Equipping visually impaired young people for the future

The importance of ensuring children and young people with visual impairments receive a level of support that allows them to fulfil their potential was the focus of a Thomas Pocklington Trust fringe event at the Labour Party Conference (Monday 28 September).

The fringe event, entitled Educating children with vision impairment for life, was co-hosted with the University of Birmingham.

The session aimed to explore how children and young people with vision impairments can be supported to live fulfilling, independent adult lives, and considered what policymakers must take into account when making decisions that affect these groups.

Considering the specialist workforce in SEND reforms

The Thomas Pocklington Trust noted that the panel came at an important moment for the sight loss sector, as the Government considers the results of a consultation on proposals to reform the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, which concluded in May 2026.

Speaking ahead of the panel, Yohann Lespagnol, operational leader for Liverpool Sensory Service & QTVI, told OT that it is vital that the specialist workforce that supports children and young people with visual impairments is identified as part of SEND reform.

“As qualified teachers of visual impairment (QTVIs), we have a mandatory qualification, so that should not be forgotten,” he said.

He added: “We also have qualified teachers for multi-sensory impairment. Those specialists should not be forgotten, especially when it comes to funding.”

It is also important to consider the bigger picture when it comes to SEND education, Lespagnol emphasised.

This means “having more specialist, one-to-one interaction with a youngster with a visual impairment, to make sure they are going to have those skills to be able to deal with the different transitions,” he told OT.

The importance of the transition from primary to secondary school, then on to further or higher education and eventually out of education and into the workforce, was emphasised throughout the fringe event and by the Thomas Pocklington Trust representatives that OT spoke to.

“One of the weak points that we have found recently is a transition for young adults, when they go to higher education or further education,” Lespagnol said.

“There can be a big gap here. They have been looked after by a qualified teacher for visual impairment for all their time in school, and now they are left on their own.”

Lespagnol emphasised: “It’s [important] to make sure they are well prepared to face those big challenges afterwards.”

Charities and specialists need to work together to make sure no aspect of a young person’s journey through education is forgotten, Lespagnol told OT.

He also noted that, because children and young people with visual impairments are a low incidence group, there might be a tendency for their needs to fall through the cracks.

“There are not a lot of visually impaired young people, but they are here, and it’s very important to think about them,” Lespagnol said.

Lucy Merritt, education policy manager at the Thomas Pocklington Trust, told attendees that the charity has “been doing a lot of work to interrogate the SEND reforms, to really consider what needs to happen to make them work and achieve the outcomes that we know our blind and partially sighted young people deserve to have.”

Merritt explained: “The challenge with big policy agenda is that vision impairments are a low incidence disability.

“The one-size-fits-all system doesn’t always work for our children and young people. There is nuance around the support that is needed for them and how that is received.”

Experiences of transition points and skills development is specific to blind and partially sighted young people, as is access to technology and communication, Merritt said.

Alyssia Jalloo, a student voice volunteer at the Thomas Pocklington Trust, has seen the consequences of the lack of support firsthand, she explained whilst speaking on the panel.

“I have seen people, some of whom are my closest friends, struggle to gain employment, and [some] have left school with really bad mental health issues because they have been broken down so much by the system,” she said.

It was this that made her want to “make sure the next generations who are going through the school system, or who will go through the school system, don’t have to face the challenges that we have had to face,” she said.

Now is a “really crucial moment,” in light of the SEND reforms and the conversations about young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), Jalloo emphasised.

She explained: “I'm here to offer up my lived experience: the good, the bad, the ugly, the inaccessibility.

“I feel like it is important to share my experience, to show what is going on now, for people like myself: what is actually happening within these institutions?”

Jalloo added: “Sometimes, when young people are not at majority age, they can’t consent to research. These voices don't always get heard.

“I hope to convey some of those voices and some of the stories I’ve heard, or that have happened to me.”

Merritt told attendees: “We have been very closely following these reforms, and we are very busy trying to have an active voice to influence and shape them, so that we can see the change that we know our children and young people deserve.”

There are not a lot of visually impaired young people, but they are here, and it’s very important to think about them

“All the support that I did have just stopped abruptly”

The fringe event began with a video showing Samiya Houston, a student from a rural from a village near Abergavenny, talking about her experience of education as a young person with a visual impairment.

Houston said primary school was fine as she had one-to-one help and a special laptop, but challenges appeared when she started secondary school.

“I started not being able to do certain things because of my vision impairment,” Houston said.

Sometimes this made things unsafe, and she started to experience social isolation, she explained.

Houston emphasised that she did have one-on-one support throughout her time at school – but that this ended when she left, with plans to take up an apprenticeship as a teaching assistant, at the age of 16.

“In school, I had a lot of support for my visual impairment,” Houston said.

She explained: “I had a one-to-one support all the way through, from nursery until I left. But I think because I had all that, they felt they didn’t need to offer me any anything that would develop my independence when I left school.”

Houston continued: “I did feel prepared for going to get a job, but also, I didn’t. I was literate and numerate, and I felt like I was a good person. School had instilled in me all these all these model values, and I knew how to present myself and to live life.

“But I didn’t feel prepared, because I didn’t have anything to fall back on when I when I left school. All the support that I did have just stopped abruptly.”

