Rehabilitation Work (Visual Impairment) - FdSc

Enhancing Employability Skills

You'll graduate from this course with a recognised and valuable rehabilitation worker qualification. You will have the competence and skills to enable people who have sight loss to be as independent as possible in their day to day lives. You will develop a range of problem solving skills that will be crucial in your practice. Also, you will gain knowledge and experience from work with a range of professionals who work within a wider multi-disciplinary setting. 

Our graduates find jobs with organisations including local authorities, sensory services teams and national and local charities.

As a rehabilitation specialist, you would be qualified to apply for work outside of the UK, for example, New Zealand.

Placements

You will complete a work-based learning placement in each academic year. This takes the form of a 40 day work placement in year one and a 60 day placement in year two. These are invaluable opportunities to build up hands-on experience and skills from the visual impairment sector.

First year placement:

This 40 day work placement may take up to two or three days per week between October and May during the first academic year. This work involves building up experience of working with people who have visual impairment and other disabilities. As part of the placement portfolio there will be several related tasks to complete to maximise your learning experience. For example, observing and reflecting on the practice of qualified professionals. Please note that the first year placement is not concerned with the teaching of rehabilitation independence skills, it helps build the foundations for the delivery of these services in year two of the course.

You may have the opportunities to volunteer to work with local charities. You may be involved with befriending and volunteer visiting schemes as well as supporting social groups and hospital information services. Your current job role may meet the requirements of the first year placement – this may allow you to continue working full time with a study day each week. If you are not in a related job role you will need to ensure you have enough time during your working weeks to fulfil placement and study requirements in between the group learning weeks. This may be manageable if you are working in a part time role three days a week. In this instance you will have to set aside evenings and weekends for independent study time.

Second year placements:

You will complete a 60-day work placement usually between February and May in year two of study. This is usually four days a week for 15 weeks with a study day each week. The first two weeks take the form of induction activities that often occur in November prior to the block placement beginning in February.

You will be expected to perform the role of a Rehabilitation Worker (RW) (Visual Impairment) delivering specialist assessment and independence training to people who have a visual impairment. This will be as part of an active Local Authority Sensory Services team or with a voluntary organisation that hold the contract for the provision of rehabilitation services. Each placement has a qualified RW as a mentor who will provide an induction into the agency and work shadowing opportunities as well as allocating and supervising your caseload.

More about our placement opportunities

Careers

Examples of some of the skills rehabilitation workers can offer their clients:

• Teach individuals how to cross roads independently and negotiate complex routes
• Demonstrate a range of adaptive equipment. This could include new technology such as smart phones and tablets.
• Instruct in safe cooking methods and daily living skills, for example, ironing.
• Provide group training programmes to fellow professionals such as Social Workers, Occupational Therapists and Hospital staff.
• Teach a range of communication skills, for example, Braille and Deaf Blind alphabet signing.
• Give advice and reinforce training in relation to the use of magnifiers and low vision aids
• Provide support and advice to individuals with a sight loss, carers, family members and parents of children with a visual impairment.
• Advise about design and modifications to specific environments to make them more accessible to those with visual impairment, for example, a person’s home or a soon to be built shopping centre.

This innovative and unique course offers you the opportunity to develop teaching skills to work with people who have a sight loss. This course will develop your specialist skills, knowledge and understanding to enable you to qualify as a professional rehabilitation worker who may gain employment in a social services department or a voluntary organisation. You will learn about not only the problems of sight loss, but also how to help people experiencing sight loss in a much broader context.

Work based learning is an integral part of the course. There is the requirement to attend a minimum of 60 days with an organisation that provides services linked to sight loss in year one. There will be opportunities to observe practice and interactions with individuals with a sight loss. In year two, there is the need to attend 60 days with an organisation that provides dedicated rehabilitation services. This is where you will start to manage a case load and deliver tailored services in relation to the individual’s needs.

If you are already employed by an organisation that provides services then it would be likely that you would stay with your existing employer while on the course. However, year two work based learning requires you to carry an actual case load - so the organisation must hold the contract to deliver the localities rehabilitation services for second year work based learning.