New video shows how the world looks like to vision impaired children and young people

Date posted: 21st October 2021

A new video, just launched by Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT), simulates how the world to children and young people with vision impairment.

Created for professionals who work with vision impaired children and their families, the video simulates five common sight conditions in an educational setting. It aims to raise awareness and understanding of each condition, how it affects a young person and tips to support them.

 

TPT’s Head of Education, Tara Chattaway said: “Every child will experience a sight condition differently, sometimes a condition will fluctuate throughout the day.

 

“We hope this video will help people working with vision impaired young people and their families better understand these conditions and support these young people to flourish in and out of the classroom.”

 

The video is the sequel to TPT’s popular video What do we see? How the world looks to blind and partially sighted people.  It uses augmented reality to show the world through the eyes of children and young people with Nystagmus, Retinitis Pigmentosa, Cataracts, Retinopathy of Prematurity and Optic Atrophy.

 The video is relevant for anyone working with children in an educational setting including teachers, Qualified Teachers of the Vision Impaired (QTIV’s), Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO), Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO’s) and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities professionals (SEND) as well as the sight loss sector and families of vision impaired children.

 

Tara added: “I want to say a huge thank you to the Nystagmus Network, RNIB and Dr Lola Solebo at Great Ormond Street Hospital for their input into the creation of the video. But also, to the staff and pupils at North Bromsgrove High School & Sixth Form in Worcester who are the absolute stars of the show.”

 

The 17-minute video shows each of the five conditions, with increasing severity overlaid with a simulation onto moving footage in a mainstream secondary school. Each simulation has a narration describing the condition in terms of cause, symptoms and effects and treatments and learning strategies.

 

It is available to watch as one continuous video or by selecting a condition or conditions that is most relevant. What do we see? 2- How the world looks to vision impaired children and young people is available on the TPT YouTube channel.

 

Find out more information about the five common eye conditions in children and young people on the TPT website