Role Enrichment

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
Updated November 22, 2025
Supporting students with visual impairments—especially those with additional disabilities—requires thoughtful collaboration among professionals across multiple disciplines. As a teacher of students with visual impairments (TVI), your role intersects with many others. Learning the terminology, goals, and practices of your team members helps you:
  • Strengthen your professional knowledge
  • Build credibility and rapport
  • Foster mutual respect
  • Ensure student-centered decision-making
Remember: Effective collaboration is reciprocal. Be ready to share insights about vision-related needs, but just as importantly, listen and learn from others. When all team members contribute their expertise, we create a more comprehensive and unified support system for students.

Summary of the Role of the TVI

The TVI is the primary specialist responsible for ensuring access, developing visual skills, and supporting the student’s learning across environments. Collaboration may include:
  • Conducting functional vision assessments and learning media assessments to guide instruction.
  • Teaching specialized skills such as braille, assistive technology, visual efficiency, tactile literacy, and self-advocacy.
  • Modeling strategies for team members—such as verbal description, tactile modeling, or material adaptation—to support consistency across settings.
  • Providing recommendations for environmental modifications, lighting, contrast, seating, and accessible material design.
  • Consulting regularly with teachers, therapists, and families to integrate Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) skills into daily routines and classroom instruction.

​​Discipline-Specific Collaboration Tips

Orientation and Mobility Specialist (O&M Specialist)
The O&M specialist teaches travel skills, body awareness, and environmental navigation. Collaboration may include:
  • Identifying environmental barriers and recommending accessible modifications.
  • Supporting safe movement within classroom, school, and community settings.
  • Aligning O&M strategies with classroom routines to build independence.
Special Education Teacher
​The special education teacher plays a central role in aligning instructional strategies with the student’s individualized needs. Together, you can:
  • Collaborate on instructional approaches, sensory supports, and environmental modifications that enhance engagement and access.
  • Share observations about the student’s learning style, motivators, and challenges to help refine instructional plans.
  • Co-develop activities, routines, and interaction strategies that reinforce visual access, concept development, and meaningful participation across the school day.
Physical Therapist (PT)
​The physical therapist supports the student’s body positioning, mobility, and safe movement—factors that directly affect visual engagement. Collaborative efforts may include:
  • Identifying optimal positioning strategies (seated, prone, side-lying, standing) that support sustained visual attention and reduce fatigue.
  • Incorporating materials and activities that encourage purposeful movement, visual exploration, and head control.
  • Planning sensory areas and classroom setups that accommodate a range of postures and mobility needs throughout the day.
Occupational Therapist (OT)​
The occupational therapist provides expertise in fine motor development, sensory processing, and functional participation. Collaboration may involve:
  • Working together on sensory regulation strategies, tactile materials, and adapted tools that support access and engagement.
  • Selecting or designing adapted materials (slant boards, tactile symbols, high-contrast tools) that promote independence in daily routines.
  • Supporting shared goals related to fine motor development, braille readiness, hand positioning, tactile discrimination, and efficient use of residual vision.
Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)​
The speech-language pathologist helps connect communication development with visual accessibility. Collaborative work may include:
  • Developing communication systems—verbal, tactile, visual, or AAC—that align with the student’s visual abilities and learning needs.
  • Providing input on picture size, symbol contrast, and layout to ensure communication tools are visually accessible.
  • Sharing ideas for interactive sensory stories, teacher-made materials, and meaningful routines that embed communication opportunities.
Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH Teacher)​
For students with combined vision and hearing needs, the DHH teacher helps ensure accessible communication and multisensory learning. Collaboration may include:
  • Identifying appropriate communication modes (speech, sign, tactile sign, object cues).
  • Ensuring access to auditory information, captions, amplification systems, and visual/tactile supports.
  • Adjusting environmental factors—like lighting, background noise, and seating—to support hearing and vision together.
Adapted Physical Education (APE) Teacher​
The APE teacher supports physical access, motor development, and safe participation in PE. Collaborative work may involve:
  • Modifying equipment with tactile markers, high-contrast tape, or sound cues.
  • Designing activities that support spatial awareness, safe navigation, and motor confidence.
  • Ensuring the student can participate meaningfully in games, movement routines, and sports.
Assistive Technology (AT) Specialist​
The AT specialist ensures technology tools are accessible and effective. Collaboration may include:
  • Recommending and configuring screen readers, magnification tools, or braille devices.
  • Training staff on accessibility features in apps, devices, and learning platforms.
  • Ensuring technology supports academic, communication, and organizational needs.
School Psychologist​
The psychologist supports evaluation and planning related to learning, behavior, and social-emotional needs. Collaboration may involve:
  • Ensuring assessments are accessible and valid for students with visual impairments.
  • Sharing insights on attention, behavior, or executive functioning.
  • Supporting strategies that promote social-emotional development.
Behavior Specialist / BCBA (if applicable)​
The behavior specialist helps develop positive behavior supports tailored to sensory and visual needs. Collaboration may include:
  • Adapting visual schedules into tactile or object-based formats.
  • Ensuring reinforcers, routines, and expectations are accessible.
  • Supporting behavior plans that consider sensory sensitivities and visual limitations.
Family / Caregivers​
Families provide essential information and consistency across environments. Collaboration may include:
  • Sharing observations about strengths, preferences, and challenges at home.
  • Reinforcing strategies demonstrated by the TVI and therapy team.
  • Helping with generalization of skills to daily routines and community settings.

​Key Strategies for Team Collaboration

  • Use shared language to promote common understanding and respect across disciplines.
  • Observe sessions conducted by other specialists to better understand their approaches and how they align with visual needs.
  • Offer and request cross-disciplinary training (e.g., a quick demo on braille labeling or sensory bins).
  • Be proactive but flexible—understand that priorities may shift depending on the student’s needs and team decisions.
  • Stay student-centered—align all efforts around what supports the child’s learning, access, and independence.

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