Blindness and Low Vision

Overview

Prevalence:

• 10 times more prevalent in adults

• About .04% of 6 to 21 year olds

• One of the least prevalent disabilities in children

CAUSES AFFECTING CHILDEREN AND ADULTS

• Refraction errors-bending of light

  • Myopia: nearsightedness

  • Hyperopia: farsightedness 

  • Astigmatism: refracts light wrong 

• Disease or damage

  • Glaucoma

  • Cataracts

  • Diabetic retinopathy

CAUSES AFFECTING CHILDEREN

• Cortical visual impairment (CVI)

  • • Damage to parts of the brain

    • The leading cause of blindness in children

• Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)

  • • Abnormal growth of blood vessel in eye

    • Monitor oxygen given to premature babies

• Optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH) 

  • • Underdevelopment of the optic nerve

    • Usually accompanied by other disorders

• Retinitis pigmentosa 

• Strabismus 

• Nystagmus 

• Cataracts 

Psychological and Behavioral Characteristics

• Little effect on language development

• Intellectual ability

  • Performance on standardized intelligence tests: no reason to believe any difference

  • Conceptual abilities: incidental learning

• Functional skills

• Orientation and mobility (O&M)

  • Cognitive mapping

  • Obstacle sense and echolocation

EDUCATIONAL CONSIDEERATIONS 

Keep the following things in mind while teaching to make sure that those with low vision or blindness are not excluded from the classroom... 

• Braille

• Use of remaining sight 

  • Large-print books

  • Magnifying devices

• Listening skills

• Orientation and mobility training

  • The long cane

  • Guide dogs

  • Tactile maps

  • Human guides

• Technological aids

  • Communication and information access

    1. Screen readers, portable braille notetakers, Newsline, Descriptive Video Service

  • Orientation and mobility (e.g., GPS)

  • Artificial Vision

MN ELIGIBILITY 

Support Tool: Assistive Technology for vision