VISUAL
IMPAIRMENT INCLUDING BLINDNESS
Definition
According
to IDEA - Sec. 300.8 (c) (13)
Visual
impairment including blindness means an impairment in vision that, even with
correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term
includes both partial sight and blindness.
An
fyi from our text book, Including students with special needs: A practical
guide for classroom teachers (Friend & Bursuck, 2012) explains that the
term legal blindness means the vision
in the best eye, with correction, is
20/200 or lower (what a person with normal vision can see at 200 feet can only
be seen at 20 feet), or the visual field is 20 degrees or less (the person sees
a small slice of what others can see).
Characteristics
According to NICHCY, common signs that
a child may have a visual impairment include the following:
·
Eyes that don’t
move together when following an object or a face
·
Crossed eyes,
eyes that turn out or in, eyes that flutter from side to side or up and down,
or eyes that do not seem to focus
·
Eyes that bulge,
dance, or bounce in rapid rhythmic movements
·
Pupils that are
unequal in size or that appear white instead of black
·
Repeated shutting
or covering of one eye
·
Unusual degree of
clumsiness, such as frequent bumping into things or knocking things over
·
Frequent
squinting, blinking, eye-rubbing, or face crunching, especially when there’s no
bright light present
·
Sitting too close
to the TV or holding toys and books too close to the face
·
Avoiding tasks
and activities that require good vision
If any of these symptoms are present,
parents will want to have their child’s eyes professionally examined. Early
detection and treatment are very important to the child’s development.
Types of Visual Impairment
Not all visual impairments are the
same, although the umbrella term “visual impairment” is often used to describe
an eye condition or disorder. Common visual impairments you are likely familiar
with are near-sightedness and far-sightedness. Less familiar visual impairments
include:
Ø Strabismus, where the eyes look in
different directions and do not focus simultaneously on a single point;
Ø Congenital cataracts, where the lens
of the eye is cloudy;
Ø Retinopathy of prematurity, which may
occur in premature babies when the light-sensitive retina hasn’t developed
sufficiently before birth;
Ø Retinitis pigmentosa, a rare
inherited disease that slowly destroys the retina;
Ø Coloboma, where a portion of the structure
of the eye is missing;
Ø Optic nerve hypoplasia,
which is caused by underdeveloped fibers in the optic nerve and which affects
depth perception, sensitivity to light, and acuity of vision; and
Ø Cortical
visual impairment (CVI), which is caused by damage to the part of the brain
related to vision, not to the eyes themselves.
Teaching Strategies
Encourage independence: it is often difficult for these students to
become as fully independent as they are capable of being. The classroom teacher should encourage
independence as often as possible to avoid the trap of “learned helplessness.”
Encourage the student to move independently through the classroom, and organize
your classroom accordingly.
Communicate: with the student, with the students’ parents,
with special educators, the O & M specialist, and other teachers who have
more experience than you.
Learn
about the student’s specific visual impairment:
what aspects of vision are affected, and how does that affect the
student’s ability to move around the classroom, see the board, or read a
textbook. Students and parents can be
good sources of information.
Adapting your classroom: account for the student’s specific visual
impairment. Place a student with low
vision near the front of the room where he or she can see the blackboard.
Control lighting variables when presenting learning materials to those students
who are sensitive to light and glare.
Make safe lanes to walk through, and keep cupboard doors closed.
Verbal cues:
for those students who cannot see body movements or physical cues, verbal cues
are necessary.
Textbooks and instructional
materials: students need
access to materials in the appropriate media and at the same time as their
peers. For students who are blind this
may mean braille and/or recorded media. For the student with low vision, this
may mean large print text or the use of optical devices to access text and/or
recorded media while in class.
Use the IEP: it serves as a guide for what the student’s
goals are, and what accommodations are appropriate.
Other Resources
Definition:
Characteristics:
American
Academy of Pediatrics lists types of health issues affecting eyes.
Learning Strategies:
Eye visual,
National Eye Institute is part of the National Institutes of Health.
Advocacy group:
Association
for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired supports
educators with professional development, publications, and advocacy.
Created
by AFB so that families of blind people can connect with each other.
What
are the issues you face when setting up
your classroom?
Instruction materials:
Printing
house for the blind
Accessible
Instruction Materials
Educators
guide to getting accessible textbooks.
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