34 Recommendations

Resources for brainstorming recommendations

When drafting the report and recommendations, consider “A Bill of Rights for All Children with Visual Impairment and their Families,” which was created in 2019 by the Council of Schools and Services for the Blind (COSB) and the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AERBVI). Consider whether your evaluation and subsequent recommendations address the spirit of the rights described.

The following list of recommendations is intended to provide a starting point for considerations and is not a comprehensive list. These recommendations may not apply to all students and should be tailored to the specific student’s needs with guidance from the TVI, O&M, and other evaluation team members.

• Express high expectations of the student’s success while meeting them where they are.
• Offer explicit teaching, particularly for social skills and executive functioning (e.g., organization, planning, time management).
• Provide concrete examples.
• Offer direct experiences, using real objects when possible.
• Provide opportunities for learning by doing and experiential learning to unify concepts.
• Allow for repetition of explanations or demonstrations of activities or concepts.
• Offer repeated practice opportunities.
• Give specific feedback, and emphasize positive reinforcement of effort. Encourage flexible problem-solving and perseverance. Reframe mistakes as opportunities for learning; promote a growth mindset.
• Use consistent language to support the student’s generalization skills in different settings. Collaboration among the family, service providers, and educators is essential.
• Develop a system or strategies to request or decline help.
• Allow for extended time for processing information or work completion.
• Carefully train paraprofessional staff to support the student’s learning, development of independence, and integration into the school community. Fade adult support when possible and as appropriate. 19 Ways to Step Back is a helpful reference and reminder to foster the student’s independence.

Examples Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) Curricula

The Core Curriculum website from the Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired features adaptations to the core curriculum (e.g., math, science, English language arts, social studies, and physical education) and connections to the ECC.

The TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities-Based Curriculum for Teaching Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired (Willings, 2018) offers thematic units tailored for students with visual impairments. These units can be adapted for any age group. The book is available with a paid All Access subscription to Teaching Students with Visual Impairments.

Getting to Know You: A Social Skills and Ability Awareness Curriculum (Crow & Herlich, 2012) is for children with and without visual impairments that promotes understanding of how individuals with blindness or low vision develop social skills. The curriculum includes lessons for kindergarten through second grade and third through fifth grade. This product can be bought from the American Printing House for the Blind.

Empowered – Activity-Based Self-Determination Curriculum (Cleveland et al., 2007) has 23 units that cover topics, such as self-awareness, identification of strengths and challenges, stress management, self-acceptance, coping and compensatory strategies, self-assessment process, personal control, communication basics, communication types (passive, aggressive, passive/aggressive, and assertive), self-advocacy, decision making, values, future planning, goal setting, problem-solving, conflict resolution, and rights and responsibilities. This book can be purchased from the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Websites

The following websites have ample information that may be useful for recommendations.

APH ConnectCenter Directory of Services contains information for organizations and agencies that serve blind and low vision people in the United States and Canada. Refer youth to organizations to connect with others with blindness or low vision for social-emotional support, mentorship, leisure, and recreational activities. Having contact with others living with visual impairment can be powerful.

Paths to Literacy for students who are blind or visually impaired has many excellent resources for parents and educators on reading, writing, and math.

Consider the resources from the Michigan Independent Living Skills (ILS) website to monitor and support the student’s progress in adaptive daily living skills. The website contains checklists, video clips, five-minute activities, calendars of daily ILS tasks for home, and modules to help teachers easily set up lesson plans and ILS learning stations.

Royal National Institute of Blind People’s (RNIB) emotional support for children and young people with vision impairment website has a guide for parents and caregivers and podcasts for youth. Tough talks – Talking to children about vision impairment guides parents and caregivers through what to say and what to do if the youth does not want to talk about it. The RNIB’s emotional support podcasts discuss various topics around emotional support, such as Confidence, Self-Esteem and Resilience; Isolation and Anxiety; Coping with a New Diagnosis; Bullying; and Social Development & Making Friends.

Books

The following books are helpful to reference when drafting recommendations.

• ECC Essentials: Teaching the Expanded Core Curriculum to Students with Visual Impairments (Allman & Lewis, 2014)
• Keys to Educational Success: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments and Multiple Disabilities (Sacks & Zatta, 2016)
• Reading Connections: Strategies for Teaching Students with Visual Impairments (Kamei-Hannan & Ricci, 2015)
• Learning to Listen/ Listening to Learn: Teaching Listening Skills to Students with Visual Impairments (Barclay, 2011)

References

Allman, C. B.,  & Lewis, S. (Eds.). (2014). ECC essentials: Teaching the expanded core curriculum to students with visual impairments. AFB Press. https://www.aph.org/product/ecc-essentials-teaching-the-expanded-core-curriculum-to-students-with-visual-impairments/

Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired & Council of Schools and Services for the Blind. (2019). A bill of rights for all children with visual impairment and their families. https://aerbvi.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/TheBillofRightsforAllChildrenwithVisualImpairment.docx

Barclay, L. (Ed.). (2011). Learning to listen/ listening to learn: Teaching listening skills to students with visual impairments. AFB Press. https://www.aph.org/product/learning-to-listen/

Cleveland, J., Clinkscales, R. M., Hefner, N., Houghtling, D., Kubacak, C., & Sewell, D.(2007). Empowered: An activity based self-determination curriculum for students with visual impairments. Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. https://www.tsbvi.edu/product/empowered-activity-based-self-determination-curriculum

Crow, N. & Herlich, S. (2012). Getting to know you: A social skills/ability awareness curriculum. American Printing House for the Blind. https://www.aph.org/product/getting-to-know-you-a-social-skills-and-ability-awareness-curriculum/

Kamei-Hannan, C. & Ricci, L.A. (2015). Reading connections: Strategies for teaching students with visual impairments. AFB Press. https://www.aph.org/product/reading-connections-strategies-for-teaching-students-with-visual-impairments/

Sacks, S. Z., & Zatta, M. C. (Eds.). (2016). Keys to educational success: Teaching students with visual impairments and multiple disabilities. AFB Press. https://www.aph.org/product/keys-to-educational-success-teaching-students-with-visual-impairments-and-multiple-disabilities/

Willings, C. (2018). TVI’s guide to teaching the ECC: An activities based curriculum for teaching students who are blind or visually impaired. Teaching Students with Visual Impairments.