Chapter 16 Objectives

Visual Impairments

Chapter Objectives

At the end of this presentation, you should be able to:

• Understand the definition and characteristics of students with visual impairments.

• Recall the assistive technologies available to support appropriate curricular and instructional needs of students with visual impairments.

• Develop an understanding of the needs of students with visual impairments within the classroom context.

• Understand how the skills and abilities of students with visual impairments change over time.

Chapter 16

Visual Impairments

Who Is Elexis Gillette?

• He is a freshman in high school who is legally blind.• He has difficulty because most people think and communicate information in

visual terms he can’t understand.• His mother has glaucoma (which affects vision) and his two teachers are also

blind.• He feels his success depends on his ability to be responsible for himself as

much as possible.• In addition to typical academic work, he has orientation and mobility work.• He hopes to be able to use some of the specialized computer skills he has

learned from his teachers.

Defining Visual Impairments

How Do You Recognize Students with Visual Impairments?

Understand the definition and characteristics of students with visual impairments.

How Do You Recognize Students with Visual Impairments?

• Two different definitions– Legal definition

• Based on acuity and field of vision– IDEA definition

• Low vision• Functionally blind• Totally blind

Describing the Characteristics

• Incidental learning– The way sighted children naturally learn about their environment– Lack of incidental learning skills can impact the development of motor,

language, cognitive, and social skills• Limitations in range and variety of experiences

– Some objects are difficult to describe by touch only or are not able to be touched (for example, skyscrapers or mountains)

• Limitations in the ability to get around– Can impact a child’s motor development

• Limitations in interactions with the environment– Being unable to determine detailed information about their environment, they

may be unable to learn appropriate reactions to environmental stimuli

How Do You Recognize Students with Visual Impairments?

Understand the definition and characteristics of students with visual impairments.

Determining the Presence

How Do You Evaluate Students with Visual Impairments?

Develop an understanding of the needs of students with vision impairments within the classroom context.

How Do You Evaluate Students with Visual Impairments?

• Determining how a student uses vision– Functional vision assessment (FVA)– Provides more concrete information about a student’s vision that may help

in making IEP decisions• Determining the appropriate reading medium

– Finding the appropriate learning medium• Braille, print, audiotapes, and access technology

– Allows the IEP team to know what accommodations are needed

Identifying the Causes & Prevalence

How Do You Recognize Students with Visual Impairments?

Develop an understanding of the needs of students with vision impairments within the classroom context.

Figure 16-3

Determining the Nature and Extent of Services

Develop an understanding of the needs of students with visual impairments within the classroom context.

• Services must be based on a student’s specific needs as identified through assessment

• Assessment team must include an orientation and mobility specialist and teacher for students with vision impairments

• Informal assessments should include the student’s ability to function independently outside the classroom and within the community

• Assessments should include the age-appropriateness of tasks– What are the student’s peers doing?– Determine skills typically learned through incidental learning, analyze task

involvement, and begin teaching these tasks earlier• Teachers should not make assumptions about a student’s previously acquired

learning (due to the problems with incidental learning)• Provide extra time for standardized tests

How Do You Recognize Students with Visual Impairments?

Including Students

How Do You Assure Progress in the General Curriculum?

How Do You Assure Progress in the General Curriculum?

• Blindness does not affect what a student can learn as much as how a student can learn.

• Students with the most intensive educational needs may attend residential schools; most can be included in general education classroom with supports.

• There is a long history of including students with blindness in general education settings.

Develop an understanding of the needs of students with visual impairments within the classroom context.

Planning Universally Designed Learning

How Do You Assure Progress in the General Curriculum?

• Adapting instruction– Adapted methods to access to print– Augmenting instruction with additional meaningful experiences– Opportunities to use assistive technology– Provision of specialized instruction and materials

• Augmenting curriculum– Daily living skills– Orientation and mobility– Self-advocacy

Recall the assistive technologies available to support appropriate curricular and instructional needs of students with visual impairments.

Early Childhood

What Can You Learn from Others Who Teach Students with Visual

Impairments?

Understand how the skills and abilities of students with visual impairments change over time.

What Can You Learn from Others Who Teach Students with Visual Impairments?

The Early Childhood Years

• Blind Babies Foundation, San Francisco• Provides services to families of infants and preschool children who are blind• Services are generally home-based• Focus is to help parents understand the effects of visual impairment on

learning• Learning of Braille begins• Helps teach skills typically learned through incidental learning

Elementary

The Elementary Years

• Lawrence, Kansas• Mary Gordon has taught students with vision impairments for over 20 years• Presents Braille sheet music, maps with raised continents and tactilely

different countries, and describes specimens in science classes• Works with students on social skills so they can successfully be included in the

general classroom environment

What Can You Learn from Others Who Teach Students with Visual

Impairments?

Understand how the skills and abilities of students with visual impairments change over time.

Middle and Secondary

The Middle and Secondary Years

• Tallahassee, Florida• Focuses on daily living skills• Students work with OAM specialists• Learn to navigate safely through new and unfamiliar environments• Crucial to develop independent living skills

What Can You Learn from Others Who Teach Students with Visual

Impairments?

Understand how the skills and abilities of students with visual impairments change over time.

Transitional and Post-Secondary

The Transitional and Post-Secondary Years

• Living Skills Center, San Pablo, CA• Students learn skills that allow them to choose their lifestyles, places of

residence, leisure-time activities, and occupations• Students live with other students in an apartment• Focus on strengthening independent living skills, such as shopping and

cooking

What Can You Learn from Others Who Teach Students with Visual

Impairments?

Understand how the skills and abilities of students with visual impairments change over time.

A Vision for Elexis’s Future

• He believes he will graduate from school, work, and raise a family.• He will be able to succeed because he has had flexible education programs

designed to meet his needs since he was an infant.• He has the skills needed to be an active explorer and participant in the world

around him.