Maynooth University Policy Paper: Vision Impairment in Ireland

This policy paper, prepared by a student, examines the challenges faced by individuals with vision impairment in Ireland, specifically within the education system. The paper, written from the perspective of the non-governmental organization 'Visioning the Future Ireland,' highlights the historical exclusion of people with visual impairments and identifies current lacunae in Irish education policy that hinder inclusivity. The paper emphasizes the importance of individualised education plans, the need for teachers to be well equipped to deal with special needs and the necessity for better implementation of existing policies. The report also provides policy recommendations, including treating each form of disability separately, implementing person-centered individualised plans, and ensuring proper implementation of legal provisions. The paper underscores the importance of addressing these issues to improve the quality of life and educational prospects for people with vision impairment, advocating for equal opportunities and the full realization of their human rights.

Running head: VISIONING THE FUTURE IRELAND
VISIONING THE FUTURE IRELAND
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This policy paper discusses about the practical applicability of the values of value of
life as implements for getting better the well being and contentment of people who are
victims of vision impairment. The scholars derive from genuine individual and qualified
experiences to exemplify the influence of disempowerment, the roles of perception, self-
image, personal values, and human rights. Special emphasis is given to the power and impact
of vision impairment for people in education. We examine accessible conclusions which hint
that over 90% of individuals with sightlessness or partial sight in Ireland wherein the majority
of them are significantly disempowered and barred from mainstream actions and
opportunities in learning due to their condition. Recommendations are have been directed
towards the policy makers and the frontline staff to enshrine into policy and introduce into
programmes realistic strategies for need assessment, inclusive education, which leads to the
development of job opportunities, and community incorporation of the people who are
victims of vision impairment. Through experiential and professional data discussed in details
in this submission, this paper recommends that a person centred individualised plan is the
way forward for students with vision impairment in education.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Lacunae in the Education Policy of Ireland hampering inclusivity of the inculcation of the
people with visual impairment...................................................................................................4
Policy recommendations to be implemented.............................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
References..................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
‘Visioning the future Ireland’ is a Non Governmental Organisation which advocates
for the people who have incurred total or partial vision impairment, which is often referred to
as blindness. Our goal is to see that the people we work with are not discriminated against
and also advocate for them so that they could enjoy a good quality of life and their overall
well being be catered to as other citizens, and have their human rights respected. This is the
broader picture of the goals and objectives that ‘Visioning the future Ireland’ seeks for its
target audience. Enhancement of the lives of the people suffering from total or partial vision
impairment is the broader goal and that is secured through the process of enhancing their
prospects in the field of education.
‘Visioning the future Ireland’ believes that visual impairment, be it total or partial
cannot impede a person from being self sufficient, and education is the key to achieving self
sufficiency. Hence, ‘Visioning the future Ireland’ seeks to make the conditions of receiving
education much more conducive for the people suffering from visual impairment, through
identifying the lacunae in the existing policy of education in Ireland and its approach towards
the target audience and thereby suggest the necessary steps to enhance the conditions.
Vision impairment could be total blindness or it could be partial sightedness is found
in all societies throughout the earth and has been happening down the centuries. Several
scholars in diverse cultures and diverse historical epochs have recognized the attitudes and
reactions of people who have sighted towards individuals with visionary problems. Typically,
such reactions have included disgrace, bigotry, discrimination and elimination from
community life, which tended to put down most persons with sightlessness in tremendous
scarcity and dependence. However, from the available intellectual endeavours of other
scholars it could be inferred that as the sighted people had learnt to embrace and even in

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some instances had started to admire the talents possessed by persons who had vision loss,
the feeling of animosity towards persons with blindness or partial sight had tended to become
lesser (McCarthy and Shevlin 2017).
However, paradoxically this admiration and acceptance of the individuals having
visual impairment by the individuals devoid of it has not been effectively translated into
policies that enshrine inclusive agenda and equal access to infrastructure, especially in the
area of education. Thus the aim of this policy brief is to provide an account of the aspects in
the Irish policy that impedes the prospects of receiving education for the people with visual
impairment and on the basis of it the relevant policy suggestion shall be provided which is
being expected to be implemented by the government.
Lacunae in the Education Policy of Ireland hampering inclusivity of the
inculcation of the people with visual impairment
To say that there lies no positive prospects in Ireland with regard to the provisions for
the people with visual impairment in Ireland would be an understatement as there has been
significant changes in the Irish curriculum ever since the 1990s. The era before the 1990s was
particularly quite exclusionary towards the people with disabilities in the field of education
which emanated from the feeling that their disability would prove to be an impediment in
their prospects of contributing to the society. The period before the 1990s was characterised
by a negative view about the people with visual impairment and they way they were treated
made it very apparent that they were unequal compared to the ones without disability
(McCarthy and Shevlin 2017).
All the educational courses were not accessible to the people with visual impairment
since the education system was not well equipped to deal with the task of dealing with the
special needs of the students with visual impairment. Apart from the logistical incapacities

