Amman-25 October 2017
The Vision Training Center (VTC) held in October 2017 three main activities that included Basic Training for Parents of Children with Visual Impairment, Al Za’atari Camp visit and Workshop about Vision Rehabilitation for Students from Hashemite University.
VTC starts offering Basic Training for Parents of Children with Visual Impairment: “See with the eyes of your child with visual impairment”.
Parents of children with visual impairment have no access to services and are unaware of how to best bring up a child with disabilities. This course aims at making parents of children with visual impairment aware of the way their child perceives the world and giving them some guidance on how they can best support the child’s development.
The program has two main components: First, improving child-rearing practices: what it is important to know when you bring up a child with visual impairment. Second, helping the child develops special skills with a focus on three areas: 1) Communication: how to use proper communication skills like simple description, giving instructions and using basic vocabulary. 2) Activities of daily living: how to use better organizational techniques like searching and scanning and to break down the steps of the activities by practicing task analysis. 3) Orientation and mobility: practice the basic techniques of Orientation and Mobility (O&M).
The training program consists of four sessions, lasts for two hours each. The training is based on practical activities under simulation glasses or blindfolds as well as discussions and exchanges. Eight parents completed the course so far.
Two lecturers (Maisaa Masoud and Yosur Qutaishat) from the Vision Training Center- German Jordanian University visited Al Za’atari Camp. Arabian Medical relief (AMR) organized this visit. The goal of the visit was to have introductory tour at the camp, schools, eye clinic and rehabilitation clinics. Moreover, to do screening tests for some patients with low vision from the eye clinic. This visit is the beginning of cooperation with AMR to offer people with low vision at the refugees’ camp with the needed rehabilitation services and training.
The Vision Training Center offered a 3 hours’ workshop about “Vision Rehabilitation” for 40 students from special education department at Hashemite University as a voluntary work set as a requirement for one of their curriculum at the university.
After the workshop, the students will have a mini project in the coming two weeks to apply some of the vision rehabilitation principles, which is environmental accommodations for people with low vision at their University or other places to be more accessible for people with vision impairment.
