By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
​Updated October 30, 2017

Accurately, easily and independently identifying money can be challenging for students who are blind or visually impaired. There are strategies and tools available to help the student who is blind or visually impaired learn this important skill. When teaching students to sort and identify coins, it is important to provide hands-on experience with real coins. Coins can be distinguished by feeling the size differences and the smoothness and roughness of the edges. 
Students need to have repeated experiences in discriminating and using money. Arrange for the student to make purchases from a vending machine, identify stores that sell certain items, schedule fundraising activities, and use shopping lists. Repeated exposure and real-life situations to use money will provide a greater opportunity for learning and applying those concepts.
Picture of coin abacus.
The Coin Abacus makes counting various combinations of coins and dollar bills simple for students of all ages. This electronic teaching tool helps students of varying educational abilities master the task of counting money. Students will experiment with different coin combinations in order to reach the target amounts on the screen. The coin abacus can be easily adapted by gluing real coins on the abacus.

System for Identifying Bills

In addition to learning to identify coins, it is also important for them to learn to identify and organize paper money by denomination. This is considerably more challenging than discriminating coins. If a student is unable to see the numbers on bills, they can use electronic devices that identify bill denominations or they can use a system for marking bills for later identification. The following is a way of identifying bills by the way in which they are folded.
A $1 bill is left unfolded.
A $10 bill is folded in half lengthwise to make a long rectangle (and inserted in a wallet with the folded side up, so other bills are not inserted in the crease and lost when a $10 is pulled out.
A $5 bill is folded end to end to make a square.
A $20 bill is folded into fourths (and may be placed in a separate compartment of the wallet).

Other Ways to Identify Money

There are now other ways to identify money including electronic devices that can identify bills, as well as an app on the iPad/iPhone!
Click Money Brailler
The Pocket Money Brailler allows the user to mark $1-$100 bills with braille for identification by pressing the tabs on the corners of the bills.
 iBill Talking Money Identifier
The iBill Talking Money Identifier is battery operated and identifies current currency. It recognizes all US paper currency in circulation and announces denominations in a female voice. It features easy operation with just two buttons. 

Shopping & Budgeting

Learning to shop and maintain a budget are important life skills the student will need if they want future independence.  Encourage the student to develop a budget for groceries and meals. Provide the students with opportunities to be a part of creating shopping lists. The lists can be written, brailled, typed or recorded. If you are able to take field trips to the store, plan opportunities to take the students shopping. Otherwise, encourage parents and caregivers to take their child shopping.

Grocery Shopping

Inform the student that some grocery stores offer telephone or internet shopping. Shop when the stores are less busy and use a store map to locate sections of the store. Discuss the characteristics of foods in the produce section, discussing the feel, the texture, the size, the color, etc.  Once back home or at school, help the student create labels to identify the foods.

Create opportunities for the student to plan, budget and shop for meals with the following objectives: 

  • Given a reasonable budget for a meal, the student can choose a meal that either they or an adult will prepare and complete a grocery list for the items needed to prepare the meal.
  • The student can price the items needed for a meal, making use of a customer service representative, if necessary, to find the items on the list and discuss whether the budget will cover the cost of the groceries.
  • The student can compute the budget needed for groceries for one day, then for a weekend, and then for a week.

Budgeting Tips

  • Be Realistic About Your Budget. Encourage the student to project how much money they will need for a purchase and be realistic. Project low for income and high expenses.
  • Identify the difference between "Wants" and "Needs" to help stay on a budget. Teach the importance of prioritizing needs over wants. 
  • Don't make impulse purchases.
  • Always pay bills on time to avoid late fees.

Additional Resources

Picture of check writing guide.
Check Writing Guide
Although not too many people continue to write checks, being able to access money and pay bills by writing a check, is an important skill to learn for independence. These check writing guides help students who are blind to fill in each section of a check independently.
Picture of Money Line.
This Money Line, available from Slide-A-Round Math Manipulatives, was developed by Jim Franklin who is a special education teacher. This money number line is accessible to students with low vision as well as those who are blind.

Money Identifier Apps

LookTel Money Reader app
The LookTel Money Reader by IPPLEX is currently $9.99. It instantly recognizes currency and speaks the denomination, enabling people with visual impairments to identify and count bills.
 EyeNote logo
Free. The EyeNote app is a mobile device application to denominate Federal Reserve Notes (U.S. paper currency) as an aid for accessibility for people who are blind or visually impaired. Users can have the denomination of a note scanned and communicated back to the user. 

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