Houston found a community through UCAN, a performing arts charity for blind and partially sighted young people and their families, she explained.

“One of its main aims is to develop the physical and vocal confidence of children and young people through drama games and activities, and sometimes they put on performances as well. That really helped me,” Houston said.

She now leads workshops for younger children as part of UCAN.

“I felt seen. I felt like I found my tribe, because growing up, I didn’t really know anyone who was visually impaired, let alone had my condition,” Houston said.

“To actually meet people who also were visually impaired and who shared the same interests as me was really gratifying.”

She added: “If I could speak to a politician, one thing I would suggest they should do to help children and young people with vision impairments is to just hear them, and their parents and teachers and everyone who knows them.

“Just talk to them and see what is working and what isn’t working. Find out what they need.”

Lack of specialist support and the importance of transitional moments

Jalloo told OT that she hoped speaking on the fringe panel would give her the opportunity to highlight “the challenges vision impaired people face in education, so that these issues can be ironed out for the next generation of young people entering education.”

Key challenges include a lack of specialist support professionals, including qualified teachers for the vision impaired, Jalloo told OT.

“They have such an important role,” she emphasised.

Jalloo also noted that the expectations of staff within education settings can sometimes pose a challenge for young people with visual impairments.

“Some know very little about how to support vision-impaired people, and some unfortunately don’t believe that vision-impaired people can succeed, and that’s really sad,” Jalloo told OT.

She explained that if a teacher does not understand the value of putting support in place for a visually impaired student, they are unlikely to do so.

Speaking on the panel, Jalloo recounted an experience that she had with teacher in her mainstream school who did not want to teach her higher maths, which she needed in order to study maths at A-level, because she thought the course would be too challenging.

Jalloo eventually was able to study the course, and received a high grade in her exams.

“One of the key messages I hope comes across is: we can be educated; we can do things,” Jalloo told OT.

She added: “We just need the support, and it’s so important we get the support, so we are able to have the careers we want.”

Jalloo also emphasised the importance of ensuring that support follows students through key transition points during their education.

On starting school, Jalloo noted that there is already “quite a big attainment gap for blind children compared to children with other disabilities, and also sighted children.”

There are often challenges when starting further or higher education or work as a blind or visually impaired young person, Jalloo said.

“When young people are moving from one very distinct stage to another, it can be very easy for a young person to feel lost and therefore to withdraw,” she told OT.

She emphasised: “It’s really important to support young people, especially at those points.”

On the key moments of transition, Jalloo added: “It can really make such a difference if a young person is supported, and it can really affect the rest of their life.

“That's the key point: please don’t just invest in support for those who have fallen through the cracks and can’t get back out. Invest in everyone, because the more support, the more safety nets, the fewer people will fall through those cracks.”

We just need the support, and it’s so important we get the support, so we are able to have the careers we want

Including visually impaired experiences in NEET conversations

Dr Rachel Hewett, associate professor of education and head of the Department of Disability, Inclusion and Special Needs at the University of Birmingham, noted whilst speaking on the panel that statistics around NEET young people is “a real topical issue at the moment.”

The conversation came in light of the Milburn Report into young people and work, which was published in August this year.

“There is a huge concern about what we are seeing in terms of youth population and pathways to employment,” Hewett said.

“But I am concerned that, in the midst of this, the particular challenges that are faced by young people with visual impairments may be overlooked, because this is an issue which has been going back decades.”

Hewett explained: “There are very specific challenges that this group face, which need addressing and not to be lost in the midst of those bigger statistics.

“When we talk about children with visual impairments, they are a very low incidence group, and often not very well represented in statistics in national data sets. It is very easy for them to get lost within that.”

Merritt emphasised that there is an “acute gap felt by blind or partially sighted young people” in the NEET conversation.

Merritt noted that an extension to the jobs guarantee, promising guaranteed work for more young people with disabilities, had been announced the previous day (Sunday 27 September).

Within this, “there will be a really different experience for blind and partially sighted students that need to be understood,” Merritt emphasised.

There are very specific challenges that this group face, which need addressing and not to be lost in the midst of those bigger statistics

Key messages for attendees and policymakers

OT was interested in hearing the key message that Jalloo and Lespagnol wanted panel attendees and policymakers to take away.

For Lespagnol, the key message is around acknowledging the challenges that blind and partially sighted young people face.

This is demonstrated through current conversations around NEET young people, Lespagnol highlighted.

It is important to understand why young people with visual impairments might struggle to find work after completing college or university, he emphasised.

“This panel is talking about the curriculum framework for children with visual impairment, which is essential for them to access through QTVI support, and through habilitation officers,” Lespagnol said.

It is vital, he said, “to make sure that we have this specialist workforce, and also find out why we have a problem regarding employment.”

This includes the difficulties that visually impaired young people have accessing work experience when they are in school, he said.

Jalloo told OT: “The key message I hope people will understand is that we are very, very capable and very willing to work and to contribute to society.

“We just need the support, and we need to be given that chance. If I were to encapsulate this entire discussion into one succinct point, I think that would be it.”

Lespagnol emphasised: “It is not a visual impairment that will define a youngster. They can succeed. They can be successful. It’s about making sure they have the opportunity to succeed, through access to specialist support, through work experience, and through support for their mental health and wellbeing.”