LOW VISION AND THE

BLINDSpecial Education Part 1

Caroline Aubry

I can see, and that is why I can be happy, in what you call the dark, but which to me is golden. I can see a God-made world, not a manmade world.

~Helen Keller

WHAT IS BLIND AND LOW VISION?

A condition of partial or total impairment of sight or vision that even with correction effects education performance adversity.

Special Education: A Guide for Educators 2001

The Expanded Core Curriculum

Children who are blind or visually impaired have the same need for intellectual stimulation, social acceptance, emotional support, and physical activity, as do all children in our society. The Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) is the body of knowledge and skills that are needed by students with visual impairments due to their unique disability-specific needs. Students with visual impairments need the expanded core curriculum in addition to the core academic curriculum of general education. The ECC should be used as a framework for assessing students, planning individual goals, and providing instruction.

Compensatory or Functional Academic Skills, Including Communication Modes

Orientation and Mobility Social Interaction Skills Independent Living Skills and

Personal Management Skills Recreation and Leisure Skills Career and Life Management Skills Assistive Technology Visual Efficiency Skills

The Expanded Core Curriculum

Compensatory or Functional Academic Skills, Including Communication ModesRefer to those skills needed to access the regular curriculum presented in the regular classroom (i.e., compensatory skills), skills needed by students with multiple disabilities to enhance their ability to participate in home, school and community (i.e., functional skills), and an array of communication skills.Examples of other compensatory or functional academic skill areas might include concept development, spatial awareness, keyboarding skills, listening skills, organizational skills, use of the abacus, or tactile discrimination skills. The acquisition of everyday concepts and practical knowledge usually acquired through incidental learning by children who are sighted requires specific instruction for students who are blind or visually impaired to ensure they are building their knowledge base on accurate information.

Is an area of instruction focusing on students’ ability to know where they are in relation to their environment and to travel safely, efficiently, purposefully and independently throughout this environment. Good orientation and mobility skills are highly correlated with the degree of independence achieved by students later in life. Developing body awareness, directionality, spatial awareness, and practical knowledge associated with the characteristics of a given environment increases the probability that the student will be actively involved in age-appropriate activities with peers. Problem-solving strategies essential to travel in both familiar and unfamiliar environments, urban and rural areas and in various kinds of weather are all essential to the development of independence and self-esteem. Students who have low vision need to learn to interpret both visual and auditory information and may use an optical device to access information. The use of a white cane is essential for some students who cannot rely upon the accuracy of the visual information they receive or for those who are blind. Students who are blind or visually impaired with additional disabilities need to have orientation and mobility instruction that addresses their specific needs and requirements of their daily routines. Orientation and mobility is taught by professionals who have completed certified programs in this very specialized area.

Orientation and Mobility

are essential if students are to develop friendships with their classmates and participate in activities typically associated with school-age children, whether educational or extracurricular. Having good interpersonal communication skills is also highly correlated with employability in adults. For children who are sighted, social skills are primarily learned incidentally through interaction with family members and peers. Most of this learning occurs through observation, imitation and incidental experiences that are part of everyday routines. For children who are blind or visually impaired, this information must be provided through timely, insightful, and sequential instruction. Information associated with non-verbal communication (e.g., gestures, body language, facial expressions) or cultural practices (e.g., how close to stand to the person with whom you are speaking to) must be made available to students who are blind or visually impaired.

Social Interaction Skills

Are highly correlated with the achievement of life-long goals for students who are blind or visually impaired. Curriculum designed to address the development of independent living skills include instruction in areas such as personal hygiene, food preparation, money and time management, home management, organization of personal belongings and space to accommodate the lack of visual input. While similar skills may be taught within the public school curriculum they do not provide sufficient opportunity for meaningful and frequent practice required for students who are blind or visually impaired..

Independent Living Skills and Personal Management Skills

Recreation and Leisure SkillsThese skills and experiences provide the same benefits for students who are blind or visually impaired as they do for their peers who are sighted (e.g., healthy lifestyle, fitness, shared peer interests). However, without modifications and/or specific instruction to master prerequisite skills, students who are blind or visually impaired are frequently excluded from such activities. Many of the motor skills learned during the rough and tumble play of childhood activities do not develop naturally in students who are blind or visually impaired. As well, if initial exposure to specific activities is cumbersome or their level of participation or success below that of their peers, students who are blind or visually impaired may become easily discouraged. The provision of specific and timely instruction and opportunities to practice newly acquired skills will ensure students who are blind or visually impaired derive pleasure from participation in an array of recreational and leisure activities.

