In March, the Developmental Vision service at GOSH
launched an unprecedented study to
investigate the effectiveness of early intervention approaches for babies and
toddlers with visual impairment.
This national study is the brainchild of the Royal
National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) and is being co-funded by Fight for
Sight and GOSHCC.
Chief
Investigators Naomi Dale and Alison Salt (Neurodisability) will track the
development of 95 babies born with a congenital visual impairment over the
first three years of life, in order that they can establish the value of
support materials including the Early
Support Developmental Journal for Infants (commissioned by the government
in 2005-6) and other standard forms of intervention. They will work alongside colleagues
Michelle De Haan (Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience)
and Chris Clark (Neuroradiology)
Each year in the UK, around 430 children are
diagnosed with a visual impairment, mainly in infancy. The Developmental Vision
service sees over 150 new referrals each year with most starting at 0-2 years. The
main objective of the study is to identify whether specific early intervention materials
improve the child’s outlook
and whether they alleviate some of the serious vulnerabilities in development,
such as ‘developmental setback’ that the Developmental Vision team have
identified clinically and in their research.
Naomi Dale, Consultant Clinical
Psychologist/Neuropsychologist, explains:
"We're looking forward to beginning this
important work, which is the result of a unique collaboration between our three
organisations. The interaction of a parent or practitioner with a severely
visually impaired child may be key to supporting the child’s social and
cognitive development. Early intervention with families has the potential to
overcome some of the early challenges to development. This study will help us
learn a great deal more about the most effective ways of helping parents and
infants and will lead us to the evidence- based practice of the future.”
Naomi and her colleagues hope that the study will be
completed in 2014.
To find out more, please
email n.dale@ich.ucl.ac.uk
Contact information:
For further information please contact Melanie Vessey, Great
Ormond Street Hospital press office on 0207 239 3178 or email
vessem@gosh.nhs.uk
For genuine and urgent out of hours call speak to switchboard on 020 7405 9200
