SeeAbility achieves Guinness World Record to raise awareness of eye tests

SeeAbility, a charity supporting people with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss, has achieved a Guinness World Record for the most participants featured in a live portrait installation within 48 hours. The aim was to highlight that tens of thousands of children with learning disabilities and autism are missing out on basic eye care.

The live portrait installation challenge took place in Potters Fields Park, next to Tower Bridge. 800 people were needed to achieve the world record. That’s one person for every 1,000 of the 800,000 people of all ages with learning disabilities estimated to have sight problems in the UK.

Each participant had a Polaroid portrait taken, which was then illustrated live in the park on a massive five-metre-by-three-metre mural by London-based artists Luke Embden, a renowned mural artist, and Alex the Doodler, who began doodling at 13 to express himself as an autistic teenager.

The finished mural contained exactly 800 illustrations, with a Guinness World Records adjudicator present to make it official.

Moments missed to moments that matter campaign

The record attempt was part of SeeAbility’s newly launched ‘From moments missed to moments that matter’ campaign, which aims to raise awareness and funds for SeeAbility’s Special Schools Eye Care Service, which provides eye tests and glasses to children in special schools across southern England. 

This is because children with learning disabilities are 28 times more likely to have a serious sight problem than those without one. Yet they are far less likely to access a traditional high-street optician or hospital services.

Over the next five years, SeeAbility aims to expand its services to reach 25,000 more children and young people in special schools and to ensure “that far fewer lives are lived out of focus”.

SeeAbility says vital eye care is taken for granted

Terence, who is 20 years old and autistic, was recently seen by the SeeAbility team at his specialist college. As he does not express himself verbally, he saw only a blur and had never had a sight test or glasses. They found that he was severely nearsighted, with a prescription of -19. Without glasses, he could see no further than two inches (five cm) in front of his face.

SeeAbility’s Director of Eye Care, Lisa Donaldson, said: “Terence is just one of the hundreds of thousands of people with learning disabilities who could be missing out on the vital eye care that we take for granted. I am sure that as we reach more and more schools, we’re going to find many more people just like him. We’re trying to get it right for the next generation, so no one else misses their whole education because they were never offered basic eye care.

“We are so grateful to every single person who showed up to be a part of our mural, helping us raise awareness and vital funds. We estimate that there are 800,000 people with learning disabilities of all ages in the UK who are living with sight problems, and up to half are missing the support they need. It really shows the scale of the issue, that every face on the mural represents 1000 people with learning disabilities who are living with a sight problem in the UK.”

Don’t need to talk to have a sight test

SeeAbility says that everyone with a learning disability should have an annual sight test, sometimes more often. Often, they may not be able to effectively communicate poor vision or changes in vision, so this may be communicated as changes in behaviour (put down to their learning disability or autism). Many people don’t realise that you don’t need to be able to read or talk to have a sight test.

Terence’s mum, Chantal Panzu, added: “When SeeAbility fitted Terence’s glasses, I was so happy, I was in tears of joy! It was incredible, the way they worked with him, the care was amazing, they were so gentle. This is life-changing for Terence. With his glasses, he can see the world clearly. He is smiling all the time!  You can see so much difference in him. It is like a miracle, that’s the only way I can describe it. Without exaggeration, SeeAbility has given my son the gift of sight. I am so incredibly grateful.”

Alison Bloomer

Alison Bloomer is Editor of Learning Disability Today.

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