“Children with a visual impairment often have low self concept. This is reinforced every day within the classroom situation when the visually impaired children need extended time to complete tasks, to be seated close to the board and apparent clumsiness in certain practical activities. As a result of this, visually impaired children need more positive encouragement than most in the ordinary classroom situation. Fear of failure and ridicule often make visually impaired children lazy and disinterested as they are afraid of taking risks.”
Elizabeth Chapman & Juliet Stone “The Visually
Handicapped Child in Your Classroom”
In the paediatric low vision, we find the main concerns coming from children are worries about standing out, not being able to pick up on social cues, and reduced efficiency. These issues can be very frustrating and slows their world down compared to their peers.
It is important to build their world view so that they feel less isolated and build their communication skills to be able to advocate for themselves in the future. We also look at ways to increase their speed, helping to ease both their frustrations and fatigue.
We have advised our parents and young people to consider:
Nystagmus is an eye condition that causes your eyes to wobble. This eye wobble can be horizontal (side to side), vertical (up and down) or pendular (rotational).
Stargardt’s Disease is an eye condition that affects your central vision. This happens because it affects the macula, which is the part of your eye that helps you see details.
Rod-cone dystophies are a group of eye conditions that affect the cells in your retina. The symptoms will depend on the type and severity of your rod-cone dystrophy.
Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) is a condition that affects your pigmentation. If you have OCA, you have a reduced amount of melanin or you may not have any melanin at all.
Achromatopsia is a condition that affects the cone cells in the retina. The retina helps turn light into signals that your brain can understand, and that's how you see the world around you.
Glaucoma is a group of conditions that affect the optic nerve. One of the main reasons for glaucoma in children is due to high pressure in the eye. This is called intraocular pressure or IOP.