- Title
- Shifting the focus from cause to impact: reshaping the assessment of childhood vision function
- Creator
- Silveira, Susan L.
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2019
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- The Australian federal government has responded to contemporary trends influencing global approaches to disability support by implementing the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This Scheme aims at offering support that focusses on the functional impact of a person’s disability. Eligibility for NDIS funding is determined by criteria termed access requirements. However, the current access requirements for vision impairment rely on clinical measurements rather than measures of the functional impact of the person’s visual disability. This traditional approach stems from a longstanding adult-focussed method of classifying vision impairment using only clinical measurements. The current NDIS access requirements pose a variety of challenges for the diverse population of children with vision impairment and those professionals providing support. The access requirements fail to reveal the functional impact of a child’s vision impairment. Further, children may not be able to participate in clinical assessment, a predicament that leaves professionals with a dilemma regarding useful reporting. The research presented in this thesis aimed at exploring the misalignment between the NDIS access requirements and the support needs of children. Two studies were conducted into the functional impact of childhood vision impairment - an e-Delphi study and a preliminary trial. The e-Delphi study saw engagement with experts in the field of vision impairment. The outcome was the emergence of the notion that the functional impact of childhood vision impairment could be identified and qualified by the presence of certain behaviours. This proposition was then applied in a preliminary trial that aimed at identifying these behaviours in a small group of children with vision impairment. The research in this thesis has (a) contributed to developing the body of knowledge on childhood vision impairment; and (b) created a foundation for the future development of revised NDIS access requirements that better align with the assessment of children for the functional impact of vision impairment.
- Subject
- childhood vision impairment; vision; functional impact; National Disability Insurance Scheme
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1513924
- Identifier
- uon:56786
- Rights
- Copyright 2019 Susan L. Silveira
- Language
- eng
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