Education of the Visually Handicapped
According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), "Visual impairment including blindness means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance." Individual states may recognize other definitions of visual impairment. Students with visual impairments face additional challenges in school but, with appropriate accommodations, can achieve equally to their sighted peers.
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Accommodations
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One of the first and most essential steps in educating a student with visual impairments requires making appropriate accommodations. Texts should be made available in large print. When large-print versions are not available, magnifiers and screen readers give students access to texts. Allow students to tape-record presentations or have a peer help with note-taking.
Expanded Core Curriculum
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Students with visual impairments learn an expanded core curriculum. They are responsible for the same curriculum as their sighted peers, as well as skills necessary for living with a visual impairment, such as learning to read Braille. According to the American Foundation for the Blind, expanded curricular expectations "enable them to most effectively compete with their peers in school and ultimately in society."
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Environmental and Presentation Considerations
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Modifications to your classroom and how you present lessons help students with visual disabilities to succeed in your class. Be aware of how location in the classroom affects students with visual disabilities. Students should not sit near bright lights, such as windows, or where you will have bright lights at your back. Students should sit at the front of the room.
When presenting lessons to the class, describe all visual aids, such as pictures in slide shows, as well as occurrences in the room that the student cannot see, such as important interactions between peers. Likewise, describe all demonstrations and give detailed instructions on how to use materials and equipment. Whenever possible, provide models and materials that the students can touch and handle.
Hands-on Experiences
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The American Foundation for the Blind points out the wealth of experiences missed by the student with visual impairments, since most instruction relies on vision as the primary sense. The AFB concludes, therefore, that "to ensure an appropriate education, families and staff with special training must work together to bring the world of experiences to the child in a meaningful manner." To accomplish this, educators must use teaching methods that employ the student's auditory and tactile capabilities.
Furthermore, according to author and special educator Marilyn Friend, teachers should pay particular attention to unifying the parts of an experience into a coherent whole, since students with visual impairments often perceive pieces of information without understanding how they fit together. Hands-on experiences are a recommended practice for making sense of the world for students with visual impairments.
Foster Independence
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Whenever possible, encourage the student with visual impairments to be responsible for his own work and, if necessary, modify assignments to accomplish this. For example, assure that materials are available far enough in advance to allow for Braille transcription to reduce the need for peer readers or allow the student to tape-record her test answers rather than have a peer helper write them for her.
Teach Social Skills
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Learning appropriate social behavior largely occurs through observing and imitating the people around us. Students with visual impairments lack this important resource for developing appropriate social behavior and, therefore, often require direct instruction in social skills. For example, students learn how to make friends, show appropriate facial expressions and face the speaker during conversations.
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References
- U.S. Department of Education: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
- Special Education: Contemporary Perspectives for School Professionals, Second Edition; Marilyn Friend; 2008
- West Virginia University: Strategies for Teaching Students with Vision Impairments
- Teaching Strategies: Students with Visual Impairments
- American Foundation for the Blind: Educating Students with Visual Impairments for Inclusion in Society
- Photo Credit school image by horacio villamonte from Fotolia.com
