We’re pleased to announce that the annual HabVIUK conference will be held on Wednesday
5 March in the West Midlands. The conference will be held at the Copthorne Hotel Merry
Hill – Dudley DY5 1UR. Priced at £50 for HabVIUK members (£100 for non-members), this
years conference is in-person and will include a buffet lunch, tea and coffee and a choice of
3 practical workshops, as well as 2 keynote speakers. The focus of the conference is on
supporting vision impaired children and young people to overcome the additional
challenges that they may face and sessions include wheelchair mobility, ILS, introduction
of early concepts, language and fine motor skills, early communication and apps for
orientation, plus learning about how ECLOs and habilitation professionals can work
together for the needs of children with a vision impairment.
We hope it will offer our members the opportunity to chat with others whilst learning more
from the excellent speakers that we have on offer. The hotel is easily accessible by car (with
a large free car park) or on public transport then taxi from Sandwell and Dudley or Cradley
Heath stations. The taxi ride from Sandwell and Dudley station is about 20 minutes. Hotel
rooms are available directly through the hotel – approximately £130 including breakfast or
there are cheaper options including premier inn and travelodge within a 3-4 mile radius.
Keynote presentations
Talia Treen, ECLO from Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Geraldine Carragher ECLO
from Good Hope and Heartlands Hospital
Talia and Geraldine will be giving an overview of the role of the ECLO, as well as what
happens at a child’s appointment and how best habilitation specialists can support parents
and families pre and post visit.
Mary Pullen from Mobility to Habilitation – a retrospective
Mary Pullen , who is soon leaving the field of habilitation, will be giving us a retrospective
insight into how the field of mobility, orientation and independence has changes since she
started 40 years ago.
Workshops
Workshop choices are as follows – Please choose your top three choices of 5 workshops
from the drop down boxes when purchasing tickets:
1) Early Concepts, Language , Fine Motor Skills and Tactile Discrimination – Cath Cox and
Sarah Jones, Priestley Smith School
A workshop looking at how hab specialists can use elements of the Tactile Discrimination
programme developed by Priestley Smith School to support a child’s language, concepts and
fine motor skills and ensure that each child has the building blocks to support their
understanding and access to the world around them.
2) Carousel of Independent Living Skills – Fiona Broadley, Chair of HabVIUK and Specialist
Habilitation Lecturer at Birmingham City University
Fiona will lead a practical ILS workshop incorporating a carousel of most requested ILS
activities (where practicable). Session will include the opportunity to both “have a go” under
blindfold and support someone with limited or no vision. If you select this option you will be
contacted regarding preferred carousel activities.
3) Navigating Independence: Travel and Navigation Apps – Tommy Dean, Guide Dogs
Tommy Dean from Guide Dogs will talk about the best and most accessible travel apps and
headphones for use with wayfinding apps including benefits/drawbacks, safety
considerations, prerequisite skills and techniques for assessing suitability. If you choose this
workshop, please bring your Iphone if you have one!
4) Early Sensory Play and Communication for children with sensory needs – Anne
Cheesbrough from SENSE
Anne will be exploring early communication for children with sensory needs and the play
activities that hab specialists can build into their programmes. Anne is an MSI practitioner
with years of experience of working with children with a range of complex needs.
5) Supporting young people in wheelchairs to access and interact with their environments – Mary Pullen, Consultant Habilitation Specialist and Sharn Pateman Habilitation Specialist
Mary and Sharn are going to share their programme of wheelchair mobility training and give
suggestions as to how children and young people in manual and powered wheelchairs can
become more engaged in and responsible for their travel around their school and/or home
environment. It will include video footage of a cyp using a long cane in a powered
wheelchair in a variety of environments.
Bookings
All bookings must be made via Eventbrite, please seek permission from your employer to
book if you wish to claim your booking fee back from them. Refunds are only available until
14 days before the event and incur an admin fee.
