(AB) Alison Blackman
(JRM) John Rous Milligan
(MI) Michelle Ireson
(M) Max
(D) Demi
(P) Paul
AB: I love my job, I love going into schools and working with schools and parents and for me, the thing that I am most passionate about is developing their awareness of what it is like to have a visual impairment, so they can help support and understand what the children and young people are experiencing on a day to day basis.
AB (0.17): I’m Alison Blackman, I'm a Qualified Teacher of children with a Visual Impairment, or a QTVI, or sometimes known as a TOVI. I work in Norfolk as a peripatetic teacher so we travel around the county visiting children and young people with visual impairments either in the home or in the school.
AB: Max is a year ten student with a severe visual impairment and this week he has been doing his work experience.
M (0.39): I used my cane
AB: Brilliant
M: Went into the tea shop and I made serviettes into triangles
AB: Oh wow
AB (0.51): It was really good to support Max with his work experience 'cos it was fantastic to see him develop his confidence as the week went on.
JRM (0.57): My name is John Rous Milligan, I'm the Team Leader of the Visual Impairment and Multi-Sensory Impairment Team at the Virtual School Sensory Support in Norfolk. Here we have a team of staff who support students out in mainstream, pre-school, school and college.
D (1.14): Would, go as quickly as they could
MI: Brilliant
MI: I am Michelle Ireson and I work as a qualified teacher for children with visual impairments. I work in schools and settings and colleges around the county, advising teachers and teaching assistants on ways to adapt work for children with visual impairments and doing some direct teaching of those children for particular skills.
D: I'm Demi and I read Braille. I like the feel of it and it helps me read more.
MI (1.44): Learning Braille allows her to work independently in class, she can read information that she's given, she can record her own ideas.
P (1.52): I'm Paul, I'm Demi's dad. Demi fell behind 'cos of losing her sight, and lost a lot of school time. But now obviously with the teaching, Demi gets the same work as all the other pupils, and she can do it, she has done it, and she's got good marks for it.
MI (2.09): We as a service, we do a lot of work with not just schools and children but with their families as well. We want the families to be able to support the children in their learning and in their specialist skills.
AB: From an early age I knew I wanted to be a teacher, and as I'm visually impaired I felt that working with children with a visual impairment was something that I'd always wanted to do. I worked in mainstream school and special schools first before I came into this role.
JRM (2.36): There is a qualification to become a Qualified Teacher of the Visually Impaired, that's the mandatory qualification that's delivered through universities as a post graduate qualification for qualified teachers. In terms of skills, really what we’re looking for are people who are willing to invest time and energy in the young people and families that we work with.
MI (3.00): I really enjoy the work I do with the children, particularly on their specialist skills so, with Demi with her Braille, with children around touch typing and using technology to access their work, and I think that gives the children independence skills, it gives them confidence, it means that they can be independent learners, and I have had just a little part in promoting that for them in their education.
For more information visit viewweb.org.uk
RNIB, supporting people with sight loss, and VIEW, working together on behalf of the vision impairment education workforce.