A student must be assessed under the IDEA in all areas of suspected disability. Visual Impairment or VI is one of the areas of eligible disabilities under the IDEA.
A student with a visual impairment is one who meets the criteria for visual impairment. The term visual impairment, including blindness, means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects the student’s educational performance, and includes both partial sight and blindness.
To meet the criteria for visual impairment, a licensed ophthalmologist or optometrist must determine the student:
Has no vision or has a serious visual loss after correction; or
Has a progressive medical condition that will result in no vision or a serious visual loss after correction.
The student with a visual impairment is functionally blind if, based on the functional vision evaluation and the learning media assessment, the student will use tactual media, including braille, as a primary tool for learning to communicate in both reading and writing at the same level of proficiency as other students of comparable ability.
To assess for VI, the District or Campus Assessment Personnel will comply with the general evaluation procedures. See [EVALUATION PROCEDURES]. An individual who is appropriately certified as an orientation and mobility specialist (“COMS”) must participate in evaluating data used in making the determination of a student’s eligibility as a student with visual impairment. Specifically, the evaluation data reviewed by District or Campus Assessment Personnel and COMS when determining whether a student has a visual impairment must include:
A report by a licensed ophthalmologist or optometrist that:
states the student’s visual loss in exact measures of visual field and corrected visual acuity at a distance and at close range in each eye; or
if exact measure cannot be obtained, provides best estimates of the student’s visual loss; and
includes a prognosis when possible.
A functional vision evaluation by a certified teacher of student’s with visual impairments, or a COMS, that includes:
performance tasks in a variety of environments requiring the use of both near and distance vision, and
recommendations concerning the need for a clinical low vision evaluation;
A learning media assessment by a certified teacher of students with visual impairments that includes recommendations regarding which specific visual, tactual, and/or auditory learning media are appropriate for the student, and whether there is a need for ongoing evaluation in this area; and
An orientation and mobility evaluation performed by a COMS in a variety of settings including in the student’s home, school, and community and in settings unfamiliar to the student.
A student under 3 years of age may meet eligibility criteria under VI if the child’s IFSP indicates that the child is experiencing a developmental delay because of vision loss or impairment, or the child has a physical or mental condition that has a high probability of resulting in a developmental delay and a sensory impairment.
When a referral for a student suspected of a visual impairment is first received, Campus or District Assessment Personnel should contact a professional certified in VI for assistance in determining the types, levels, and procedures for assessment of the student. Campus or District Assessment Personnel will also contact the parent to request an examination report by a licensed ophthalmologist or optometrist that provides the required evaluation date and request that the parent sign and return a Consent to Release Confidential Information form so that the Assessment Personnel may communicate with the student’s ophthalmologist or optometrist to obtain this health information and/or provide any clarifying health information to the ARD Committee.
If the parent does not provide to the District an examination report by a licensed ophthalmologist or optometrist that provides the required evaluation data, the District will obtain such information at no expense to the parent. The District or Campus Assessment Personnel should first request this report from the parent. If the parent refuses, or does not have a current report, and/or is not responsive to the request, the District or Campus Assessment Personnel should contact the Special Education Director or designee for assistance in setting up the appropriate examination. This may be accomplished by contracting with an ophthalmologist or optometrist, asking the parent to obtain the report and reimbursing the parent, or any other an appropriate method to obtain the evaluation data at the District’s discretion. A vision screening conducted by a school nurse is not sufficient
The functional vision evaluation and the learning media assessment reports prepared as part of the student’s FIE should typically be conducted and results shared prior to additional evaluation by the other qualified evaluation professionals, including school psychologists, educational diagnosticians, counselors and related service professionals, to ensure that tools used and results accurately reflect the student’s aptitude and not the impact of a visual impairment. The teacher of students with visual impairments and the certified orientation and mobility specialist are essential members of the team of qualified evaluation professionals when determining if a student meets the eligibility requirements as a student with a visual impairment.
The District will ensure that each student who is determined eligible for the District’s special education program on the basis of a visual impairment receives evaluation and instruction in the expanded core curriculum (ECC). See [SPECIAL FACTORS]. Information relevant to the ECC may be included in the evaluation.
District or Campus Assessment Personnel, including an appropriately certified orientation and mobility specialist will determine the scope of any re-evaluation of a student who has been determined to be eligible for the District’s special education program on the basis of a visual impairment after a full and individual evaluation.
If the student does not meet the eligibility criteria for VI, or any other eligibility criteria under the IDEA, or does not need special education or related services due to his/her disability, Campus Personnel should refer the student to the Campus or District Personnel responsible for compliance with Section 504 to determine whether the student is eligible for accommodations or services as a student with a disability under Section 504.
The District will maintain documentation requirements of compliance associated with Texas Student Data System (TSDS), Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS), and State Performance Plan (SPP). District staff will provide training, with follow up, to ensure the documentation required is in place and compliant.
Notice of Evaluation
Consent for Evaluation
Referral Information
Assessment Plan
Consent for Release of Confidential Information
Ophthalmologist/Optometrist Report
Functional Vision Evaluation
Learning Media Assessment
Orientation and Mobility Evaluation
FIE
Disability Report: Visual Impairment
ARD/IEP or IFPS
Documentation for the state in TSDS, PEIMS, and SPP
The Legal Framework for the Child-Centered Special Education Process: Visual Impairment - Region 18
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
OSEP Dear Colleague Letter on Braille (June 19, 2013) - U.S. Department of Education
OSEP Letter to Kotler (Nov. 12, 2014) - U.S. Department of Education
Board Policy EHBAA; Board Policy EHBAB; 20 USC 1414(d)(3)(B)(iii); 34 CFR 300.8(c)(13), 300.304(c)(4), 300.324(a)(2)(iii); Texas Education Code 30.002(c-1)(2), 30.004; 19 TAC 89.1040(b)–(c), 89.1050(a)–(b), 89.1055(d), 89.1085, 89.1090