Eshan S Story - RNIB Schools, College and Children S Residences Video Transcript

Eshan’s story - RNIB schools, college and children’s residences video transcript

Ginny Tyler I’m Ginny Tyler. I’m the Head of Children’s Health & Therapy Services for RNIB.

RNIB services for children and young people are based in three different areas of England. In north London, we have Sunshine House. Pears Centre is based in Coventry, in the Midlands. RNIB College Loughborough looks after young people from 16 up to the age of 25.

Across all RNIB places, we provide tailored care and support to people with needs in addition to their visual impairment.

Hardeep My name is Hardeep Rai, and this is my adorable little son, nine years old, called Eshan.

Just before Eshan was being born, there was a last minute birthing complication, and that resulted in him being starved of oxygen for 17 minutes, and that resulted in a number of different things not being quite right. That started with his sight loss, so he’s severely visually impaired, and his mental development is impaired and there are a number of other movement-related issues that are impaired with Eshan. So his condition is quite severe.

We were very fortunate to be able to get a position at the RNIB Sunshine House, and that was part-time from Monday to Friday, every day, every week, except holidays, which was fantastic. I mean, Eshan, just within the first three to four months – you could start seeing the difference.

Ginny Tyler Pears is unique in that we support very, very complex children. The thing that we do here, that I feel is better than anywhere else is we totally focus on the child. We give everything we can to make sure that the training, the teaching, the therapeutic support is tailored to that child’s needs. We don’t teach classrooms of children – we teach individual children within classes.

Hardeep Rai We decided that we needed something full-time for Eshan. As soon as I came to the RNIB Pears Centre, I knew this had to be the home for Eshan. And the care that Eshan has received since he has been here has been quite exceptional. One of the things that’s fantastic is that there are a number of qualified experts and specialists that are on-site, so he’s seen by a physiotherapist, he’s seen by speech and language therapists, almost every day. They can track his progress, and the staff that work here are just incredible. I get weekly updates through the school about different things that he does, so his activities are fantastic, and I think what’s also great is he’s coming home and he’s got other children here that he can interact with.

Being in a place like this, where they will push him, they will stimulate him as much as they possibly can, could be the best thing that any parent could hope for, in my position. So in as much as I can be excited, I am for both myself and for Eshan and his future prospects.

Ginny Tyler We really believe we can make a difference to children and young people whose needs are so complex and so challenging that they will find life difficult. But we can really help them make it less of a challenge, really help improve their chances for adult life.

Voiceover 1 To find out more about our schools, college and residences for children and young people, visit rnib.org.uk/schoolsandcollege.

Voiceover 2 RNIB – supporting people with sight loss.