{"id":20990,"date":"2023-07-04T14:36:19","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T13:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings-new\/send\/areas-of-need\/sensory-and-or-physical\/visual-impairment\/eye-conditions\/retinitis-pigmentosa\/"},"modified":"2024-12-11T12:12:47","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T12:12:47","slug":"retinitis-pigmentosa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/send\/areas-of-need\/sensory-and-or-physical\/visual-impairment\/eye-conditions\/retinitis-pigmentosa\/","title":{"rendered":"Retinitis pigmentosa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is retinitis pigmentosa?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) eye conditions are all linked by a problem with the rod and cone photoreceptors. RP affects both eyes and is a progressive degeneration of the retina, specifically the light receptors known as rods and cones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rods enable us to see in the dark and things that move, though only in black and white and in poor detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cones enable us to see things that are still, in good detail, in daylight and in colour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Usually the rods are affected more than the cones, so children and young people are likely to experience greater difficulties in poorly lit environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some children may notice their vision becoming blurred around the edges, and have difficulty seeing in the dark \u2013 a problem with the rod photoreceptors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other children may notice their central vision becoming blurred, and that colours lose their vibrancy \u2013 a problem with the cone photoreceptors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The condition is progressive &#8211; some may eventually see only bright lights or the movement of large objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Children and young people with RP may have restricted visual fields (peripheral vision) despite reasonable acuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Education strategies that can help<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Walkways to be clear.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensure classroom storage does not create obstacles especially at eye level.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Layout of the classroom to be kept consistent.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Resources kept in the same place and clearly labelled.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Have good ambient lighting throughout the setting. Consider lighting in darker areas such as toilets and when clocks change.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Windows to have blinds to reduce glare.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be aware that a child or young person may have difficulty moving between areas with different lighting levels e.g. outside to inside.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Avoid standing in front of windows \u2013 this can reduce you to a silhouette and make it difficult for all learners to see you properly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Learners who have VI need to sit in the best position to see the whiteboard but not separately from the other learners.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Learners with vision impairment need to sit close to a power source if they are using specialist ICT.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Screen sharing software can help with viewing at distance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provide individual copies of anything presented on the whiteboard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use a clearly contrasting pen \u2013 e.g. black on white.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Learners to use a dark pen or 2b pencil to create greater contrast.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consider alternative methods of recording e.g. typing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Print resources should be in an appropriate format.\u00a0 (print size, font and contrast.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use real objects and artefacts to support teaching.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Learners to have their own whiteboard and pen and also their own copy of resources e.g. phonics flashcards.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensure support staff have time to modify materials before the lesson.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Give extra time, if needed, for VI learners to process information and complete tasks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep worksheets clear and uncluttered; keep drawings, tables and graphs as simple as possible.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>PE equipment should be clean and create a good contrast with the surface e.g. no green bean bags on grass.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>School trips: Plan and risk assess. Ensure CYP can access resources\/activity e.g. Can CYP handle objects etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Plan and practise 1:1 procedure for fire alarms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rnibbookshare.org\/cms\/\" rel=\"noopener\">UK education collection | RNIB Bookshare, accessible books for print disabled learners<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For more information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rnib.org.uk\/your-eyes\/eye-conditions-az\/retinitis-pigmentosa\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Retinitis pigmentosa | RNIB<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.macularsociety.org\/professionals\/teaching-resources\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Teaching professionals &#8211; Macular Society<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pocklington-trust.org.uk\/student-support\/what-do-we-see-2\/\" rel=\"noopener\">What do we see? 2 &#8211; How the world looks to vision impaired children and young people &#8211; Thomas Pocklington Trust (pocklington-trust.org.uk)<\/a> This video simulates what vision could be like with retinitis pigmentosa. It should only be used as an indication as vision is different for everyone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is retinitis pigmentosa? Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) eye conditions are all linked by a problem with the rod and cone photoreceptors. RP affects both eyes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2616,"featured_media":0,"parent":20782,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-20990","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-04 19:59:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2616"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20990"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29440,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20990\/revisions\/29440"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}