Guide Dogs – Supplementary written evidence (YDP0070)

Public Services Committee

The transition from education to employment for young disabled people

Guide Dogs briefing

Introduction

Children and young people with vision impairment are likely to have lower academic attainment and have a higher chance of being outside of employment during adulthood, compared with their sighted peers.

Young people’s success transitioning from education to employment strongly correlates to the level of habilitation support they have received, and the age at which this support starts. Habilitation involves one-to-one training for children and young people with a vision impairment.

In addition, children and young people with a vision impairment face specific barriers that impact their transition to adulthood, such as difficulties accessing assistive technology and navigating unfamiliar environments.

The Government must provide further funding to ensure children and young people with a vision impairment have sufficient and consistent habilitation support, available at an early age, to help reduce the barriers and disadvantages they face when entering the workforce.

Summary

• Children and young people with vision impairment are likely to have lower academic attainment[1] and have a higher chance of being outside of employment during adulthood, compared with their sighted peers[2].
• Young people’s success transitioning from education to employment strongly correlates to the level of habilitation support they have received, and the age at which this support starts. Habilitation involves one-to-one training for children and young people with a vision impairment.
• In addition, children and young people with a vision impairment face specific barriers that impact their transition to adulthood, such as difficulties accessing assistive technology and navigating unfamiliar environments[3].
• The Government must provide further funding to ensure children and young people with a vision impairment have sufficient and consistent habilitation support, available at an early age, to help reduce the barriers and disadvantages they face when entering the workforce.

The challenges children and young people with vision impairment face

Children and young people with vision impairment often face several challenges at an early age and in school, which can have a significant impact on their social development and level of qualification. This includes difficulties accessing the curriculum and extracurricular activities, making friends, and difficulty moving around school, leading to restricted mobility, loneliness, and a dependency on others[4].

They are also often unable to access the specialist support they need to reach their potential, leading to typically lower academic attainment, and a higher chance of being outside of employment during adulthood:

• At the end of key Stage 4, 48.7% of students with vision impairment as the primary SEN gained GCSE grade 4 or above in English and maths, compared to 64.4% of all pupils[5].
• Approximately, only 25% of people with a vision impairment are in employment, compared to the disability employment figure of 52.6%, and 82.5% for non-disabled people[6].

As they transition to adulthood, accessing the workplace can present additional difficulties: the journey to work, working environment and job technology or equipment are often barriers to employment. Research from RNIB found that 23% of employers said they were not willing to make adaptations to employ someone with a visual impairment despite legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010[7].

However, while reasonable adjustments and workplace support are essential, many of the barriers people face when transitioning to work can also be mitigated by specialist habilitation support from an early age, providing children and young people with a vision impairment with the skills they need to maximise their independence.

What is habilitation support?

Habilitation Specialists teach movement and mobility skills such as spatial awareness, long cane use and independent living skills, including cooking, personal care, social skills and purchasing goods[8], which are instrumental in giving a young person the knowledge and confidence they need to navigate the world.

When habilitation support is received early and is consistent throughout childhood, there is a positive impact on an individual’s academic learning, mental health, and their ability to enter work[9].

The need for early habilitation support

However, due to the insufficient funding and a stretched workforce, children and young people with vision impairment are often not receiving the level of support they need:

• One in eight children and young people who require essential habilitation support are not receiving any[10].
• Support levels can also vary significantly by Local Authority. For example, one local authority provided habilitation support to 3% of the children and young people with a vision impairment in their area, while another provided this service to 47%. This lack of uniformity in service levels is replicated across the country[11].
• Local authorities are also less likely to offer habilitation support for older young people (16+) than any other group. This is the age when they’re about the enter the workforce and will likely need additional support due to multiple transitions[12].

Without the right specialist support during childhood, many young people with a vision impairment may lack the skills and knowledge they need to tackle the barriers they face when entering the workforce.

The Government must provide further funding to ensure every child who needs it has sufficient and consistent habilitation support, available at an early age.

Nathan’s story

Nathan[13] was one year old when he was registered blind due to a number of eye conditions. His parents became frustrated at the lack of habilitation provision from the council. “I was getting nowhere and it was frustrating”, Nathan’s mother told us.  

After receiving habilitation support through Guide Dogs, Nathan’s mother said: “You would not believe how much his confidence has come on. It has given him independence and we let him go a bit more on his own…. I want him to have opportunities and independence, like his brother. I need everything in place for when he is older and wants his freedom. It worries me that other parents in our area will not get that support, but nothing is offered – you’ve got to push”.

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

Guide Dogs is the UK’s largest charitable provider of services for children and young people with vision impairment (VI), and is a leading provider of habilitation services in the UK.

Alongside our services, we campaign to remove barriers that prevent blind and partially sighted people living the life they choose.

December 2023