Where are we up to…..

https://unsplash.com/@jpineapplepen

Some fairly good progress has been made these last few weeks. We are close to securing funding and may well have found our premises. Lots of things still to confirm, negotiate, and finalise, but it is coming together slowly.

In the meantime, I have been making some social stories for adults with intellectual disability (ID). People with ID are 10 times more likely to have eye problems than their non-ID peers, and yet all too often these issues are overlooked.  At Special Eyes Vision Services we want to change those statistics because it is possible for anyone to have an eye test.  Nobody is too disabled.  You don’t need to be able to speak or match letters or shapes, there are other ways we can test your vision.

Creating resources for vision testing

While the serious business of loan applications and finding a premises continues, we are using our time to create other resources which will come in handy for assessing vision of smaller people, including those with ocular or cerebral vision impairment.

Using supplies from Spotlight, creating templates, and cutting out shapes in different colours.

Differently sized red spheres mounted on wires make great vision targets for assessing how far out to the sides someone can see. This is important when assessing how their vision may affect their functioning.

I am very grateful for my very willing assistant. My daughter just loves craft and was delighted to offer up her creative skills to help me with these creations.

My daughter came up with the designs.

The reason for this new venture….

I am starting this new practice because I believe there is a need for people with disability to have access to eye healthcare tailored specifically to their needs. Having worked in paediatric low vision and disability services for many years I have a wealth of experience in adjusting eye assessments to make them accessible to people with disability of various forms.

In recent years, research has identified that people with learning disability are at significantly higher risk of having eye health issues, and that these issues often go undetected, likely in part due to difficulties accessing services, and misconceptions regarding whether or not a person with these types of disability can undertake an eye test.

My hope is to create a practice which is designed to accommodate the needs of people with a range of disabilities which make it hard to access regular eye tests. Prospective patients will be welcome to come and visit us, say hi, and sit in the waiting area for a bit, to scope things out. I have also created a social story for those who find this helpful. The practice will have a good range of eye testing equipment so that I can assess vision even if you are not able to tell me what you can see.