Young people in Australia who have low vision or blindness are able to enjoy an active life and participate in employment.  Saying that it requires a concerted and specific effort from the person with low vision or blindness, their family community and relevant professionals, right from the start. Establishing constant and high expectations, delivering social-emotional support, and providing access to the Expanded Core Curriculum is essential to maximize opportunities and outcomes.

When it comes to good beginnings it is important that all children have a sense of ‘belonging, being and becoming’.  Yet children with vision impairments and those who experience delayed maturation of their visual systems are more at risk than typical children when it comes to having the best start.  This is because opportunities for incidental learning can be decreased due to poor vision.

Of additional concern is the under- or unemployment for people who have blindness or low vision continues to be worryingly low.  Vision Australia’s Employability approach aims to provide children that have low vision or blindness with services that emphasise long-term achievement and help them acquire the skills they need.  In doing so, not only does this allow our youth to consider the careers that they dream about, it also enables them to participate in other meaningful activities of daily living and to live the life they choose.

Key components to expanding opportunities for children and youth with low vision and blindness that will improve their chances of success in the future include:

Starting Early

Engaging families and supports

Considering functional and social-emotional situations

Applying the Expanded Core Curriculum

When a family is referred on early for specialist skills or specialist support, they are able to focus on:

• The here and now of their child’s development and acquisition of skills at specific ages and stages of life.
• Growing their knowledge of the functional implications of reduced vision, including reduced incidental visual learning.
• The longitudinal development over childhood, adolescence, and into early adulthood, addressing the question, “How will this impact my child as he/she grows up?”

The Expanded Core Curriculum is described as having 9 areas of instruction that students who have low vision or blindness need to be successful in school, the community, and the workplace.

1. Assistive technology
2. Career education
3. Compensatory Access – this includes learning to use disability-specific tools such as long cane or braille.
4. Independent living
5. Orientation and mobility
6. Recreation and leisure
7. Self-determination – this includes making independent decisions and choices about the future.  These skills start when the child is provided with early opportunities for problem-solving.
8. Sensory efficiency – using vision and other senses most effectively to perform daily tasks
9. Social interaction.

Adapted from Mivision issue 157 Jun 20