Supporting Students with a Visual Impairment (SSVI)

This 2 hour course is suitable for teachers, support assistants, counsellors and parents who work with students of any age who have a visual impairment.

• Different forms of Visual Impairment
• How these influence student’s work in class
• Strategies to:

1. support students with a visual impairment
2. alleviate the difficulties that occur

• New technology
• Braille
• Information about specific curriculum subjects

The course tutor is Joanne Fallon.

Joanne Fallon

Jo is a qualified teacher of the visually impaired (QTVI) who has worked with all ages from pre-school to further education since 1987. She worked in a London peripatetic service supporting children with a visual impairment for 15 years, serving 6 of the London Boroughs as well as heading a nursery. After working with Children with Severe Learning Difficulties in Melbourne Australia, Jo took on the role of Senior Advisory Teacher for Children and Young People with Visual Impairment in East Sussex, alongside volunteering with a local Association for the Blind.

Courses can be viewed in either of the following ways:

1. Each member of staff has an individual login and accesses the training on their own device. This has the advantage of flexibility, as the course can be accessed at a time/place to suit the individual (in school/college or at home). OR
2. A group of staff accessing the course together at the same time. For this we recommend that you use a digital projector and large screen with speakers to amplify the presentation. This has advantage of group interaction and monitoring of involvement.

Each login will give access to the chosen course for 10 consecutive days and the course (or parts of the course) can be accessed as many times as required within this 10-day period.

Our course tutors can come to your school or college to run the training face to face. Please email for more information (admin at communicate-ed dot org dot uk).

There is an optional multiple choice assessment to participate in after accessing the training. There are 15 questions randomly chosen from a bank of 30 and you will have 15 minutes to complete the assessment. There is no pass mark, this is simply an activity to help consolidate the information you have learned on the course. If you choose an incorrect answer you will be able to see the correct answer when you have completed the assessment.