Vision Impairment

In 2018 the Southend-on-Sea City Council Vision Impairment (VI) Service interviewed Nathan Smith for their newsletter. Nathan was the first Braille user in Southend-on-Sea to complete compulsory education in a mainstream school. During his time at school, Nathan received support from Learning Support Assistants and the Vision Impairment Service.

Nathan completed A Levels at South Essex College and has since gained a degree in Business Management from Roehampton University. The Local Offer team met Nathan in July 2022. We asked him about his time at school, and university.

Tell us about the support you had at school and the transition between school and college

Transition from Primary to Secondary school went smoothly and I continued with the same wonderful in-class support assistant in both schools. At college, I had a variety of equally fantastic support assistants, which did happen to include my original support assistant from the other schools. How Lucky!

Shoeburyness High School knew I was joining a year in advance so there was lots of time for them to prepare and put resources in place for me. The school were fantastic and gave me wonderful support. The Head and Deputy Head were amazing, and both took time to get to know students. The Deputy Head would wait for me at the school entrance every first day of the new year in order to show me any structural changes that may have taken place.

Janice from the Southend-on-Sea City Council Vision Impairment (VI) outreach service was my mobility trainer and we just clicked! Janice knew my quirks and how to work with me and her support helped a lot.

I had mobility training once a week in the 6 weeks holiday before moving to secondary school and the VI team also helped me to navigate the canteen, coming in to support me every day in the first term until I was able to do it independently. I also had in-class support once a week from Denise and Beatrice who helped the school to support me too. The team would always ask what they can do to better support students

Janice helped me study routes around the school, which was very helpful and supported me with the route to my work experience placement. Training for independence was also provided, which was key. Southend has some brilliant mobility trainers and the VI team are a lifesaver.

I feel very lucky to have had the support from the local authority and school. My mum had a good relationship with the VI team and had really good communication with them. This was a keystone to my success.

I aspire to be a point of contact for parents and students in my job at St Clere's.

How was the move from school to college?

The college staff were great people and did the best they could, but they weren't ready for me because they didn't have much notice I was joining as I had originally planned to go to the grammar school.

I didn't realise at the time, but I now know that I wasn't ready to transition into a new environment and I found it difficult in the first year. I found myself feeling less interested. My maths teacher put in a lot of effort to help me though and at the end I aced computer science!

What support did you get at university? Was it different to the support you had at school?

Students with disabilities and foreign students were allowed to arrive at the university early before others. The disability team asked someone from the Student Union to support me at an introductory dinner and I made a great friend there.

Note-takers were provided for lectures, and they were very good, but the equivalent of the SENCO wasn't very interested.

The university were supposed to provide a mobility trainer, but this took a while to organise, and the support when I got it, was a much lower quality than what I was used to from Southend, so the note-takers and a friend helped me to get around the university.

I noticed a decrease in the support I was being given and felt like I was fighting for the support I needed.

My accommodation was dormitory style with individual rooms. It wasn't specially adapted, but I got an ensuite bathroom as a priority. My flat rep was helpful if I ever needed anything.

How was your time at university?

Academically it was good fun as I thrive with a challenge. The first couple of years were good as I was living on campus, but in my 3rd year the COVID pandemic hit, and I had to continue my studies remotely from home which was more challenging.

Making a good friend early on, having good relationships and a point of contact really helped.

Do you have any advice for vision impaired people starting university?

Number 1 - prepare as much as you can. Things are going to be very different environmentally and buildings wise. Being prepared helps with what is going to come next.

Number 2 - Find a point of contact. Having the right support at the right time was crucial. Find a friend or someone who can support you - having someone to vent to is important.

Number 3 - hit the ground running! Prepare as much as you can, be ready to start and get involved straight away!

Are you working on any current projects or business ideas?

I'm a problem solver and love puzzle games. I like to help people and contribute. I;ve had my own website since 2013 (https://nathantech.net).

The site provides assistive software and audio games for vision impaired people and users of screen readers, including a piece of software that makes PowerPoint easier to use, and a gadget to make Reddit easier to navigate with a screen reader.

In 2016 I created a multi-user game for vision impaired people which was very popular, and lots of people played it. I love it when people say they used my software and it really helped, or that it really made a difference to them.

In the future I want to launch a website to help blind people cook, which would include recipes and frequently asked questions. I'd also like to be more involved in politics and the community, and maybe set up a charity if there is an opportunity. There aren't any elected members who are blind in Southend and MPs don't seem to be interested in services for blind people locally. I'd like that to change and hope that one day I will be able to make as much of a positive impact to people's lives as the VI department of Southend and my support made to mine.

What are you doing now?

Last year I was tutoring at Westcliff High School once a week, supporting 2 students with braille and assistive technology, including teaching people how to use a screen reader and also supporting teaching staff. I helped one student who had lost her sight re-learn how to use a laptop.

I'm now working at St. Clere's School in Stanford-Le-Hope, supporting students with SEND, with things such as note-taking, and providing technical advice to the school on assistive technology, especially in windows.

Thank you for your time, Nathan, it was a pleasure to meet you.

Nathan's website can be found at https://nathantech.net. You can also visit https://software.nathantech.net for the software archive - a database of software accessible for screen reader users.