Vision-impaired children in Wales are missing out on vital help that could significantly affect their chances of a future career, according to a leading charity.

Research by Guide Dogs Cymru shows large parts of Wales have poor or limited provision when it comes to habilitation, which is essential for children with sight loss to learn the skills they need for an independent life.

Habilitation specialists work one-to-one developing confidence and enabling families to help their child get the most from life. Gwynedd has some habilitation provision, which Guide Dogs Cymru welcomes, although it is shared with Ynys Môn.

Among those being helped is Paisley Coulson from Dolgellau. Five-year-old Paisley, who was born prematurely at 24 weeks and registered severely sight impaired before her first birthday, was referred to Guide Dogs via Derwen, a partnership between the health board and the local authority that supports disabled children and their families.

Paisley’s mother, Emma, said: “Since getting involved with Guide Dogs, Paisley has come on leaps and bounds. Her habilitation specialist, Branwen Jones, has been a massive support, helping us access support and information, teaching Paisley independence skills, such as learning to dress herself, and long cane training - Paisley has a little pink cane.

“We are concentrating on getting her independent outdoors with her cane. She is very clumsy outdoors and could trip over fresh air! She loves jumping in muddy puddles, exploring different leaves on trees and going to the park, feeling the fences on the way.

“Branwen also helped with our housing problems. Our previous house was really small and not suitable for Paisley. Branwen wrote a supporting letter and a risk assessment to encourage the housing association to fix the problem.

“Paisley attends mainstream school, and Branwen provides support to ensure all the staff are aware of her needs and that everywhere is safe for her. She took a long time to settle in but now she is doing really well, learning pre-braille and some letters.”

Paisley has also benefited from Guide Dogs’ Tech 4 All scheme, which provides free assistive technology to children in the UK aged 3-18 with a vision impairment by getting a grant for an iPad.

Andrea Gordon, external affairs manager for Guide Dogs Cymru, said: “All children with vision impairment should have the support of a qualified habilitation specialist. The current level of qualified habilitation specialists they employ cannot meet their needs. Guide Dogs’ services are helping to fill an essential gap, otherwise many of these children would get nothing. The Welsh Government must act to provide an equitable, appropriate service for vision-impaired children, wherever in Wales they live, and local authorities must deliver it in accordance with the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act Codes of Practice.”

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are fully committed to supporting visually impaired and blind people in Wales and have taken positive steps to improve access to services, by funding Wales Council of the Blind to support a range of service improvement initiatives. This includes providing more locally-based training for new rehabilitation officers as well as supporting existing officers through professional development training packages.”