Only one in four Scottish local authorities meets the national standard for habilitation support, leaving some children with vision impairment waiting more than a year for help with basic independence skills, finds a report by charity RNIB Scotland.
The report highlights a growing crisis in habilitation services, which entail specialist training that teaches children with vision impairment how to navigate their environment safely, while also building essential independence skills such as preparing food or travelling to school.
RNIB Scotland is calling for “a clear, fully funded strategy to ensure appropriate and timely access to habilitation services for children and young people with vision impairment across Scotland”.
Without this, the charity says, children with vision impairment face barriers to education, social life and employment.
Habilitation provision ‘varies drastically’
Despite national guidance from the Visual Impairment Network for Children and Young People stating that children should be seen within four weeks, only 25 per cent of local authorities meet this standard. In some areas, children are waiting up to 18 months for an initial visit from a habilitation specialist.
The RNIB Scotland report, which gathered evidence from Scotland’s 32 local authorities via a freedom of information request, identified 3,151 children and young people known to local authority vision impairment services.
The charity finds that habilitation provision “varies drastically”, with the percentage of children accessing or awaiting habilitation ranging from 4 per cent to 90 per cent, depending on the council.
Habilitation specialists support children with vision impairment at every stage of development, from advising parents on helping a toddler walk or suggesting suitable toys, to working with schools during transition.
They teach crucial independence skills such as personal care, dressing, eating, safe travel, white-cane training, food preparation and taking part in leisure activities.
RNIB Scotland says that many families do not have timely, specialist guidance as they navigate the early years of a child’s life with vision impairment; without this, there is a risk of crucial developmental milestones being missed.
Risk of long-term harm
James Adams, director of RNIB Scotland, warned that delays in providing habilitation support risk long-term harm.
He said: “Early intervention is critical. Every day a child goes without specialist support is a day they miss out on developing independence skills that will serve them for life.
“Habilitation is vital to enable them to access education and the wider world with as much independence as possible.”
First-time parent Louise Mackenzie, who lives in Wick in the north of Scotland, has highlighted her experience with her baby son, Frankie, who is blind.
She said: “We find our daily lives challenging - we are literally making it up as we go along. Habilitation would be crucial in educating us on making Frankie’s life easier and ensuring that he can flourish.”
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