Call for participants in new study on visual impairment in babies and young children

A call for participants for this exciting and important project.

This major new project is arousing huge interest across the whole of the UK. In the first few months over thirty babies and their parents and practitioners entered the project and a projected figure of over a hundred babies are anticipated.This the first national research study of its kind into the early development of babies and young children with a visual impairment. The findings are likely to have significant implications for our understanding about the best ways to support babies with a visual impairment and will be of interest to both professionals and parents in the UK and internationally.

The project is a funding partnership between Fight for Sight, RNIB and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. The project is led by the Developmental Vision team of Great Ormond Street Hospital/University College London Institute of Child Health (ICH)  (under the leadership of Dr Naomi Dale and Dr Alison Salt).

Between now and the end of December 2012, the research team are continuing to recruit infants aged 0 to 15 months with severe to profound visual impairment to take part in the study (excluding children with additional severe motor or hearing impairments). We are happy to hear from families anywhere in the United Kingdom and can provide home visits if they live at distance from us.
If you are interested in taking part or are working with a family of a baby with a visual impairment that you think may be eligible, please contact Dr. Elena Sakkalou or Dr. Michelle O’Reilly on 020 7599 4124 or email e.sakkalou@ucl.ac.uk, m.oreilly@ucl.ac.uk

We would also be grateful if managers of sensory impairment/visual impairment services could help us to advertise the study.