What habilitation is, what skills are taught, who provides the service, what they do and referrals
What Habilitation is and who it is for
Habilitation is one-to-one training for children and young people with visual impairments from birth to 25 in the home, school and community. The aim of the training is to maximise the child or young person's independence.
It is different from adult rehabilitationas. Rehabilitation is teaching a known skill in a different way. Habilitation is teaching new skills and concepts alongside developing existing skills, to maximise independence.
Skills taught by a Habilitation Specialist
Orientation
Orientation is knowing the way to get from one place to another. Habilitation Specialists work on developing a child or young person's mapping and route learning skills. They teach progressive routes such as how to get from:
- classroom to the toilet in school
- home to the local supermarket
- home to work on the bus and home again
Mobility
Mobility is how a child or young person physically gets from one place to another. Habilitation Specialists work with children and young people to develop their mobility skills. This includes:
- utilising useful vision and other senses
- body awareness, concept development, play and motivation to move and explore
- sighted guide
- pre-cane skills
- cane skills
Independent living skills (ILS)
Habilitation Specialists aim to ensure every child or young person they work with becomes as independent as possible and helps them develop a range of independence skills including:
- personal organisation
- shopping skills
- self-advocacy and social skills
- personal care
- money management
- cooking skills
- housekeeping skills
- mobile phones and technology
Our service provider
Guide Dogs for the Blind provide the habilitation service service on behalf of these local authorities:
- Bristol
- South Gloucestershire
- Bath and North East Somerset
- North Somerset
They have a Habilitation team that includes both qualified Habilitation Specialists and Habilitation Assistants who are all Habilitation VI registered.
What the Habilitation Service does
The support for children and young people with visual impairments, their families and educational settings includes:
- habilitation assessments followed by written reports and advice
- habilitation training programs
- early years support including individual and group offers from birth
- sighted guide training for children and young people, families and professionals
- advice and guidance about the school or setting environment in line with the Equality Act
- advice about specialist equipment and resources
- statutory advice for Education Health and Care Plans Needs Assessments and Education Health and Care Plan reviews
- supporting transition between phases and stages of education and into adulthood
- events for learning, socialising, confidence building and having fun
The level of support offered depends on the level of need and can change over time. It is based on the National Sensory Impairment Partnership (NATSIP) criteria.
How referrals to the service are managed
Referrals to the Habilitation Service are made by the Vision Support Team within the Sensory Support Service who refer all children and young people who need an assessment of their habilitation needs to the service.
If your child is already receiving support from the Sensory Support Service and you would like to find out about referring them to the Habilitation Service, contact your child's Qualified Teacher of the Visually Impaired or ask their educational setting to do this for you.
Find out about referring your child to the Sensory Support Service.
The Sensory Support Service contact:
- Call: 0117 903 8441, 2, 3
- Email: sensorysupportservice@bristol.gov.uk
Further information on support for children and young people with visual impairments
Additional services
Guide Dogs for the Blind offer a range of services to support families and children and young people including My Time to Play Early Years groups, family events and weekends, family support and advice at diagnosis, dad's groups, Buddy dogs and more.
