Course Detail
In June 2018 SASC
introduced new guidance for assessors and SpLD practitioners concerning how to
respond to visual difficulties observed or reported during screening and
assessment for a specific learning difficulty. This training explains
why the new guidance was written and offers an opportunity to develop a deeper
understanding the respective roles of vision and SpLD practitioners.
A
number of concerns and questions have arisen following the publication of the
new guidance.
It
is not at all surprising that the new guidance has aroused concerns and
questions. It does represent a significant shift from previous professional
guidance on the screening, assessment and identification of ‘visual stress'
within a diagnostic assessment for a specific learning difficulty. The new
guidance essentially seeks to advise practitioners that to ensure the safety
of clients regarding their vision, a brake had to be applied to diverse and
under-scrutinised assessment practice by SpLD professionals who are not
qualified, as optometrists and other vision professionals are, to assess for
the possibility of and / or suggest a diagnosis of visual stress or
hypersensitivity in the context of a very wide range of other visual
difficulties that might explain symptoms reported and behaviours observed.
A range of practices regarding screening and assessment for visual stress has
developed within the diagnostic screening and assessment process for a specific
learning difficulty. These practices have been developed in good faith by
assessors keen to do the best for their clients and they have been guided by
previous advice and training provided by the professional bodies in this
field. However, many of these assessment practices have tended to be used
uncritically and unreflectively and this has led to ‘ X has visual stress'
becoming a ubiquitous conclusion reached in many diagnostic assessment reports
without adequate evidence and interpretation, and with recommendations regarding
visual stress tending to suggest use of coloured overlays / filters as the only
possible form of remediation.
This
training day will address these concerns and questions in detail, providing
further guidance and support to SpLD practitioners interested in developing
best practice. It will explain how professional dialogue and communication
between vision and SpLD practitioners can enhance understanding of visual
discomfort and disturbances for both professional bodies, whilst ensuring the safety
and best outcomes for any child of adult with those symptoms.