Assertiveness is the ability to advocate for oneself and others in a manner that is not aggressive or passive, as well as possessing a sense of responsibility for what happens in one's life. An individual should be able to calmly but firmly communicate to others their wants, needs, and emotions as well as have a sense of respect for oneself and others. Being assertive and communicating effectively can be difficult for many adults, let alone a young student with visual impairments.

Assertiveness is an essential skill in relation to self-determination. With assertiveness, a child can effectively communicate their preferences, needs, and emotions. Building the skills to be assertive as a child can translate into being efficient in advocating for one's own well-being and life direction. Children with visual impairments should be encouraged to learn how to complete tasks themselves so they do not become passive in their environments and allow others to control their existence. With skills to be assertive, an individual should be able to not only communicate in an effective manner their wants, needs, and emotions, but also a sense of responsibility for what happens in one's own life.

Aggressive behaviors may ultimately help the individual obtain their desired outcome, but it is done so in a hostile manner that may be at the expense of oneself and others. When an individual is passive, they may allow others to speak or act for them and the individual rarely achieves desired outcomes potentially due to feelings of anxiety. An assertive individual will act in one's own best interest with others in mind. The path to achieving one's desired outcome will not violate the rights of others or oneself's.

A common technique used to teach students with visual impairments how to be assertive is role-playing, both verbally and nonverbally. For example, a teacher or parent may help the child learn gestures (I.e. head nodding, pointing, shrugging shoulders, among more) by using a physical prompt or allowing the child to touch the instructor. Maintaining eye contact and having appropriate postures when interacting socially is another skill that can be taught by teachers and parents to help the child understand acceptable social cues. In addition, focusing on one's voice when making assertive statements is another core skill that children with visual impairments should learn (I.e rate, volume, speed, intonation) to convey confidence and sincerity. Teachers and parents can help facilitate the individual learning the power of their voice by recording sentences and allowing the child to analyze how they sound. Furthermore, teachers and parents can set up activities for the child to practice making verbally assertive statements. This may include teaching the child the sentence "I need some space, please," when they feel overwhelmed or their personal space is being invaded. It may first be helpful to teach a child how to recognize their emotions and other's emotions so a child can use the appropriate sentence to convey their feelings or recognize the emotions in others. Continually modeling the sentence being said both in a nonverbal and verbal fashion and prompting the individual to say an assertive sentence when you recognize an opportunity to do so can help foster such skills.