By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
​Updated June 9, 2019

Students who are blind or visually impaired need specialized instruction in order to understand concepts in a highly visual world. This unique programming includes teaching through concrete and unifying experiences and learning by doing. As stated on the Impact on Development & Learning page, Lowenfeld, a leader in the field of visual impairments, identified three strategies to use when working with students who are blind or visually impaired. The three strategies are concrete experiences, learning by doing, and unifying experiences.

Concrete Experiences

Interaction with a model is not the same as interaction with a real object, particularly if the student has not had direct contact and interaction with the real item. This is true for all students, but especially for students who are blind or visually impaired. For example, playing with a plastic animal has no meaning to the student who has not touched, smelled, heard and interacted with the real animal. It is important to provide interaction with actual objects first and then determine if the student can transfer that understanding to a model or a raised line drawing. Do not assume that a student has had experiences even with what you think may be common objects. For example, a student's family may have a van and the student may not have had contact with a car or all parts of a car. In this situation, it would be a good idea to discuss similarities and differences as you provide interaction with a variety of vehicles in the school parking lot.

Learn by Doing

​Students with visual impairments need to be directly involved with all aspects of the day in order to better understand the world including where materials are kept, the process of preparing food, the completion of chores and other daily routines. Involvement in these repeated routines will promote independence and minimize the student's dependence on others.

In an effort to demonstrate kindness and compassion, good intentioned adults and peers (or those in a hurry) sometimes create learned helplessness in students with disabilities.  Coats magically hang themselves up, food magically appears in front of them and disappears when they are done, and toys that are thrown or dropped magically reappear. This is often referred to as “The Good Fairy Syndrome.”  It is important to replace “The Good Fairy Syndrome” with the desire to be a part of the action and to be independent.  Avoid learned helplessness by providing the student with responsibilities.

Help develop responsibility by encouraging the students to do as much as possible for themselves. The students should be expected to move about their familiar classroom to obtain materials or information and be responsible for their own belongings. When teaching the student a process that includes several steps, make sure the students participate in all the steps from the beginning to the end of the process.  If the student only completes one or a few of the steps, they may be unaware of all of the other steps that someone else completed. As soon as possible, let the student move through the activity independently so they do not become dependent on someone moving them through the motions.

If a student cannot participate independently, explore ways that the student can be assisted through the activity, allowing him to complete the steps that he can do independently. Gradually fade assistance until the student can be independent. Some students, particularly those who are blind, will need to be gently moved through the activity in order to understand what is expected. This is best when the facilitator is behind the student so that the facilitator’s body is oriented the same way as the student’s body. These repeated opportunities and natural experiences will help the student make associations. Responsibility and independence are essential in the student reaching their greatest potential.

Another essential skill the student must learn is that of problem-solving. When a student needs help, show the student alternative ways of handling a situation, rather than automatically providing support.  Challenge the student to think of alternatives and reinforce the student when he or she comes up with a solution. Last, but not least, never do anything for the student that they can do for themselves. You are not doing the student any favors by teaching them to be dependent on you.

Unifying Experiences

​Teaching in thematic units can help a student make connections between and among the topics of instruction that are discussed. Units expand vocabulary, concepts, and skills beyond those which can be experienced incidentally in daily routines or in isolation. Deliberate, relevant and purposeful lesson planning is critical for all students. Intentionally incorporate concept development into the lesson plans. Most concepts must be directly taught and not assumed that the student is learning these skills independently or through passive listening. Watch for situations for which the student has had no prior experience (e.g. foods in different forms: corn-on-the-cob, cooked corn, popcorn, dried corn; matter in altered form: water, steam, ice, dew, condensation; sources of things: milk comes from cows; occupations: what jobs people perform; etc.)

Be sure to plan lessons that challenge each student. Each student must participate at a level they can. Facilitate and guide learning to provide a supportive “scaffold” that enables each child to move to the next level of independent functioning. Learning activities should be developed to accommodate differences in ability and interest. Incorporate task analysis, backward chaining, modeling, motoring, demonstration, use of routines, reinforcement. In order to keep in mind what each student is working on – create charts that display items from each student’s IEP and hang on the wall or cabinet (remember to not identify the student, but instead use color, shape or another type of code).

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TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired
The TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC is a digital pdf available for download. It is designed specifically for fellow itinerant Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI’s), and 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. 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.


In addition to the book, the following two supplements are included:
·      TVI’s Guide to the ECC Concept Checklist
·      TVI’s Guide to the ECC Activities Checklist


For complete product details and additional images, visit the TVI's Guide product page.


TVI's Guide to the ECC Product details
·      Digital pdf download: 346 pages (11 pt font)
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets: TVI's Guide to the ECC Grab and Go Supplements
The Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets is a Grab and Go supplement to the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC. 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 companion 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.  


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Product Page.


Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheet Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 210 pages
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Worksheets: A TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC Grab & go Supplement
The Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Grab and Go ECC worksheet packet is a print on demand workbook that contains worksheets in print and simulated braille to use for data collection. Present the student with a hard braille copy and use the worksheets to document accuracy and fluency in reading braille. As a companion to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to the ECC Thematic activities presented in the curriculum guide. These word lists and sentences will help the student refine their keyboarding or braille reading skills while bridging ECC concepts presented in the thematic units. Although the lists and passages can be produced using a manual braillewriter, you may also copy and paste the passages into any braille translation software for quick production on an embosser. They may also be entered into a typing program such as APH’s Talking Typer to build keyboarding fluency.


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency & Maintenance Product Page


Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency Worksheet Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 338-page print and simulated braille worksheets
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists: Grab & Go ECC Supplement
The Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists Grab and Go ECC supplement is a 446 page pdf downloadable print on demand workbook that includes 2940 vocabulary card on 3 1/2" x 2" templates divided by each of the 32 Thematic Units along with a checklist of each unit words in print and simulated braille. As a companion to the TVI's Guide to the ECC, the vocabulary cards correspond to the ECC Thematic activities presented in the curriculum guide. 


Additional Use:
Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments can have a extremely varied caseloads. It is possible to go several years without having a student on your caseload who requires braille instruction. Like other skills, if you do not practice your braille regularly, it is easy to lose those skills. Use these checklists and cards to maintain your braille skills. Fold the checklist along the line dividing the print from the braille. Choose to either read the print and produce the word in braille using a braillewriter or read the simulated braille and decode it. Finally, these vocabulary cards and checklists may be used with family members or peers who are interested in learning and practicing the braille code.


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Thematic Vocabulary Cards & Checklists Product Page


Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 446-page print on demand resource
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


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Lotto Cards
The LOTTO Cards Grab and Go Supplement includes 37 theme related unit cards along with activity suggestions that support activities within the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC.


On My Way File Folder Cards
Print and use these cards to represent locations the student may visit that are related to the current thematic unit. Use these with the On My Way File Folder Game outlined in the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC p. 27.

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