Developing services for visually impaired children: a community paediatrician's perspective

Abstract

Recent evidence points to serious gaps in services for families of visually impaired children; and clinical experience in assessment of childhood handicap suggests that the visually impaired child's very complex developmental needs are not always well understood. These two areas are examined in this article from the perspective of a consultant community paediatrician. The experi ence of setting up a 'vision team' in Doncaster suggests that most small districts are likely to have the existing resources to develop a fully integrated multi-agency and multi-disciplinary service that addresses the two main areas of deficiency that have been identified.