Are you teaching a student who is blind or visually impaired? Find helpful advice, resources and lesson plan ideas for students with partial or full visual impairment. Whether you are a brand new special education teacher or a seasoned veteran, you’re sure to find resources and advice to help you. Read articles on Braille and teaching blind students how to read. Also learn about assistive technology that can help your students succeed in class.
Children with visual impairments are increasingly becoming students in general education classrooms. Teaching students that are visually impaired requires preparation, planning, and support from specialists. Use this guide to begin the educational journey to accommodate these students’ needs.
Strabismus is caused when the external eye muscles don’t function normally-causing misalignment and/or eye turning. Treatment may include surgery, exercises, eye patching, the use of lenses, prisms or filters and therapy. Read on to learn more about Strabismus vision therapy options.
Transition planning involves identifying resources and settings goals after high school for students receiving special education services. Students who are blind need specific advice to address their individual circumstances.
The types and amount of assistive technology for students with visual impairments has grown over the years. Let’s review a few of the most commonly used products that enable students to access written materials.
Visually impaired and blind students benefit from learning to read and write just as those without sight impairments. Braille alphabet cards can be used as the first resource in a long road of self-initiated learning. Read on for information on how to use them and their benefits.
A child learns how to interact with others through seeing and by modeling others. Children with visual impairments, however, may require social skills training due to their inability to rely on visual cues. Read on to see what you as a teacher can do to aid this process.
Students with visual impairment may look like typical children, but early signs can indicate a problem. It’s important to identify these signs at a young age in order to take advantage of early intervention. Learn the early signs of visual loss in children and what can be done for them in school.
Educational games are important in regular and special education classrooms–it helps children learn while engaging them in fun, hassle-free activities. Children who are visually impaired can also enhance their learning senses through fun educational games, available online.
Toys are an important part of childhood, teaching children about themselves, others, and their environment. For children with visual impairments, toys become even more important for learning. Learn what to look for when choosing inclusive toys for blind children and those with visual impairments.
Having a child with a visual impairment can be a daunting challenge. If you are the teacher of a blind or partially sighted preschooler for the first time, just read on for some great ways to teach these students.
If you’re teaching a visually impaired child in your regular education classroom, you are probably in search of new ways to teach math. A math lesson for visually impaired students requires a bit more thought, but can be done without a lot of extra effort. Here’s a great early math lesson to try!
Making minor adjustments to the classroom, providing aids and monitoring progress are simple ways to teach a visually impaired child so they succeed in a regular classroom. Allowing them to use all of their senses and build on their strengths will help to avoid discouragement and academic struggles.
Magnification software helps in enlargement of text and graphics on the monitor of the computer. The article lists some popular magnification software for the visually impaired.
The typical learning experience is highly visual, leaving students with visual impairments needing adaptations and modifications in order to succeed. Learn about accommodations for students with visual impairments and how to help maximize learning
Visually impaired children also need to be entertained. Like other children, they too need games that fun and interesting. The article discusses various games that use Braille in its functioning to help visually impaired children enjoy.
Children with visual disabilities have very limited access to books. The best books for visually impaired children are of course print – Braille books or books with tactile representations of pictures. This article also includes a list of popular books for young visually impaired children.
If you have students with visual impairments in your classroom, they may need to use page magnifiers to read books or peers’ papers. Page magnifiers for the visually impaired are easy to order and come in many shapes and sizes. Learn more about using this assistive technology.
As young children manipulate toys they develop visual perceptual skills to discriminate shapes, sizes and how objects relate to one another in space. These early visual perceptual skills will later help them discriminate letters- the first steps toward reading and writing.
Visual perception is the brain’s interpretation of what one sees. We can observe its development as young children respond to the people and things that they see and grasp. But how do parents and teachers know when these skills are developing normally for special needs students?
Children with developmental disabilities are at higher risk for visual impairments that impact learning. Early evaluation and therapeutic interventions can help these children reach their full potential.
