A Guide to the Professionals

If you are supporting a blind or partially sighted child or young person in mainstream secondary education, you might be wondering which other professionals are involved.

We have a range of profiles on the key people that may be working with the young person in their education. Read more about these roles in our The Professionals There to Support You at School guide. We would highlight the following two main specialists :Qualified Teachers of Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (QTVI) and Habilitation Specialists .

Local Offer

Every Local Authority in England must have a ‘Local Offer’. The Local Offer provides all the information about education, health and care services, leisure activities and support groups provided by the local authority.

The Local Offer has two key purposes: To provide clear, comprehensive, accessible and up-to-date information about the available provision for SEND CYP and how to access it, and to make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations. (SEND Code of Practice section 4.2).

How specialist support is arranged will differ from area to area, so it is important to contact vision impairment/sensory specialist teams listed directly to find out more.

A local authority’s Local Offer can be found on its website, you can Google search ‘local offer’ along with the local authority’s name for ease.