Blindness & Low Vision

1. Blindness & Low Vision Chapter 10

2. Definitions • Legally Blind- a person whose visual acuity is 20/200 or less in the better eye after the best possible correction with glasses or contacts. • Partially Sighted- an individual with visual acuity of no better than 20/70 in the better eye after correction. • A person is also considered legally blind if their Field of Vision is extremely restricted. • Tunnel Vision- when a persons feels like they are seeing everything through a narrow tube.

3. Educational Definitions • Visual Impairment including Blindness- an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely, affects a child’s educational performance. • A student who is totally blind receives no useful information through the sense of vision & must use other tactile and auditory senses for all learning. • A child who is functionally blind has very little so they must learn through the auditory and tactile senses. But they might need assistance with certain tasks. • A child with Low Vision uses vision as a primary means of learning, but may supplement visual information with tactile and auditory input.

4. Characteristics • Visual Impairment can be both congenital & acquired. • Most visual impairments of school-age children are congenital. • Some examples of acquired blindness or low-vision are: • Cataracts • Glaucoma • Advanced Glaucoma

5. Motor Development and Mobility & Social Adjustment and Interaction. • Blindness or severe visual often leads to delays or deficits in motor development. • A significant purposeful movements of fully sighted babies involves reaching for things they see. • A child without clear vision may move less often because movements in the past have resulted in painful contact with the environment. • Decreased motor development and movement can lead to physical and social detachment. • Children with low vision have poorer motor development: the balance especially is weak. • Children with visual impairments play and interact less during free time and are often delayed in the development of social skills.

6. Social Adjustment and Interaction Cont’d. • There is an inability to see and respond to the social signals of others reduces opportunities for reciprocal interactions. • Some individuals with visual impairments engage in repetitive body movements or behaviors such as body rocking, eye rubbing, hand flapping, and head weaving. • Stereotypic Behavior is a term that subsumes blindisms and mannerisms. But this doesn’t occur among all children who are blind. • Although not usually harmful, stereotypic behavior can place a person w/visual impairments at a great social disadvantage because these actions are conspicuous and may call negative attention to the person.

7. Types & Causes of Visual Impairments • List of Types and Causes in Table 10.1 on pages 378 and 379. • Causes of Visual Impairments: • Refractive Errors---myopia, hyperopia • Structural Impairments---cataract, glaucoma, nystagmus, strabismus • Cortical Visual Impairments---refers to decreased vision or blindness due to known or suspected damage to or malfunctions of the parts of the brain that interpret visual information.

8. Educational Approaches • Special Adaptations for Students Who Are Blind • Braille • Braille Technological Aides • Tactile Aids and Manipulatives • Technological Aides for Reading Print • Computer Access • For students who have low vision • Magnification • Lenses • Optical Devices • Classroom Adaptations

9. Expanded Curriculum Priorities • Orientation and Mobility • Cane Skills • Guide Dogs • Sighted Guides • Electronic Travel Aides • Listening Skills • Functional Life Skills

10. Educational Placement Alternatives • Inclusive Classroom and Itinerant Teacher Model • Residential Schools