Premium
The Liverpool Visual Assessment Team: 10 years' experience
Author(s) -
HILL A. E.,
McKENDRICK O.,
POOLE J. J.,
PUGH R. E.,
ROSENBLOOM L.,
TURNOCK R.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
child: care, health and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2214
pISSN - 0305-1862
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2214.1986.tb00485.x
Subject(s) - multidisciplinary team , referral , visual impairment , retinopathy of prematurity , medicine , pediatrics , blindness , psychology , etiology , medical diagnosis , optometry , family medicine , psychiatry , nursing , pregnancy , pathology , biology , genetics , gestational age
Summary The Liverpool Visual Assessment Team (VAT) was established in 1975 as a multidisciplinary service for the evaluation of the disabilities of visually handicapped children. Team membership and patterns of practice are described. Two hundred and fifty‐four children have now been seen by the VAT over a 10‐year period. The mean age of referral was 4–2 years; only 46% of the children had an isolated visual handicap. The aetiology of disabilities was known in 58% of the children. Genetically determined visual handicap was likely to be associated with normal intelligence. Ophthalmological diagnoses arc described. In comparison to what would he predicted, there were fewer children with retinopathy of prematurity and more with cerebral (cortical) blindness. The educational needs and placements of the children are described and the implications of the implementation of the 1981 Education Act for visually handicapped children are discussed.