By: Brandi Pietila , Kristine Roman, Shelley Ruiz and Lauren Schminky

1. V i s u a l I m p a i r m e n t s G r o u p # 1 1 By: Brandi Pietila, Kristine Roman, Shelley Ruiz and Lauren Schminky

2. C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of V i s u a l I m p a i r m e n t s • A visual impairment is a visual limitation that interferes with a student's educational progress. Eligible students receive special services, materials, and/or individual instruction. • Visually impaired students include both functionally blind and low vision individuals. A functionally blind student is a student who relies basically on sense other than vision as major channels of learning. A low vision student is a student who uses vision as a major channel of learning. • Partially Sighted: A visual impairment that adversely affects a student's educational performance even when corrected to the extent possible. • Low Vision: If someone's vision is between 20/70-20/160 and cannot be corrected, the student has moderate to low vision. • Legally Blind: From 20/200-20/400 is legally blind with severe low vision. From 20/400-20/1000 is profound visual impairment, and is very close to total blindness. • Totally Blind: The lack of light perception is known as total blindness or total visual impairment.

3. I m p a c t o n s p e e c h a n d l a n g u a g e d e v e l o p m e n t • Subtle problems with semantic and pragmatic development. • Tend to confuse personal pronouns due to the delayed sense of self. • Blind child may jabber and imitate sooner than a sighted child, however may be delayed when it comes to combining words to making wants known.

4. S e c o n d L a n g u a g e A c q u i s i t i o n • Children with visual impairments or deaf/blindness have difficulty compensating for the limited or distorted information received through their visual and auditory systems. They often cannot use touch, smell, taste, or movement to learn abstract concepts that are taught visually and auditorially. Therefore they must rely upon prior knowledge to understand what they are hearing and seeing.

5. Michael, a Spanish-speaking student with a visual and auditory impairment, is in a class that's beginning a study of oceans. The teacher shows a slide of the beach. (Michael sees a light and dark blur, but doesn't recognize the picture.) The teacher says, "We are going to study oceans." (Michael hears "oin." Due to his hearing loss, he can't hear /s/ or /sh/. He's not sure what an "oin" is, and can't see the slide well enough to figure it out.) Next, the teacher shows a slide of a fish and says, "We are going to study saltwater fish." (Michael doesn't know what a "altwatei" is and, again, can't see the picture. With his limited English proficiency and hearing impairment, he doesn't realize that two different words were spoken.) The teacher then asks the class to write a short paragraph about oceans. (Michael looks around and sees the other children writing, but is confused and does not understand the topic.) Michael cannot clearly hear Michael’s ability to learn English is limited by the highly visual and auditory demands that are emphasized in his classroom setting. E x a m p l e : Second Language Acquisition with the Visually Impaired

6. I N T E R V E N T I O N S : • Teacher for students with visual impairments • Accessing the Visual Enviroment: Magnifiers, microscopes, etc. • Access to Information: Braille, software, computer assignments transferred to speech • Access to Core Curriculum • Expanded Core Curriculum: Social Interaction Skills, Orientation and Mobility, Independent Living Skills, Use of Assistive Technology, etc. • Psychosocial Issues: feeling like they look different, either because they cannot visually verify how others look or because they wear glasses or use optical devices, • feeling like an outsider because they cannot take part fully in activities, • feeling less than capable because they do not understand visual concepts fully, • feeling clumsy because they drop things or bump into objects.

7. S t r a t e g i e s a n d R e s o u r c e s • Provide various types of magnifying devices for handouts and computer screens. • Visual materials should be accompanied by verbal description. • Handouts should be available in large print, accompanied with audio, or in braille, according to the child’s individual needs. • Provide raised line paper and designs for students, and tactile 3D models. Resources: Adapted PE for Visually Impaired Students Math Strategies for Students with Visual Impairments American Council for the Blind

8. Asessment and Evaluation • Functional vision • Concept development/academic needs • Communication • Sensory/motor • Social/emotiona; • Orientation and mobility (travel training) • Daily living • Career and vocational • Specialized Instruction • As prescribed by the Individualized Education Program (IEP), individual or small group instruction is provided in the above assessed areas. This instruction may include Braille, academic support, keyboarding, listening, visual efficiency, living skills, technology, and other adaptive skills. • Consultation • The teachers of the Visually Impaired assist in planning and implementation of the student's program in cooperation with parents, educators, physicians, and agencies. • Transcription • Materials are transcribed into the appropriate media: large print, Braille/tactile, and recorded tapes. • Low Vision Aids • Instruction in the use of magnifiers, monoculars, video magnifiers, computer screen magnification software, and other enlargers of print is available. • Agency S e r v i c e s A v a i l a b l e

9. V i s u a l I m p a i r m e n t sE x a m p l e C h e c k l i s t: • http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/corticalassess.html