Expanded Core Curriculum

“This body of skills is necessary for access to and mastery of the core curriculum expected of all students, as well as for successful functioning in life.”

– Sandra Lewis and Carol B. Allman

Students with visual impairments need to be taught the skills and concepts of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) due to their unique disability-specific needs. Instruction in the ECC is in addition to core content such as math, science, and English language arts. Since it may be difficult for students with visual impairments to observe the environment and engage in the social interactions taking place around them, direct instruction to develop concept and social skills, travel and independence, career and recreational experiences, and an understanding of self and self-determination and may be missed.

 

The nine areas of the ECC are:

• Compensatory or functional academic skills, including communication modes such as braille
• Orientation and mobility
• Social interaction skills
• Independent living skills
• Recreation and leisure skills
• Career education
• Use of assistive technology
• Sensory efficiency skills
• Self-determination

For more information on the areas of the ECC see the following sites:

• American Foundation for the Blind

• Family Connect

• Teaching Students with Visual Impairments