Blind / Visual Impairment

Studentswith visual impairments are those students who are blind or have lowvision. The regulatory definition of visual impairment is "... an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance."  Thisranges from students who are totally blind or with minimal lightperception, to students with functional vision, although less than thenorm. For some students, visual impairment is their onlydisability,while others have one or more additional disabilities thatwill affect, to varying degrees, their learning and development.

Theeffect of a visual impairment on a student's development depends on theseverity, type of loss, age at which the condition appears, and overallfunctioning level of the student. Less than 1% of all students inPennsylvania are visually impaired. Students with visual impairmentshave complex and unique educational needs, which often require highlyspecialized services, equipment, and materials.

Visionimpairment creates a filter that affects the student's ability toreceive and give information, as well as to interact. Since vision isthe primary sense upon which most traditional education strategies arebased, these strategies need to be modified to reflect the student'svisual, auditory, and tactual capabilities. Understanding thefunctional and educational effects of the visual impairment isessential to adjusting education strategies, as well as to theinstruction and assessment processes.

Students with visual impairment:

• Mayhave a delay in concept development, which in turn may severely impactsocial, emotional, academic, and vocational development
• Often must learn using their other senses through alternate media, such as Braille, sound, or large print
• Needspecialized skills training so they can effectively use Braille books,recorders, and other specialized learning materials and equipment
• Arelimited in their ability to acquire information through incidentallearning, such as the nonverbal signals, since they are often unawareof subtle activities in their environment