Vision Support Team
Habilitation
The IPaSS Habilitation Team deliver training to children and young people who have a vision impairment. Habilitation refers to the teaching, monitoring and evaluation of Mobility and Orientation and Independent Living Skills. Training focuses on individual children and their family’s specific set of needs at any time during the early years or throughout their education. The team also complete Risk Assessments and Access Audits relevant to the child’s learning program and educational establishment.
Mobility & Orientation refers to skills and techniques that enable a child or young person to explore, move or travel safely and as independently as possible and includes teaching pre-cane and long cane skills where this is appropriate. Independent Living Skills includes any activity which a child or young person would be expected to be able to carry out at a certain age or stage of their development. Within both areas a wide range of skills and techniques can be taught from the basic to the complex. The focus is always on the child’s specific set of needs, their age and ability.
The outcome of Habilitation training is for the child to achieve their full potential and become as independent as possible. Broader outcomes specifically for children who have a vision impairment, as taken from the Quality Standards (2022) include: The maximum degree of independent living, the maximum degree of independent travel and mobility, emotional well-being, including self-confidence and self-esteem, the maximum degree of social inclusion, competence in the use of any specialist Habilitation tools as aids to mobility and independence, the ability to be able to assess risks and anticipate areas of personal difficulty in mobility and independent living.
The IPaSS Team who deliver Habilitation training have successfully completed The Graduate Diploma: Specialist Qualification in Habilitation and Disabilities of Sight (Children and Young People) through the Institute of Education, University College London. The team also attend continued professional development through membership of the professional body Habilitation VI UK. This has helped to ensure that IPaSS have a Habilitation Team who can continually meet the quality standards whilst delivering an up-to-date and comprehensive Habilitation provision.
Further details about some of the training we offer can be seen in the IPaSS Habilitation Provision information booklet or by contacting the Resource Lead Co-ordinator at IPaSS.
