Children and Family

A child with a vision impairment needs assistance to develop good physical coordination, language and cognitive skills, independent movement, social and daily living skills. These are essential for their success in education and all aspects of their lives.

Our Children and Family Services team provides family-centred, home-based and centre-based services, developed and implemented in partnership with parents, and in collaboration with teachers and other professionals. Our team members, including an orthoptist, an orientation and mobility instructor, a social worker, an occupational therapist and a physiotherapist, work with parents to develop an individual program which will enable their child, blind or vision impaired, to achieve his or her full potential.  Practical and emotional support is also available to children and their families as they adjust to the impact of vision loss.

Services are provided to children from birth to 18 years of age and their families. Our team provides intervention for children with vision impairment and their families in a range of environments including homes, childcare centres and the Association’s centre.  Regular playgroups provide an excellent opportunity for children aged 0 to four years to socialise, play and receive therapy, and for their parents to meet.

Early Intervention Centre

The Association’s Early Intervention Centre provides an exciting environment for the provision of individual and group services.  Designed to meet the needs of children and families, the Centre enables our staff to make the best use of their specialised knowledge and skills. In addition, the Centre provides excellent facilities for the provision of individual assessment and therapy programs, including orthoptic assessment, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech pathology.

Early education program

We offer a Kindergarten program for children aged from three to five years. This innovative program, which offers places for up to fourteen children, covers the key learning areas, as well as opportunities to interact with the computers and technology within the Variety Children’s Resource Centre. 

• School age services
  Staff provide support to children and their families as they progress through their schooling.  Services such as occupational therapy, psychology and social work can be accessed by clients at home, school or at the Association. Programs include:
• Holiday Program provides opportunities for children age 6 to 17 to participate in school holiday activities. For 2007 Holiday Program dates please Contact Us

Leeuwin Fun Club

• Saturday Fun Club Program operates during school terms and includes access to the assistive technology and lending library in a fun, enjoyable way.  It also provides opportunities for peer support for children with vision impairment.  For 2007 Fun Club dates please Contact Us
• Saturday Sports provides opportunities for children and adolescents to play team sports designed for people with vision impairment and aims to improve overall fitness and participation in physical activity.  For 2007 Saturday Sports program and dates please Contact Us

Lotterywest Children’s Centre

The Lotterywest Children’s Centre acts as the hub for the Holiday programs and Fun Clubs and is used by the young clients in the Kindergarten program.  It provides children and young people with access to a wide range of technology for both study and recreation. 

Parent seminar program

Through the Parent seminar program, the Association aims to provide parents with the opportunity to attend between 6-8 seminars each year on a wide range of topics of interest.