LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENTBy: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com November 15, 2015 IDEA has the following statement on a least restrictive environment: "In general, to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, and special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily." Although the general education classroom is least restrictive for many students, it is not always the most least restrictive environment for students who are blind or visually impaired. Additionally, some students with multiple disabilities will need specialized instruction to meet the range of their needs in a separate classroom with an adapted curriculum. These two options are not always the best option for students with and without additional disabilities. Some students may have complex educational needs that may not be best addressed in their school of residency. Other educational placements such as a visual impairment resource room or at the state's school for the blind may be the best option for the student.
Teams will need to evaluate the student's needs and may need to develop a unique placement or program for the student taking advantage of a range of options. In chapter 9, Educational Programming, of Foundations of Education 2nd Edition, Vol. 1, Sandra Lewis and Carol B. Allman provide the following suggestion: "If a placement enhances a student's understanding of the world and creates an environment in which intended learning occurs, then it should be considered appropriate for the student. If a placement restricts a particular student's ability to learn, then it is inappropriate for that student, regardless of its value to other students." According to IDEA, if an IEP team determines that the appropriate placement for a student is a private or state school, and the school district has made an appropriate educational placement available to the student, then the school district is not obligated to pay the private school's fees or fees associated with transportation. If, however, the IEP team determines that the appropriate placement for a student is a private school or school for the blind, the school district has the responsibility to pay the school's fees and transportation associated with it. The following resources on least restrictive environment can help in determining the best placement for your student: 
In the Public Policy Center of The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), you can find a great resource entitled Educating Blind and Visually Impaired Students: Policy Guidance from OSERS (The Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services)
Learn more about IDEA on the US Department of Education website.
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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:
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:
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 
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 |
