Visual Impairments, Including Blindness
Blindness and visual impairment affects how a child learns, not what a child learns. One of the most important things to remember about a child who is blind or visually impaired is that he or she can learn almost anything that anyone else learns -- but that it has to learned in a different way. A child with blindness or visual impairment receives information in bits and pieces, from several sources (touch, smell, hearing, etc.) and somehow has to put that information together into a whole. Also, the information that they obtain through their other senses is inconsistent (things do not always make noise or produce an odor), fragmented (comes in bits and pieces), and passive (not under the child's control) (Kay Alicyn Ferrell, Ph.D., Division of Special Education, University of Northern Colorado)
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. For details about each category, please visit ECC page.
Early Identification
Teachers and care givers can assist in identification of students with vision problems. Some observable vision behaviors, expectations and strategies are listed below:
Vision Behaviors
- Rubbing eyes frequently; squinting or other facial distortions; puffy, swollen eyes; eyes turned inward or which tend to wander.
- Consistently tilting or turning the head to see the chalkboard or object.
- Difficulty in paying attention/distractibility.
- Difficulty reading regular-sized print.
- Consistently adjusting body to aid in focusing.
- Difficulty seeing wall charts, maps, films, on the playground or in P.E. activities.
- Abnormal sensitivity to light or unusual difficulty adapting to very low levels of illumination.
- Frequent appearance of styles, a bloodshot condition, eyes watering or redness.
General Expectations
Adapted from A Paraprofessional's Handbook for Working with Students who are Visually Impaired by C Miller and N Levack.
- Speak directly to the student
- Do not be afraid to say "look and see"
- Encourage students to face listener
- Tell student when you enter or leave the room
- Ensure student is oriented to new environments
- Make corrections in a nonthreatening way
- Balance between assistance and over helpful
- Have a basic knowledge of what the students sees
Typical Accommodations for students with Visual Impairments
- Preferential seating specific to eye condition(s).
- Controlled lighting specific to eye condition(s).
- Slant board to improve posture.
- Magnification of text supplemented with audio materials.
- Extended time for assessments and assignments.
- Teacher says what is being written on the board.
Tips to Reduce Eye Fatigue for All Students
- Dim the lights and take a short break every 20 to 30 minutes.
- Look near and count to ten, then look far and count to ten. Repeat.
- Blink to the tune of a familiar song.
- Massage scalp, temples, back of neck and shoulders.
- Rub your palms together quickly until warm. Place warmed palms over closed eyes for ten seconds.
- Roll eyeballs clockwise and counterclockwise.
- Squeeze eyes tight, take a deep breath (smells the roses) and exhale slowly (blow out the candles).
- Scan the edge of an object in the far distance (clock, door, window, etc.).
- Stand up and stretch.
- Adequate lighting and good posture are important.