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Professional Ethics

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
Updated June 7, 2022
As with all professions, vision professionals will face ethical dilemmas and need to use personal and professional standards to handle these issues. While each person has their own code of ethics based on their set of beliefs and standards they use to guide their life, the following is a code of ethics set forth by the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AERBVI) and the Council for exceptional Children (CEC).

Ethical Principles

How people respond to ethical dilemmas is governed by their internal belief system. A professional code of ethics guides professional practice. The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), has a code of ethics for educators of persons with special needs that can be found in their Ethical Principle and Practice Standards. ​
Principles include:
  • maintaining challenging expectations;
  • a high level of professional competence;
  • promoting inclusion;
  • practicing collegiality;
  • developing respectful relationships with families;
  • using evidence-based instruction;
  • ensuring safety;
  • practicing within professional ethics and standards;
  • advocating for professional conditions;
  • engaging in improvement of the profession; and
  • ​participating in the growth and dissemination of professional knowledge and skills. 

Code of Ethics

AER established and adopted a code of ethics in 1992 for teachers of students with visual impairments, O&M specialists, rehabilitation teachers, and low vision therapists that can be found in the appendix section of Foundations of Education, Volume 1. The Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments Code of Ethics addresses:
  • Commitment to Persons Served,
  • Commitment to Community,
  • Commitment to the Profession,
  • Commitment to Colleagues,
  • Fellow Professionals and the Professional Employer.
Persons who are certified to practice any of these professions must follow the specific code of ethics for their specialization. ​
AER further specifies ethical areas of consideration in the standards of each certification area within the field of visual impairments. These standards include:
  • Current knowledge of laws that impact and protect individuals with visual impairments
  • Uphold high standards of competence and integrity and exercise sound judgment in the practice of the profession
  • Act ethically in advocating for appropriate services
  • exhibiting professional attitude and ethical behavior
  • Conduct professional activities in compliance with applicable laws and policies
  • Demonstrate commitment to developing the highest education and quality-of-life potential of individuals with exceptionalities
  • Demonstrate sensitivity for the culture, language, religion, gender, disability, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation of individuals
  • Practice within one’s skill limits and obtain assistance as needed
  • Demonstrate commitment to engage in evidence-based practices
  • Advocate for evidence-based educational policy related to visual impairment and low incidence disabilities
  • Evaluate and discern credible and scholarly sources of information about visual impairments, including knowledge of valid and reliable research techniques

Ethical Dilemmas

Ethical dilemmas will most likely be encountered throughout a professional’s career. When faced with an ethical dilemma, Kay Holbrook and Alan Koenig suggest the following strategies within Foundations of Education, Vol. 1, History and Theory of Teaching Children and Youths with Visual Impairments (PP. 263-264):
  • Do what is right for all students based on their individual needs and focus on these needs in everything you do. 
  • Serve as an advocate for the student and his or her family. 
  • Be a professional, not an employee. 
  • Do not accept or condone the practice of allowing nonqualified persons or paraeducators to perform a teacher’s duties. 
  • Advocate continually for high-quality and expanded services for students who are visually impaired.
"Following a carefully defined professional code of ethics and applying it throughout one’s professional life helps to ensure that the education offered to children and youths with disabilities is of the highest quality and that improvements are continually sought.” 
-Koenig & Holbrook, Foundations of Education, Vol. 1 p. 262
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