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the Irish education system back in the era before the 1990s viewed education as a stepping
stone or a facilitator to the process of seeking respectable employment. By virtue of the social
stigma and the lack of logistical support to cater to the educational requirements of the people
with disability, a feeling prevailed that the people with visual impairment were unable
contribute to the society. Things started to change for the better from the 1900s when the
restructuring of the education system was introduced. Though positive steps have been taken
for the purpose of catering to the special educational needs of the students having visual
imparity, there are still quite a lot of lacunae in them which this policy brief shall be
addressing and also be providing the relevant solutions to the end (McCarthy and Shevlin
2017).
The realization that the students with visual impairment had special educational needs
and the education system was required to be made more inclusive towards the students with
visual impairment had brought about certain structural changes had been brought about. The
positive changes with the view to bring about a climate of inclusion in the sphere of
education for the people of education had been brought through the Education for Persons
with Special Educational Needs Act by the Government of Ireland in the year 2004. As per
the provisions entailed in the policy decision passed by the Government of Ireland, the
existing rule of education being the prerogative of all children up to the age of 16 was upheld.
Along with that, education being the prerogative of the students with the special educational
needs was also upheld and the educational institutions were directed to make provisions for
the students with visual impairment so that their specific educational needs could be met. The
Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act of 2004 had made provisions for
the inculcation of the Individual Education Plans in order to cater to the special educational
requirements of the students with visual imparity as well as other forms of disability
(McCarthy and Shevlin 2017).

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Despite having a noble goal, the Education for Persons with Special Educational
Needs Act of 2004 could however not be translated into practice because of the shortage of
funds. However the Government of Ireland had introduced other policy decisions as well
which sought to make the experience of education for the students with visual impairment
and other forms of disability much more conducive. In the year 1994 in order to deal with the
issue of find crunch inhibiting the implementation of Education for Persons with Special
Educational Needs Act of 2004 the Higher Education Authority of Ireland had paved the way
for the establishment of the Fund for Students with Disabilities, through which the students
with physical disability of some forms or the other could avail of financial aid could avail of
the financial help from the government needed to continue their education. The Government
of Ireland has also passed policy of protective discrimination which had enacted that there
shall be relaxation of the score percentage oriented eligibility criteria for the students with
disability when they shall be seeking admission to the educational institutions for pursuing
higher education. This form of protective discrimination was enacted through the passing of
the Disability Access Route to Education in the year 2009 (Ireland 2019).
Thus there have been no dearth of policies which seek to cater to the betterment of the
students with disabilities. However the prospects of the students with disability to pursue
their education are still not bright and there are a lot of issue areas which are supposed to be
addressed. Firstly, since this policy paper seeks to advocate on behalf of the students with
visual impairment, it can be said that the policy provisions implemented by the government
of Ireland views disability as a homogenous category thereby supplanting all forms of
disability within a single framework. This is a flawed system as it emanates from a position
of lack of sensitivity about disability. Secondly, despite the passing of the legal provision of
Special Educational Needs Act of 2004 which seeks to cater to the special educational
requirements of the students with visual imparity as well as other forms of disability, there is

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an extremely low level of flexibility and support on part of the teachers disseminating
education to students with visual impairment particularly. The lack of implementation of the
policy decision of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act of 2004 is
manifested in the difficulty faced by the students with visual impairment to grasp the
mathematics curriculum especially. There has however not enough changes implemented in
the mathematics curriculum which would make the subject easier to comprehend for the
students with visual impairment. Thirdly, the government of Ireland has embarked upon the
policy decision of the passing of the Disability Access Route to Education in the year 2009
and the reimbursement of the Fund for Students with Disabilities in the year 2004 there has
been a higher inclination on part of the students with visual impairment to abandon their
education earlier than their counterparts having no disability. As per the statistical data
collected it has been found out that the students with visual impairment are 50 % more likely
to quit their education than the ones having no form of physical disability. This hints at the
fact that the students with visual imparity are still unable to avail of the benefits of the policy
decisions facilitating the inclusion of the students with visual impairment (Ireland 2019).
Policy recommendations to be implemented
On the basis of the lacunae in the Education Policy of Ireland hampering inclusivity
of the inculcation of the people with visual impairment certain policy recommendations have
been drafted as a part of the advocacy programme of ‘Visioning the future Ireland’.
Firstly, there is a strict need for the policy decisions to treat each form of disability as
separate and develop separate policy decisions dealing with the various forms of disabilities.
A student having visual impairment has special education needs which are distinct from that
of a student having imparity with regard to mobility.

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Secondly, with regard to the special education needs of the students with visual
impairment the person centred individualised plan should be implemented to cater to their
educational needs.
Thirdly, just passing laws is not enough, the government should also look into the
matter that the legal provisions or the policy decisions are properly implemented so that the
students with disability can benefit out of it. There has been an observation that the inefficacy
of the logistical system to help the students with visual imparity has led them to be dropouts.
Such tendencies should be curbed by means of implementing the person centred
individualised plan in practice.
The rationale behind the recommendations lies in the fact that they shall be able to
empower the students with visual impairment and empower them to receive their education,
complete their courses and be independent (Quirke, McCarthy and Mc Guckin 2018).
Conclusion
Through this policy brief advocating in favour of the persons with visual impairment
the aim has been to convey that the students with visual impairment do not lack capability,
just that they need special guidance to brighten their prospects in life through education and
be independent in life at par with others not having disability.

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References
Ireland, B., 2019. National Association of Housing for Visually Impaired Ltd (NAHVI).
Public Health.
McCarthy, P. and Shevlin, M., 2017. Opportunities and challenges in secondary education for
blind/vision-impaired people in the Republic of Ireland. Disability & Society, 32(7), pp.1007-
1026.
Quirke, M., McCarthy, P. and Mc Guckin, C., 2018. I can see what you mean”: encouraging
higher education educators to reflect upon their teaching and learning practice when engaging
with blind/vision impaired learners. AISHE-J: The All Ireland Journal of Teaching &
Learning in Higher Education, 10(1).