The 2026 - 2027 ECC Challenge
Sponsored by the Maryland School for the Blind Outreach Department
Sponsored by the Maryland School for the Blind Outreach Department
Welcome to the new school year ECC Challenge! Review the list of activities and select one or choose your own. Check out the resource links that go along with each activity. Anyone can participate that is working with blind or low vision students. "Teacher" in the sections can refer to a TVI or any other teacher/support role.
To submit:
Send an email to: OutreachECC@mdschblind.org with:
Student name and DOB
County you are in (MSB if an MSB student)
Proof of your participation (pictures, write up, link to post, anything!)
Monthly ECC mantra: It is my responsibility to sign up for activities I am interested in
Make a goal of how many ECC submissions you will complete this year.
Watch this video on how to set and achieve goals
Make a list of your accommodations.
Read this article on Learning to Self Advocate with sample letters
Write an email to your teacher letting them know your needs.
Check out Perkins list of common low vision accommodations
Write/develop an assertive way to refuse assistance.
Watch this video on assertive communication
Teach your student about their rights under the law.
Prompt your student to follow up and finish the task on their own.
Check out Paths to Literacy Lesson plans on Self Determination
Have your student watch the Self Determination Video and write a summary.
Work with your student to write a transition vision statement.
Read this article from Perkins on Writing a Transition Statement
Have your child select their own outfit for school.
Make a list of what your child likes and dislikes about them.
Create and submit your family One Pager.
Have your child take ownership of a home chore.
Molly Burke: Advocacy Video
Enter this month to win a $50 gift card. Deadline: October 1, 2025 (to be eligible to win!)
Monthly ECC mantra: I will be respectful of the environments I am in
Walk around the perimeter of your house/yard & make a mental map.
Find the center of a store/mall.
Gather Materials and create a tactile map.
Perkins: Tactile Maps and Teaching Map Skills
Wipe a table using a pattern.
Check out the O & M standards and use them in a lesson..
Have your student point out landmarks in their school or community.
Submit your own O&M lesson.
Check out the Perkins Lessons Library for O&M
Create a tactile map for your student to use.
Check out APH Tactile Town materials
Play follow the leader- have your child lead.
Play follow the leader- have your child lead.
Download the MTA Mobility Application.
Have your child explain cardinal directions to you
Parent Mobility: Orientation & Mobility Resources for Families
Watch the O&M Intro Video
Enter this month to win a $50 gift card. Deadline: November 1, 2025 (to be eligible to win!)
Monthly ECC mantra: I will form meaningful relationships with members of my community
Clean and organize your room.
Perkins: Learning about laundry
Take out the trash and replace the bag.
Learn how to use a new item in the kitchen.
Create a list of foods you want to learn how to make.
Perkins: Meal Preparation
Teach your student about following a pattern to clean.
APH Connect Center: Kitchen Appliance Accessibility
Label an appliance with your student.
North Dakota School: Labeling Appliances
Work with your student to identify money.
Perkins: Coin Identification
Use an ILS checklist with your student.
Check out the Michigan ILS Checklist
Have your child help with laundry and match/fold clothes.
Create your family’s emergency response plan.
Create and follow a chore chart for your child for 1 week.
Complete the Handwashing and Making Lunch Module.
Watch the IL Intro Video
APH Connect: Chores for Your Child
Enter this month to win a $50 gift card. Deadline: December 1, 2025 (to be eligible to win!)
Monthly ECC mantra: I will use empathy to relate to others
Create a list of characteristics of a good friend.
Paths to Literacy: Supporting and Encouraging Friendships
Write an email to a friend or teacher giving them a compliment.
Paths to Literacy: Overview of Writing
Write a social story of how you interact with others.
Ask an AI model to give you step by step directions on a social skill.
Discuss internet safety in regards to social media.
NetSmartz: Internet Safety
Have your student use their AAC device to respond to social cues.
Perkins: Social Skills
Have your student write a routine for interacting with new people.
Paths to Literacy: Presenting Yourself Positively
Have your student make a presentation to their classmates.
Attend a social event at school or in the community.
Attend MSB Holiday Happenings event.
Have your child plan a family outing.
Volunteer as a family in the community.
Enter this month to win a $50 gift card. Deadline: January 1, 2026 (to be eligible to win!)
Monthly ECC mantra: I will be persistent as I explore my future
Student Activities
Utilize a calendar for appointments/due dates.
Create a list of people who would be a good reference for you.
Paths to Literacy: Social Conversations over Zoom
Volunteer somewhere to gain a new experience.
Ask people in your neighborhood what they do for a career and why.
Paths to Literacy: Using the ECC for interviewing
Host a mock interview with your student.
Have your students write a poem about their future occupation.
