technology for students with visual impairments chapter eight

Technology for Students with

Visual Impairments

ChapterEight

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company 8-2

Overview

• Categories of Visual Impairments

• Instructional Considerations

• Traditional Technologies

• Advanced and Adaptive Technologies


Describing Visual Disabilities

• Totally Blind– Little or no visual sensitivity

• Legally Blind– Acuity of 20/200 or less

• Low Vision– Can use large print and magnification

• Partially Sighted– Helped greatly by corrective lenses


Instructional Considerations

• Concreteness

• Unifying experiences

• Learning by doing

• Universal Design: providing all students with opportunities to engage in concrete, hands-on, connected learning experiences


Placement Decisions

• Students with visual impairments have specific educational needs– Mobility and orientation training– Learning Braille– Learning to use adaptive technologies such as

screen readers

• Once comfortable with such tools, students can be completely incorporated into the regular curriculum with minor instructional changes


Traditional Technologies

• Recorded books– Available from the National Library Service for the

Blind and Physically Handicapped and from Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic

– Especially helpful for students with LD and communication disorders

• Braille– Use declining because of advances in technology– Still, however, the most popular text system


Advanced Technologies

• Screen readers– Read aloud any text on the screen, including

email, web pages, and word-processing documents

– Help navigate menus and desktops

• Screen recognition software– Interprets voice commands

• Optical character recognition (OCR) software– Converts printed text to computer files


Adaptive Technologies

• Talking calculators

• Adaptive keyboards

• Closed-circuit television

• Descriptive Video Service


Summary

• After direct instruction in areas such as mobility, orientation, and Braille, students with visual impairments can be included in the regular curriculum

• Instruction should be concrete, with plenty of hands-on activities and unifying experiences

• For these students, a variety of technologies can make more information easily accessible

technology for students with visual impairments chapter eight

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