This article was written by Sarah (chairperson) about some of the eductational frustrations faced by parents with visually impaired children. It was published in the Look Newsletter, and caused some backlash!

Education - a right or a fight?

I am proud Mum to a 4 year old boy called Lucas. He is smart, funny, talented and beautiful. Oh, and he also happens to be blind. To us as parents, that’s the order of priorities when describing Lucas, but to others the ‘blindness’ is number one. Infact, I have even heard him described as “the little blind boy” by educational professionals!

In many ways, we are through the hardest times: We finally have diagnoses, medications and doctors we pretty much trust, although this is (as for many families) an ongoing process. We have learned Braille, we have moved to a suitable house and Lucas now walks and talks non-stop.; yet, it feels like the ongoing battle for support and basic rights to education will go on forever.

We are lucky to be able to take Lucas to a specialist nursery for the blind once a week (although it is a 4 hour round trip), and we take him to a local pre-school 3 times a week.  We have won our battle to have him ‘backyeared’ although as I’m sure lots of parents know, this is not an easy position to secure!  However; the specialist nursery (which I feel I must reiterate is FOR the blind) say that it is not a suitable school environment for our son, because he is “too bright”  and they only have places for children with other severe disabilities alongside V I,. Our local schools have no idea how to support a child who has no vision through the curriculum.  Our decision as parents is arguably enviable, as we can take our pick from any school thanks to the statementing process; though it seems we are not looking for the “best school”, but to find the least bad school for him.  The policy of inclusion seems to have produced a system that works for nobody!  Fantastic specialist schools are shrinking and closing, yet these ‘inclusive’ schools will have maybe one, or at best two children with similar problems  therefore clearly do not have the expertise or experience needed.  The peripatetic teachers for visually impaired are over stretched,are in constant battle with parents about the simple matter of specifying hours given to the child on a statement and they are also expected to give time to the usually under trained one to ones and mobility workers; plus adapting materials  This is all spread over a large area, and putting resources time and money into separate schools in the area. How can it be a good idea to close specialist schools, when the inclusive system is as yet untested?  Every professional I have asked who deals with visual impaired children states that whilst infant and junior school is often achievable for a severely visually impaired child, secondary school is usually the time that our children move back into specialist schools.  What will we do when Lucas is 11?  I’m not sure any of these schools (with quantifiable success in terms of grades and life-skills) will still be available!  When will people finally admit that wholesale inclusion is a mistake and start the costly and timely business of reopening these wonderful schools?  The sooner the better, for Lucas’ sake.

So; we struggle along, correcting mistakes as they happen and not being able to relax about Lucas’ educational future.  Our TVI is fantastic and has supported our family since Lucas’ diagnosis but she cannot be there for him every day in a school setting, and if I had my way, she would be.  How can a class teacher, with up to 30 children, devote the time and energy and planning needed to teach a blind child?  S/he can’t,  So the job goes to a teaching assistant; the clue is in the name – they are NOT Teachers. Often these teaching assistants are thoughtful, and thorough and offer more than we should have to ask of them, but what training are they given?  Lucas will be a Braille reader, and he is already working on his pre-Braille skills, yet he cannot do this in the pre-school setting because no one there can Braille.  Yet, as time moves on, we are expected to hand over more responsibility to the pre-school to prepare him for school.  Would any parent send their child to a pre-school where the staff can’t read and write?  I think not, yet that is what is expected of us.  Then, if we push for more training and commitment from staff, we are seen as ‘controlling; and ‘interfering’.  The only reason we send Lucas to an inclusive pre-school is to play with other children,yet, as is often the case, he gets removed from the setting to have ‘mobility’ sessions, or ‘pre-braille’ sessions when the TVI can spare the time;this seems to me a nonsense.  We want him there to play with children – we can do the rest now!  We Braille everything, we make books with him, we plan trips that will stimulate him and we provide him with the best possible environment for learning.  More and more parents are choosing to home educate their children, and it wouldn’t surprise me if a large number of VI kids are home schooled. Surely this sends out a message that we aren’t happy with the educational choices for our kids!  Personally my arguments against home schooling for Lucas are the same as apply to 1:1’s – I’m NOT a Teacher, nor did I ever want to be one, but I truly believe that Lucas will not achieve his full potential in an inclusive school setting and that unless things change dramatically, I will end up home educating him.

I am lucky enough to have a network of friends with VI kids, and whilst we share the highs as well as the lows, a subjects that comes up again and again are statementing and education. As parents, we have likely already learned and pushed and fought for our kids to be properly diagnosed and treated, then – just when those battles are nearing completion, it starts again with education!  The parents I know are very well versed in the whole statementing process, and we have to be, because LEA’s do not provide the advice and support that they should, and it is often the parents who write the thing in it’s final stage, after having ground the LEA’s down so much that they will pretty much agree to anything.  Is this fair?  No. Will it change? sadly, I think not.  As parents we have to combine forces and work out strategies for our childrens futures, and it’s tiring and frustrating and incredibly sad.  As families, we will all have dealt with an awful lot, and perhaps it’s time that the professionals and the policies looked to support rather than hinder us in our goal to make life better for our very special children.