Compact guide – Supporting the inclusion of children and young people with vision impairment

DR RACHEL HEWETT, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, CO-DIRECTOR OF VISION IMPAIRMENT CENTRE FOR TEACHING AND RESEARCH, SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM, UK

Context

Children with vision impairment are a low-incidence yet high-needs group. They are also heterogenous – a wide range of conditions can affect vision in various ways, such as peripheral vision loss, central vision loss, sensitivity to light and glare, and vision-processing issues – and around 50 per cent of this population has additional needs (RNIB, 2023). Together, this means that universal approaches for supporting the inclusion of these children often need to be combined with individual adjustments (McLinden et al., 2023).

Ongoing support of children with vision impairment is typically overseen by Qualified Teachers of Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (QTVIs) – qualified teachers who have taken specialist training to support such children from birth to young adulthood (Thomas Pocklington Trust, nd (a)). Children may also receive support from a habilitation specialist, who provides one-to-one training to develop mobility, orientation and independence skills (Thomas Pocklington Trust, nd (b)).

What do teachers need to know?

Vision impairment education has a dual role: supporting educational inclusion of children (‘access to learning’) and helping them to develop the skills that they need to become as independent as possible over time (‘learning to access’) (McLinden et al., 2016).

The Curriculum Framework for Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (CFVI) was developed to support the implementation of this dual access model (Hewett et al., 2025). Its holistic perspective covers the broad range of skills and experiences that the child will need to access learning and become as independent as possible. Research tells us how important this is to enable this population to reach their potential in adulthood (Hewett et al., 2020).

The CFVI is organised around 11 areas:

1. facilitating an inclusive world
2. sensory development
3. communication
4. literacy
5. habilitation: orientation and mobility
6. habilitation: independent living skills
7. accessing information
8. technology
9. health: social, emotional, mental and physical wellbeing
10. social, sports and leisure
11. preparing for adulthood.

The importance of social and educational inclusion (‘access to learning’) is recognised in Area 1, which acknowledges educators’ role as facilitators and advocates for children and young people with vision impairment. Areas 2 to 11 cover interventions that such children may require at different points (‘learning to access’). For example, Area 11 covers specialist input to careers education, information and guidance. This might include helping young people to use assistive technology to search and apply for jobs, ensuring that they know how to disclose their impairment, or helping with arrangements to ensure that a placement is accessible.

While specialists are responsible for teaching these skills, those supporting the child day to day are responsible for developing them further. For example, a specialist teacher may be responsible for teaching a child to touch type, but their classroom teacher is responsible for helping them to use and develop these skills further in their lessons. Similarly, a habilitation specialist may help a child to develop mobility and orientation skills, but the school is responsible for ensuring that the environment is adjusted for them to be able to use these skills safely and effectively.

Action points for teachers

While the CFVI covers specialist support needed by children and young people with vision impairment, it is designed to be used by everyone who is involved in supporting the child. One way it does this is by supporting collaboration between specialist and non-specialist educators, ensuring that they have a shared understanding of the priorities in supporting the child and who is responsible for what. This might mean:

1. Engaging with specialists and their guidance to understand how to create an inclusive learning environment. This could include adjusting lighting, providing electronic learning materials and ensuring that information is communicated clearly without reliance on visual cues.
2. Collaborating with specialists to understand the specialist skills that the child is developing, the specialist equipment that they are using and how best to embed these in lessons. 
3. Collaborating with learning assistants to ensure that the pedagogy used supports and develops independence over time. 
4. Providing opportunities for the child to advocate for themselves so that support remains child-centred and strategies develop as independence develops. 
5. Proactively anticipating adjustments to ensure inclusion beyond regular learning activities, such as to ensure that a school trip is inclusive.

Top tips

When working with a child with vision impairment, you should:

• Identify whether the child is being supported by a QTVI and habilitation specialist. Establish what recommendations have been made for supporting their educational and social inclusion and development of specialist skills.
• Remember that the focus should be not just on supporting the child’s access to learning, but also on supporting them to develop their independence in learning.
• Refer to the CFVI to help you to collaborate with other education professionals, drawing on its shared framework and language.

Want to know more?

Thomas Pocklington Trust (pocklington.org.uk) has produced a comprehensive overview of education for children with vision impairment. On its webpage, you will find resources to support children throughout their educational journey.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People hosts a wider range of resources to support CFVI implementation (rnib.org.uk/professionals/education-professionals/cfvi). Here, you can download the CFVI and access written guides for teachers, staff in charge of monitoring provision and coordinating support, and support staff.

The University of Birmingham has worked with UCAN Productions to develop a video (youtube.com/watch?v=GoLGWZ-1Ckg&t=7s) that introduces the CFVI to non-specialist educators, explaining from a child’s perspective why it’s so important.

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