Paths to Literacy: Future Occupation Poem
Conduct a career readiness checklist on your student.
Have your student watch the webinars on where the blind work.
Family Activities
Give your child a regular chore/responsibility to complete at home.
Take the ONET Career Profiler yourself to explore!
Talk to your child about opening an ABLE Account
Create a Transition Portfolio for your child.
Watch the Career Education Intro Video
Resource: APH Career Connect
Enter this month to win a $50 gift card. Deadline: February 1, 2026 (to be eligible to win!)
Monthly ECC mantra: I am honest about my needs
Student Activities
Create a document that describes how you access print materials.
Practice to Increase your typing speed/accuracy.
Paths to Literacy: Typing ideas
Evaluate an image description.
Have a teacher or peer evaluate your note-taking skills.
Paths to Literacy: Note Taking Strategies
Do a lesson with your student on tactual or nonvisual skills.
Paths to Literacy: Tactual Skills
Have your student write out steps on how to use an AT device.
Have your student describe their organizational methods.
Paths to Literacy: Organization
Have your student estimate how long something will need to cook for and compare real time for accuracy.
Have your child teach the family how to use one of their low vision tools.
Have your child sort and put away silverware.
Identify all of the spices in your home without vision.
Decode your name in braille.
APH: Braille
Perkins: Compensatory Access
Enter this month to win a $50 gift card. Deadline: March 1, 2026 (to be eligible to win!)
Monthly ECC mantra: I will use my tech collaboratively
Create a maintenance schedule for charging/updating your electronics.
Paths to Literacy: Technology to Access Curriculum
Take a creative photograph in a style that could be used in a magazine.
Tell us what your favorite app is and why.
Paths to Literacy: Where AT and Braille Meet
Make a list of all of your adaptive equipment and tell what each is used for.
Paths to Literacy: Overview of AT
Have your student make a video on an AT device they use.
Paths to Literacy: Tech for Students with low vision
Conduct an AT assessment on your student.
Paths to Literacy: AT assessment
Do a lesson with your student on their iPad.
Paths to Literacy: iPads as AT
Have your student set up a bluetooth speaker/device.
Paths to Literacy: AT to Support STEM
Have your child sign up for Bookshare.
Download the BARD mobile app for access to braille and audio books.
Try an AT loan through the MTAP Loan Library.
Enter this month to win a $50 gift card. Deadline: April 1, 2026 (to be eligible to win!)
Monthly ECC mantra: I will take my time when using my senses to understand my environment
Student Activities
Try a new food and evaluate the flavor/taste/smell.
Understood.org: Sensory Seeking and Sensory Avoiding
Match your socks/outfits based on feel only.
Paths to Literacy: Overview of Dual Media
List the sound/smell cues/clues along a familiar travel route.
Listen to a song and list all the instruments you hear used.
Make a Sensory Bottle.
Paths to Literacy: Sensory Bottles
Have your student smell various spices and see if they can name them.
Paths to Literacy: TVI Guide to teaching the ECC
Have your student describe various clothing/fabric textures to you.
Paths to Literacy: Overview of Auditory Strategies
Have your student evaluate the effectiveness of a tactile graphic.
Paths to Literacy: Environmental Checklist
Family Activities
Make one of the items in this article: DIY vision materials for students with complex needs.
Do a family taste test where everyone wears blindfolds.
Count the number of sounds you hear while shopping.
Enter this month to win a $50 gift card. Deadline: May 1, 2026 (to be eligible to win!)
Monthly ECC mantra: I will make decisions about how to spend my time
Complete a 15-minute exercise routine.
APH: PE and Sports for VI
Create a list of new hobbies/skills that you want to try. As a bonus, try one!
Video: 6 Hobbies You Can Do with VI
Create or adapt a game you can play with friends.
Paths to Literacy: Tips to Adapt Games
Learn a new dance move or line dance steps. Send us a video!
Teaching VI: Dancing Adaptations
Have your student make a craft.
Explore goalball with your student.
USABA: Goalball
Play an adapted card game with your students.
Watch a movie and evaluate the audio descriptions.
3Play Media: What is AD?
Use a recreation item from MDTAP & send us a pic!
Listen to an entire O’s game on the radio.
Enter this month to win a $50 gift card. Deadline: June 1, 2026 (to be eligible to win!)
Aprenda sobre Golbol en esta video
Crea una lista de cosas que te gusta hacer o quieres tratar por primera vez y hazlas.
Crea o adapta un juego para jugar con amigos o en familia.
Aprende pasos de baile nuevos
Puede prestar un artículo de MDTAP y mandarnos una foto.
Aprenda sobre la Metro Washington Association of Blind Athletes
Escuche un juego deportivo por radio.