Training
- Visual Impairment Awareness Training
- Echolocation -Sound Skills Training
- Awareness raising talks to groups
- Peer Support Training
- Eccentric Reading
Visibility offers a range of visual impairment awareness training to different organisations and individuals. We can adapt or design the training to meet your needs.
Visual Impairment Awareness Training
Many organisations are aware that they need to make their services accessible for all members of the public. With the advent of the Disability Discrimination Act, there is now a legal requirement to do so. Our visual impairment awareness course covers the wide range of eye conditions and what impact these have on individuals. We also look at issues around accessibility and good practice. The training is very interactive and we often use glasses which have been specially designed to simulate some common eye conditions to get people thinking about some of the issues.
Our training is flexible and can be developed to meet the requirements of each organisation or group.
For further information please phone 0141 332 4632 or email Training.
Training sessions are held regularly at Visibility’s offices but if demand is high it is possible to slot in an extra session. Maximum group size is 12 and cost is £60 per person including lunch.
Dates include:
- 9 September 2010
- 28th October 2010
- 11th November 2010
- 8th December 2010
- 20 January,2011
- 10 February, 2011
- 24th March 2011
Time: 10.am to 3.30pm
The programme includes:
- Myths and realities of visual impairment.
- Visual Impairment and Common Eye Conditions
- Practical Exercises with Simulation Spectacles
Lunch
- Visual Impairment in relation to the work environment
- Adapting the environment
- Accessibility
- Effective Communication
- Sighted guiding of a blind person
Sound Skills – Echolocation Project
Echolocation is the ability to use sound to get a mental picture of the environment. By developing a clicking sound and interpreting the echoes that bounce back, a person can navigate round obstacles and get a sense of the larger environment. It is often compared to using skills like a bat or a dolphin and has been widely reported on television and radio.
Who could benefit from echolocation training?
We believe that people with very poor or no vision can really benefit from echolocation. Everyone is encouraged to make the best use of any residual vision so it is very hard, but not impossible, to overcome this natural instinct.
The training is available to adults and children. There is no age limit to who can be trained but we would ask that all participants have had or are receiving long cane training. Echolocation is an additional tool to cane skills and should not be thought of as a replacement.
Where can training be provided?
Visibility covers North and South Lanarkshire, Glasgow, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, North, South and East Ayrshire, Inverclyde, West and
What does the training involve?
The first session is a taster for participants and their families. It will include some basic exercises that are used in the training and a DVD of a proficient echolocation user.
This will be followed by six sessions provided on a one to one and group basis and will last three months. After each session, you will be expected to practice and develop your skills before the next session so it is a little bit like having homework.
The sessions will take place in your local area and could last about one hour. Some sessions, particularly towards the end of the course may be longer.
What does it
cost?
Visibility relies heavily on donations to fund many of our services including our echolocation training. Providing such specialist, one to one training achieves outstanding, life changing results but is also expensive. These are difficult financial times for all charities and Visibility is no exception so if you would like to support our echolocation training, or any of our services, with a donation we would be very grateful. Please visit our fundraising pages or contact us for more details on how to support our work.
How do I put my name down?
If you are interested and would like to know more, please contact
Alternatively you can ask your rehabilitation worker, social worker or visual impairment teacher to refer you to the project.
Awareness raising talks to groups
Many community groups enjoy our presentation on visual impairment issues. During these informal, informative talks, we cover some of the more common eye conditions, how this impacts on people and what support and aids and equipment are available to support them. We will also tell people something of the work Visibility does and a bit of its hundred year history. There is always time for a question and answer session and we bring along a range of the aids and equipment that are available to people.
For more information, please phone 0141 332 4632 or email Training.
Peer Support Training
People tell us that when they get together they learn a lot from the experiences of others. Visibility will be holding days where people can come along and learn from each other as well as pass on their knowledge of living with sight loss and services. This is a new area for Visibility however the topics covered will be influenced by the participants. Some examples could be health and beauty, transport and services in your area. For more information on times and venues of the groups, please contact 0141 572 0746 or info@visibility.org.uk.
Eccentric Reading
Visibility has developed a two-day training programme for people interested in providing this training for other people. The course covers:
- Training in eccentric reading technique
- Training materials and techniques
- Practical exercises
- Hearing from those who have completed the course
- Evaluating success
- Supporting participants
The course is run at Visibility's offices in Queens Crescent, however arrangements can be made for alternative accommodation if there is a sufficient number of participants. For further information or to discuss the situation further, please contact us on 0141 572 0745 or email David Logan.