ADJUST LIGHTING & REDUCE GLARE

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com

Some students with visual impairments will need adjustments to the lighting to minimize the negative impact of their visual impairment. Depending on the student's visual needs, the student may need additional lighting or reduced lighting.

Not all students in the classroom will have the same needs as lighting that is comfortable to one person may not be comfortable to another person. The following suggestions will help you discover ways to reduce glare and make lighting adaptations. Keep in mind that each student will have their own unique visual needs and you will need to adjust accordingly.

Reducing Glare

• The ideal situation is for light to be distributed on the visual task in equal amounts from all angles with none of it reflected back toward the face.
  
• Reduce glare from windows and lights, as much as possible (using blinds, shades, curtains, etc.)
  
• Cover shiny tabletops with light-absorbing materials. Also, avoid shiny surfaces on pages, desks, and blackboards.
  
• Yellow filters or acetate can be placed over work (these can be specially ordered or you can use yellow tinted portfolio covers and are available at office supply stores).
  
• When choosing paper, avoid a glossy finish as it can lessen legibility and can produce glare.
  

Classroom Illumination

For students that need higher levels of lighting to see best, consider using task lighting. When using task lighting, light directed on the task should come from opposite the dominant hand and directed only onto the task. Other students may be sensitive to high levels of light and the lighting will need to be controlled to assist them in using their vision. Lamps with controls to vary the intensity of light (a rheostat control) can provide the additional or dimmed illumination.

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• Lighting should be of sufficient clarity to enable the student to see materials and to perform the necessary visual tasks in the most comfortable visual environment.
• Depending on the student’s visual needs, lighting may need to be increased or decreased. Any extra light should be diffused and indirect in order to minimize glare.
• When talking, the teacher or instructor needs to position themselves so that the student is not looking toward windows or other light sources.
• Students who are light sensitive (have photophobia) may need to block out some of the light and glare around them.
• Permit students who are sensitive to light to wear a hat or a visor to help reduce glare and visual discomfort.

Fluorescent Lighting

• Disperses light evenly over a wide area
• May produce fewer glare spots because of even lighting.
• Louvers, banners or grills can be placed over ceiling lights to minimize glare.
• Light remains cool even at close distances.
• Can flicker increasing eye strain over time.
• May increase glare for those with cataracts/corneal problems.

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Incandescent Lighting

• Yellow, more direct light.
• Best for close work, such as sewing or reading.
• Easily Tolerated.
• Not bright enough for some.
  
• Light can become hot over prolonged use or with higher wattage.

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Full Spectrum

• Brighter, cleaner light for some.
• Includes full spectrum of color.
• Closest to natural sunlight.
• Best used in swing-arm lamps that can direct lighting onto
• Not readily available.

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Halogen Lighting

• Best used in lamps that focus light in very specific areas.
• Enhances contrast between print and background for some.
• Very bright, intense, and white.
• More energy efficient than incandescent.
• Can be too bright for some, causing glare.
• Not for prolonged use; generates a lot of heat.

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Additional Resources...

Make Great Light sells NaturaLux fluorescent classroom light filters. Fluorescent lighting can output a lot of glare that can lead to eyestrain and visual fatigue. Great Light's filters remove 100% of the glare from overhead lighting as well as provide full spectrum light, which is also important for visual acuity. They covert harsh fluorescent light to full spectrum lighting, filter out UV and eliminate glare. 

Blue Waves Professional eye health forum is an independent digital platform site providing international information and discussion groups on eye health and how general health may be affected by the blue light produced from artificial lighting sources and electrical device screens. 

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TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired

$50.00

Written specifically for fellow itinerant Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI’s), this book consists of over 400 activities and topic areas of discussion for instructing students in the Expanded Core Curriculum. The activities are age-neutral and multi-sensory and therefore can meet the needs of the broad range of students served on an itinerant caseload serving. The activities can be individualized to the students various learning modalities and scaffold in order to challenge students but ensure success. Select those activities that align with the student’s learning objects based on the student’s unique visual needs and academic and developmental level.

The core activities listed in the Activity section can be adapted to each thematic unit. These include:

• Object Characteristic Activities
• Quantity & Number Concepts
• Time Concept Activities
• Environment & Job Awareness Activities
• Listening Skills Activities
• Reading Foundation Activities
• Reading Fluency Activities
• Braille Basics Activities
• Writing Activities
• Tactual Efficiency Activities
• Developing Skillful Hands Activities
• Visual Efficiency Activities
• Optical Device Instruction Activities
• Recipe Activities

In addition to the core activity areas, each of the 32 Thematic Units incorporates additional unique ECC concepts and skills providing you with a years’ worth of activities. These units are cyclical and can be used repeatedly to help students build on prior knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of concepts. Each unit includes suggestions for activity adaptation associated with the unit. These include lists of objects, possible community based experiences, environmental print, poems, children & young reader books, children's songs, pop culture songs, movies, and websites.

Unique Concepts within the Units include:

• Self Advocacy Activities (e.g. advocating for safe classroom, presenting to class on visual impairment, requesting help and more)
• Social Skills Activities (e.g. Being bullied or teased, giving and receiving compliments, body language, "I" messages when upset and more)
• Recreation & Leisure Activities (e.g. exploring interest areas, getting involved in clubs and sports, playing games, and more)
• O&M Support Activities (e.g. Suggestions for community based experiences, dog guide information, locations in the school, bioptics, ride sharing, traffic signs, and more)
• Independent Living Skill Activities (e.g. chores, being responsible, using tools, recipe suggestions, hygiene, staying healthy, labeling foods and products, and more)
• Sensory Efficiency Activities (e.g. unique sensory experiences related to the unit, unique optical device activities, and more)
• Compensatory Activities (e.g. organizing materials, study habits, and many unique concepts related to the unit)
• Career & Vocational Activities (e.g. job awareness, completing applications, job task suggestions, and more)

Although the intended audience of this resource is fellow Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments, special education teachers may find these activities beneficial to the students in their classrooms as the activities are multisensory and include life skills and concepts needed by all students. This resource, however, is not intended to take the place of a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI). Readers are advised to consult their own TVI’s regarding instruction in the ECC and the unique visual needs of the student’s served in their programs.

Note: This curriculum is a digital pdf download. Once you make your purchase you will be directed to an order confirmation page where you will find the download link. This download will also be included on the receipt sent to the email address you provide. The pdf download can be found directly under the order number.

Each download is intended for single instructor use per copyright. Thank you for helping me preserve the content and not distributing copies to third parties.

Product details

Digital pdf download: 364 pages (11 pt font)

Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments

Author: Carmen Willings

Language: English

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Visual Efficiency & Magnifier Fluency Grab & Go ECC Supplements

$20.00

This workbook is a pdf download that can be printed on demand for use with students. It contains five different types of worksheets for developing visual motor skills and near magnifier fluency skills particularly with the use of a video magnifier. As a supplement to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to each of the 32 ECC Thematic units. The worksheets, along with a list of environmental print for each thematic unit, are designed to help students refine their visual motor skills while reinforcing ECC concepts presented in the thematic units.  

Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheet Details:

Digital pdf download: 210 pages

Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments

Author: Carmen Willings

Language: English

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