Eye health experts have called for a national scheme of longer, tailored sight tests for people with learning disabilities who are more likely to suffer problems or need glasses.
Campaigners used a parliamentary reception – which was attended by more than 20 MPs and peers – to launch a national petition demanding a better deal for the one million adults with learning disabilities.
Launching the petition calling on the NHS to act, David Scott-Ralphs, chief executive of eye health charity SeeAbility, said: “One in 10 adults with learning disabilities will be blind or partially sighted and around half – 6 out of 10 – won’t have had a sight test in the recommended period.”
At the event, hosted by Lord Holmes of Richmond MBE and sponsored by SeeAbility and the Optical Confederation, MPs and peers heard personal testimonies from people with learning disabilities explaining the life-changing effects regular, tailored sight tests can have.
Lending his support to the campaign, the Minister for Disabled People, Justin Tomlinson MP, recognised that uncorrected visual problems were an often overlooked barrier to people with learning disabilities meaning they could miss out on meaningful employment.
Following the reception David Scott-Ralphs said: “It was a fantastic event and Rt Hon Alistair Burt MP, the Minister for Community and Social Care, spoke again about his experience visiting Perseid School – a special school where SeeAbility runs a sight testing programme – an ‘amazing’ service he said he will never forget.”
Henrietta Alderman, from the Optical Confederation, said: “Investing in community eye care is a cost effective way of helping people with learning disabilities stay independent and prevents unnecessary sight loss.”
For more information and to sign the petition, click here
Picture: left to right: David Scott-Ralphs, chief executive, SeeAbility; Katrina Venerus, managing director, Local Optical Committee Support Unit and Lord Holmes of Richmond MBE.
