Room 3 - Delivery Room (Section 10 of 12)
Section 10 - Children with multiple disabilities and a visual impairment
Description of children with MDVI
Children with multiple disabilities and a visual impairment (MDVI) are a heterogeneous group. The term is used to describe a very wide range of children who may have quite different needs. In addition to a visual impairment, a child with MDVI could have one or more additional needs ranging from physical disabilities, speech difficulties, behavioural difficulties and learning difficulties. Children and young people with MDVI are educated in both special and mainstream schools. Those who participated in the study used the term MDVI inconsistently. Some participants used the term to refer to children with complex needs irrespective of educational setting, whilst others spoke of children with MDVI as those who are educated in special school settings (i.e. non-visual impairment special schools including schools for children with severe learning difficulties or physical disabilities).
Activity 24
Although the focus of the M&I research project was not primarily concerned with children who have MDVI, issues were raised about how best the M&I needs of these children can be met. Before reading on, you should first consider the extent to which your service, or a service known to you caters for the needs of children and young people with MDVI. You may also wish to note down at least three ways in which an M&I programme designed for a child with MDVI within a special school might differ from one designed for a child with a visual impairment within a mainstream school.
General issues
Issues for children with multiple disabilities and a visual impairment are not always addressed in policy terms, and several respondents felt that provision for children with MDVI was lacking or was not a priority in their authority. Many education services stated that mobility and independence support for children with MDVI was an area they would like to develop in the future.
Many Mobility Officers/Rehabilitation Officers, particularly those not employed by education, felt their training did not adequately (if at all) cover issues for children and young people with multiple disabilities and visual impairment, and that they needed additional training in order to provide an effective service to these children and young people.
Referral
One authority carried out mobility and independence education with children with MDVI only if they were ambulant or capable of some independence. Other authorities felt that although all children could benefit from mobility and independence support, they had to prioritise children who were capable of a minimum level of independence as working with some children is very time consuming. Often one of the criteria is that the visual impairment must be the child’s main disability.
In some authorities where another agency provides mobility and independence support, referrals for children in (non-visual impairment) special schools were not made since the Mobility Officer/Rehabilitation Officers were perceived not to have the necessary expertise in dealing with MDVI issues.
Assessment, programme design, and review
Any curriculum would need to be adapted for children with MDVI as their needs and abilities are so individual (as with any child with a visual impairment, but to a greater degree when a child has MDVI). A tight definition of mobility as ‘travel’ is likely to be inappropriate for some children with MDVI who will never be independently mobile or independent. The mobility and independence curriculum would therefore need a different emphasis for children with MDVI.
Intervention
A qualified teacher of the visually impaired may be the most appropriate professional to take responsibility for the delivery of the mobility and independence curriculum to children with MDVI as they can support other aspects of the child’s education at the same time. A team approach is important; there is often inter agency collaboration between the Mobility and Independence Educator and other specialists, such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists, in order to brainstorm ideas about how best to support children with MDVI.
The Mobility and Independence Educator may not always directly teach mobility and independence education to a child with MDVI. They may play a more advisory role to school staff who work closely with the child on a daily basis, as they have built up a close relationship with the child and have extensive knowledge about their abilities and needs.
Reinforcement of skills is particularly important for children with MDVI, as they may have difficulty in transferring skills to other situations or environments. Provision of mobility and independence education during school holidays may be even more important for children with MDVI to ensure continuity and prevent any setback in their progress.
Recommendations based upon good practice
Broad recommendations stemming from the research project are presented below. However, a particular recommendation is that further detailed research is required in this area.
Many of the recommendations developed from this research can be applied to the provision of mobility and independence to children with MDVI, in particular those relating to policies and procedures. However these must be sensitive to the particular needs of children with MDVI.
Many aspects of the mobility and independence curriculum recommended in this report are relevant to children with MDVI, in particular aspects of the curriculum relating to early and foundation mobility and independence. However, it is important to modify teaching methods and activities so that these are relevant and meaningful to children with MDVI. This may involve teaching idiosyncratic and unique techniques to enable children to achieve some level of independence in a functionally equivalent manner.
Previous Section - Next Section