Career and Life Management SkillsProvide students with information about the world of work, career options, and an overview of skills necessary to be successfully employed. For students who are blind or visually impaired there are many additional program components, which need to be addressed (e.g., accommodations needed to complete specific jobs, access to the appropriate assistive technology, self advocacy skills and those to deal effectively with negative attitudes toward individuals with disabilities). Frequently, students who are blind or visually impaired are unaware of the array of career options because they do not see the variety of workers in their environment or because adults around them are uninformed about the career opportunities available to those who are blind or visually impaired. Employment statistics from Canada show that individuals who are blind or visually impaired are both underemployed and have unacceptably high rates of unemployment. Without specific and timely intervention to address career development issues, students who are blind or visually impaired encounter significant barriers to successful employment.

Assistive TechnologyEnables a student who is blind or visually impaired to access information, participate in age-appropriate activities, or complete a task independently or with minimal assistance. The term “assistive technology” refers to a broad range of devices such as video magnifiers (i.e., closed circuit televisions), low vision devices, computers with Braille input/output, Braille embossers, software used to vary print size, large screen monitors, talking calculators, etc. Instruction in the use of assistive technology begins in the preschool years and evolves as the needs of the student change. Mastery of assistive technology contributes to the development of literacy and academic success, social interaction among peers, independence and the potential of future employment.

Visual Efficiency SkillsAre used to accurately interpret visual information and complete visual tasks as efficiently and effectively as possible. A child’s ability to interpret visual information is affected by many variables (e.g., the type and severity of vision loss, cognitive ability, experiential knowledge, environmental factors such as lighting). However, with comprehensive, systematic training and practice, most students can learn to use their remaining vision more effectively and more efficiently. Visual efficiency training involves things such as blur interpretation, scanning and location skills, strategies to improve visual efficiency (e.g., use of appropriate lighting or wearing tinted lenses to reduce glare), and strategies which enhance a given student’s access to visual information. Students learn about their particular eye condition, its implications on access to visual information, and how to explain their visual needs to others.

STRATEGIES TO HELP STUDENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS FUNCTION IN THE CLASSROOM

Each student has unique visual needs

WHAT DO MY STUDENT SEE? Quick check:

First ensure the student is at a location he/she needs to be at to view information. Not always as simple as “move in closer”Restricted fields but good acuity, student

might prefer to move back in order to see the whole figure

Student with vision in the left eye may need to sit on the right side of the classroom

WHAT DO MY STUDENTS SEE? Point and ask

“Read these letters to me please?” He/she may read words correctly, but spell the word incorrectly due to his/her vision.

Or “Tell me what you see in this picture?”- map

colours, may see boundaries

Avoid Saying“Can you see this?” - How does he/she

know.

ENVIRONMENT High contrast glare free background for

work/playDark objects on light counters, patterned

shirt with the teacher holding an item in front of themselves

Seated, not facing the light source (window) but rather seated where they can have enough illumination(goose-neck lamp)

Comfortable posture for viewing slant boardHeight of desk or chair

ENVIRONMENT Providing low vision devices

Location of materials Hand held to stand magnifiersMonocular/binocular Hand help electronic magnifiers device

Simplify the environmentDesk arrangements Location of materials

Call upon classmates by name when answering a question

ENVIRONMENT Be descriptive and specific

Studying a map, “from here to here” Tray of other physical boundaries to

prevent items from rolling or falling off desk

Provide additional work/storage space

INSTRUCTION Multisensory approach which includes

visual, auditory, tactual learning whenever possible

Break tasks into small, meaningful components

High contrast materials: White letters on black background, black on coloured paper, markers (sharpies)

Reduce information on page Speak out notes/information as you put

it on board

INSTRUCTION Describe what others can see Tables for reference: miss out what’s on

the wall Low vision clutter: background, patterns Colour coded folders/ binders/ basket

(importance of the organization piece) Provide extra time Explain the routine Exploration of materials prior the lesson

INSTRUCTION Provide photocopies of notes, high

quality copies (scanning) Text-to-speech software audio books/ live reader Bold lined paper for writing

ASSESSMENT Alternative methods Scribe

IN GENERAL Better to expect more of the student

than to expect less Be alert for signs of fatigue and stress Problem solve alternative methods or

adaptations that can ease a visual task

Braille Users-Braille Note Taker-Laptop with a screen reader -

Zoomtext, which reads everything on screen

Low Vision-Laptop with screen magnification -CCTV magnifies anything you put on

tray below the screen- Optelec-Hand held digital magnifiers

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY

-Ipads-vision stimulation-distance viewing device-build in screen reader-magnifying apps (Amplivision)

-Distance Viewing Cameras-hook to laptop or stand alone screen

REFERENCES

Special Education: A Guide for Educators 2001http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/guide.html

Special Education Companion 2002www.oafccd.com/.../SpecialEducationCompanion2002.pdf

Expanded Core Curriculumhttp://www.blindcanadians.ca/participate/blog/2012/11/expanded-core-curriculum

http://www.vision.alberta.ca/resources/curriculum/

When You Have a Visually Impaired Student in Your Classroom, AFB Press, 2011