Lisa Reynolds (PG Diploma)

Last year I was successful in applying for the English Speaking Union’s Walter Page Hines Scholarship, a prestigious award designed to promote transatlantic learning and cultural understanding between the UK and America.

Only two scholarships are awarded in the UK each year, with recipients able to travel to America to research a communication project of their choosing.

My research proposal was entitled ‘Education in the Information Age: Enhancing Communication via Non-Visual Assistive Technology Access for Children and Young People with Vision Impairment’. I flew to California and researched how programmes for visually impaired people are designed and delivered at institutions including California School for the Blind; Lighthouse for the Blind, in San Francisco; and San Francisco State University. I was also able to attend the Getting in Touch with Literacy Conference in Alabama.

I work at SenCom VI Service, a regional team supporting five local authorities across South East Wales, who were also very supportive in allowing me the time to attend. Technology plays a vital role in how we empower Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (CYPVI) to access learning and communicate alongside their sighted peers, and seeing the models used in the United States to support and train CYPVI and teachers was incredibly inspiring. I returned with a wealth of ideas on how to embed this good practice into my own work.

I also created a blog of my trip which can be accessed online.