Pupils with visual impairments are regularly excluded from PE or school trips because they are “wrapped in cotton wool” by schools who feel ill-equipped to meet their needs, an Oireachtas committee has heard.
Rafiat Agbona, a 23 year old master’s student, told of how – after losing her eyesight at the age of 12 – she was deprived of the chance to mix with her fellow students at school.
She told of how she felt isolated from her peers because a special needs assistant (SNA) was instructed to sit next to her at all times, while during lunch she was forced to sit in a special centre for a time with SNAs and other students with learning disabilities.
“I was being pushed into the group where I didn’t actually fit in simply because I had a disability,” she said.
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“I often felt so overwhelmed and defeated and powerless. Nobody asked my opinion and there was really nobody to advocate for me in a lot of areas where it really mattered for my development, sanity and future.”
She also said she was “strongly discouraged” from doing transition year on the basis that she would be unable to participate in many of the activities during the yea.
Ms Agbona said, on reflection, she could have taken part in the activities but feels the school felt she would be a burden if she accompanied classes on day trips.
“I would have had time to gain work experience, have exposure to different situations and places, become more independent in mobility and build closer relationships with more students as transition year was a small group,” she said.
Eithne Walsh of the support group Féach said many visually impaired students faced similar obstacles, with many overly-dependent on SNAs or parents.
“It is guaranteeing a difficult transition into college and often leading to students applying for courses based on location and ease of access as opposed to their academic ability,” she said.
Ms Walsh also said the State Examinations Commission was in the “dark ages” when it came to providing sufficient support and time for visually impaired students.
Dr Patricia McCarthy, associate research fellow at Trinity College Dublin, said research shows many visually impaired students face barriers accessing the curriculum.
In addition to PE, she said maths was a real problem as there was insufficient provision of books and materials in accessible formats, as well as a lack of teacher training and support.
“The purpose of supports should be to enhance rather than diminish the individuals’ independence and to enable rather than disable inclusion,” she said.
“Therefore, there is a need to establish policies and practices around provision of supports that are proactive rather than reactive and promote the active involvement of blind/vision-impaired people at all levels of the process.
Vision Ireland, which supports individuals with sight loss, said it was aware of many examples of visually impaired students who had a positive, supportive and inclusive experience of education, often as a result of individual teachers.
However, the group said it has also seen evidence of many students who are blind or vision impaired transitioning without the prerequisite skills and knowledge.”
Toni O’Dwyer, Vision Ireland’s national children and young people services manager, said more support and resources were needed to access the curriculum and foster independent skills.
The Department of Education told the committee that it employs 16 visiting teachers who support almost 1,400 children and young people who are blind or have a visual impairment. It said it also has an assistive technology scheme to help these children access the curriculum.
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