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Optical Devices for Distance Viewing

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
Updated April 7, 2020

Low vision devices for distance viewing will allow individuals with low vision to access information in the distance, generally of distances more than 10 feet. This can be helpful in the classroom, work-site as well as in the community and some devices are specially designed to allow individuals with low vision to to drive.

Individuals can be taught to use their prescribed distance optical devices to complete short-term distance tasks such as viewing directories in office buildings, menus in fast food restaurants, signs in grocery store aisles, score boards, information presented on the class board, information on smart boards, and classroom charts. They can also be used during O&M lessons to view house numbers, building signs, street signs, and bus numbers. A low vision specialist will prescribe these to students who can benefit from their use and take into account the student’s unique visual needs.

Hand Held Monocular

A monocular is a small telescope that is great for spotting information at a distance. Hand Held Monoculars provide power up to 14x. They are hand-held, but there are also models that can be mounted to a pair of glasses. They are small in size and can fit into a pocket or purse. They are helpful in spotting information such as information on the board, demonstrations, bus numbers, street signs, fast food restaurant menus, and scoreboards but they do restrict the visual field and limit the student to just one free hand. They are helpful in recreational settings to view theater and sporting events. The best use of telescopes and monoculars is to view information and presentations and not for note taking as copying while using the monocular is very exhausting. Students should be encouraged to take the monocular to other school events (e.g. assemblies, film presentations, games, field trips, etc.). When a student is using a telescope to read the chalkboard, they will need to sit at a specific distance based on the power and quality of the device. This distance along with the specifications of the use of the device, would be included in the report from the Low Vision Specialist. Keep in mind that it is difficult to copy work from the board as the student would need to continuously shift their gaze and scan to locate information.

Binoculars

Binoculars are used for short term distance viewing when students have vision in both eyes and can fuse an image. They can provide a larger field and make it easier to find targets, but are larger and heavier than monoculars and much more conspicuous.

Spectacle Mounted Telescopes

Telescopes of up to 8x magnification can be fitted into spectacle frames or clipped onto the users own spectacles. These are not intended to be used when traveling as they have a very restricted field of view. They are intended to help users read sheet music, watch TV, and view other information when in a seated position.

BiOptic Telescopes

These telescopes differ than the above as they allow the user to walk and otherwise travel safely when using them. The top has an “auto focus” so that objects viewed will automatically come into focus regardless of the distance.

Assistive Technology Forms

Sign up for free membership to access the FREE VI AT forms and references on the Free VIAT Printables page. Simply click on the Log In | Register link in the navigation bar. If you haven't joined yet, you will be prompted to create a password. Below are just a few examples of the free VI AT Printables.

Decision Guide for Electronic Braillewriter

Selecting the Right AT for Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired Recorded Presentation

$25.00

Are you overwhelmed by the process of selecting assistive technology for your students? This presentation will encompass the process and steps of selecting the right assistive technology for students who are blind or visually impaired using the SETT framework. Key points covered in this presentation include identification of the current problem; consideration of current skills; understanding unique visual and learning needs; awareness of AT for VI; AT equipment considerations; the process of building a toolkit; instructional strategies; and next steps.

Objectives:

Identify required steps in conducting an AT evaluation for students with visual impairments.
Analyze student’s current skills and unique needs to make appropriate AT recommendations
Develop strategies for selecting low, mid and high tech Assistive Technology

Includes:

Recorded PowerPoint Show
Transcript
Presentation handout
Printables & Links to Resources discussed in presentation

Request a Certificate of Completion

To receive a certificate of completion for 1 contact hour, complete the short "Selecting the Right AT" quiz on Google Forms and receive a score of at least 80%. Don't worry. If you don't pass, you can re-watch the presentation and retake the test! If you have any accessibility issues with the form, please don't hesitate to let me know and we can make other arrangements.

System Requirements:

Presentations are recorded PowerPoint presentations. You must be able to access PowerPoint to view the PowerPoint presentation. Please note that the presentation pages are closed member pages available to individuals who have purchase access to the presentation.

*Please contact me if you need to purchase using a purchase order. I am happy to help guide you in the process of adding Teaching Students with Visual Impairments as an approved vendor for your school or program or you can visit the product support page for information on using a PO.

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