as long as they remain in education. If your child has severe or profound vision impairment, we may refer you to a member of our team called a Qualified Habilitation Specialist. They will assess the mobility and independence needs of your child.
Sharing your assessment information
After assessing the child, if they meet our
criteria for involvement, a new referral report is written and shared with you
and other professionals who may work with your child. We usually do this after
one visit but if the child is very young, we may make several visits to the
family before writing a report.