When I joined RNIB as a Technology For Life Coordinator for Northern Ireland in October 2022, I could never have dreamt of where that adventure would take me in my career.  One of the first questions I was asked by my Line Manager at the time was: ‘Do you like children?’  My response was immediate: ‘Yes, I love children.’  At that time, my grandson Ezra was three, and his mum was expecting Isaac who completed the family in March 2023.  Having given birth to my own son in 1990, and loving motherhood, the next question my Line Manager asked changed my life in so many wonderful ways: ‘How would you feel about working in mainstream schools across Northern Ireland to support tactile learners one day a week as part of your role?’  When my son was in Primary School, I visited various classes at his school every Tuesday afternoon.  I read to them; I built Lego with them; I made Plasticine models with them; I took games in that we could all play; and some of Ian’s peers became my little friends.  They guided me by the hand to the staff-room at breaktime; they showed me where the toilets were; they asked me lots of questions about what it was like to be blind; and they seemed to accept me as just another mum.  So being given the opportunity to work in schools supporting tactile learners suddenly awoke the sleeping giant in me that I never knew existed.

I began with my first school visit in January 2023.  I met two Qualified Teachers of the Visually Impaired, (QTVIs) that first day, and felt I had come home.  I didn’t feel shy or awkward, I just felt completely comfortable as though it was something I did every day.  From then on, a time-table for my visits to several schools was put in place.  Not only did I support pupils with their Braille and screen reader, I assisted the QTVIs and Classroom Assistants by showing them tricks and shortcuts so they could pass this information onto their pupils.  Most of all though, I built up a rapport with everyone, a trust that I feel privileged and proud to own today.

So when the Technology For Life team was disbanded a year ago at RNIB, it threatened to tip my world upside down at the very idea that I would no longer be able to work with these wonderful people.  I was told that I would no longer be able to visit schools for RNIB, it ‘wasn’t viable.’  Believing I would be made redundant imminently, I approached the Education Authority here in Northern Ireland and asked if I could continue to support pupils and staff if I became self-employed.  The answer was a resounding ‘Yes please Jackie.’  So I renegotiated the contract with the EA, and came up with STRIVE Ability.  At about the same time, however, I applied for a new role at RNIB as Digital Skills Engagement and Events Officer and was offered the post on a job share basis working three days a week.  This couldn’t have worked out better if I had meticulously planned it.  I offered the EA two days a week wearing my STRIVE Ability hat, and accepted the RNIB role to work the other three days.  My enhanced Access NI Check was validated, and STRIVE Ability was born!

The school summer term in Northern Ireland has just come to an end, and I cannot begin to describe how thrilled I am that my work with the EA in supporting staff and pupils will resume when everyone returns to school in September.  Working on a Thursday and Friday with schools has been an immense privilege.  I have been supporting eight pupils, all at different ages, all at different schools, all with lovely personalities, and all with outstanding determination to be going through mainstream education as blind individuals.  Their support staff are not just people with relevant qualifications, they are kind, devoted individuals who go above and beyond to maintain a high level of dedication to their pupils.  I went to a boarding-school for blind and visually impaired children.  I did not have the choices that families are given today in whether they want to send their child to mainstream or ‘special’ school.  The debate about mainstream versus ‘special’ education continues to rage with many arguing that a child who is blind or severely visually impaired is better off going to a dedicated school because the materials and preparations for adulthood are specifically designed, and ‘special’ school is deemed to offer a more substantive education for a blind youngster.  The counter argument is that a child who is blind or severely visually impaired can enjoy being at a local mainstream school and be integrated into a network of support staff that enables them to maintain family and local community ties.  I know for certain that if I had been given that choice as a youngster, my family and I would have opted for mainstream education.  But this doesn’t suit all children, every child has a different personality, and what works for one doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for another.  By the time I left school at 16 and went onto ‘specialist’ college, I had become largely estranged from my siblings.  Their friends weren’t my friends, and I felt like I was the poor blind girl who was simply known for coming home at weekends and holidays.

Visiting mainstream schools and recognising the incredible support network blind and visually impaired children require just blows my mind, it’s like a workforce all of its own.  In most of the schools I’ve been to, there is generally a dedicated workroom or hut from where the QTVIs and Classroom Assistants prepare materials and store the valuable equipment the pupil needs to use.  There are generally two Classroom Assistants per pupil, one who escorts the child to and from their classes, while the other is prepping materials into accessible formats.  Then they swap over so there is always someone with the pupil.  A QTVI will visit each school at least once a week as part of their enormous caseload to support the Classroom Assistants, liaise with teachers about textbooks or plan ahead for assignments, and interact with family members to ensure that the needs of the pupil are being met.  My role is not to teach, it is to support pupil and staff at each school or online over Teams in the use of Braille equipment such as note-taker, display and screen reader on their laptop.  I can advise on what new technology is emerging, and have a training day with all QTVIs at least once a year to inform and demonstrate the latest devices.  This summer, I am also running two workshops for Classroom Assistants to give them an opportunity to see equipment being demonstrated, and ask questions they don’t often have time for during the term.

Each Education Authority across the UK is different in how it supports a pupil who is blind or severely visually impaired in a mainstream setting.  All Education Authorities are strapped for cash, but money has to be provided where there is a pupil with specific needs in order that they receive what they are entitled to - an appropriate education.  My role appears to be unique to Northern Ireland, (their words not mine.)    It is something that the EA’s Sensory Service decided was required, and have now found money in an already stretched budget to pay me.

I am now 63, and feel that time is slipping away a lot faster than I would like.  Since I began this work, it has made me realise that I could, and should, have gained a teaching qualification 40 or so years ago.  Things were different back then it’s true, legislation to protect disability for a start.  But I now know I would have loved to teach, or support blind and visually impaired children in reaching their full potential.  By a chance opportunity, my dedication to those lovely young people and all who work with them has been realised, and I just hope I live long enough to continue it for a while yet!