Services for Children
Getting around freely and confidently is just as important to children who have impaired vision as any other child. It is for this reason that Guide Dogs NSW/ACT provides specialised Orientation and Mobility services just for kids - so these children can purposefully explore their environment.
We develop a training program tailored to each child's individual needs, age and skill level. The program then grows with the child, starting with pre-cane skills, moving through to cane training, bus travel, and use of residual vision and other senses.
Our Orientation and Mobility Instructors work with everyone involved in the child's life to reinforce this training - at home, pre-school, school and in the community.
We also provide information and support for families, child-care centres, schools and other agencies. As advocates for people who have impaired vision, we can provide recommendations for environmental changes to school grounds and playgrounds.
By working together, we can help children who have impaired vision to achieve their potential in every aspect of life.
Toddlers and preschoolers
Guide Dogs NSW/ACT works with very young children who have a variety of individual needs, motivating them to do things independently. We teach these children to move and explore their environment, and to use their senses to gather information about their surroundings.
School-aged children
As children begin to travel further afield, they require a more specialised program. We provide Orientation and Mobility training so that school-aged kids can travel safely, and have choices about when and where they go.
Orientation training teaches children to use their senses to gather clues about their surrounding environment. For example, on a trip from home to the corner shop, they may orient themselves by the sound of music from a café or traffic noises at a busy intersection.
Mobility training familiarises children with essential concepts of the world around them, and may include the use of a mobility cane. They may learn to cross a road safely and to identify kerbs, footpaths and zebra crossings.
Children may also learn to travel independently around school grounds and, if necessary, between school and home.
Children who attend special schools receive training in class and on community excursions, learning to travel confidently with a carer on public transport and in shopping centres.
Click here to download a Children's Services Brochure.
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