School Campus Adaptations for Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired

Teaching Students with Visual Impairments

SCHOOL CAMPUS ADAPTATIONS

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com

The school will need to ensure that there are special considerations for students who are blind or visually impaired. These include providing ADA signage, playground and other school campus adaptations. The following suggestions and strategies will help you adapt the school campus in order to assist the student who is blind or visually impaired.

ADA Braille Signs

ADA braille signs are not only helpful in your buildings, but are also required by federal law under the Americans with Disabilities Act. They are not just helpful for the braille reader. The words are in large print, and simple pictures, the signs are uniform and do not have visual clutter making them also beneficial to students with low vision as well as students with cognitive disabilities in general. All signs with any characters or numbers written on them must have a translation in braille. Signs are required for classroom identification, restrooms and directional signage and at elevators. Room identification signs must be placed on the wall next to the latch to allow a person to read it without the safety risk of getting in the way of the door opening.

The Lunchroom

Students who are blind or visually impaired will need special considerations in the lunchroom which can be difficult to navigate. If the class eats in a lunchroom, an initial orientation (and in some cases, several opportunities) to the lunchroom may be necessary so the student with a visual impairment can learn where trays are located, where lines form, and so forth. Peers or staff members may need to give the student physical assistance or verbal directions to get to an empty seat until the student develops a routine. It is helpful to encourage cafeteria staff to remind the student, if necessary, about the day’s food selections. Encourage the highest level of independence possible for each student. Students should be encouraged to carry a tray even at first there is only an unopened milk carton on the tray. The goal is for the student to eventually become independent. Gradually add more unbreakable and non-spill items to the students' trays until the student can be completely independent. To learn more about how to promote mealtime independence, read Mealtime Independence.

Fire Drills & Emergencies and Safety

For fire drills, the student will most likely not be able to access diagrams posted near doors. The Orientation and Mobility Specialist (O&M) may work with the student on learning routes from the classroom and from other locations in the building, ideally in advance. However, during an emergency, the mobile student should be instructed to take hold of the nearest moving adult or student and quickly and quietly follow others. Assigning one student the job of being the student’s regular guide in emergency situations may not be a good idea because the assigned student may be absent or may panic in an emergency. It is also a good idea to consult with the school administrators regarding fire and other emergency evacuation procedures.

General Safety Tips

Throughout the building, be sure to cover sharp corners on furniture to prevent injuries if a student bumps into the edge. You may choose to purchase edge and corner protectors such as these, or cut foam pipe covers or pool noodles to cover corners and edges.
Make sure furniture is stable and won’t be easily knocked over if a student runs into it.
Secure rug edges to the floor to prevent slips/trips.
Be cautious of overhangs (upper cabinet doors, things hanging from the ceiling, fire extinguishers, drinking fountains, phone booths, sinks on pedestals) as the student may not have enough vision to detect them and duck down.
Keep doors wedged fully open or firmly shut as a student who is blind could walk into the edge of a half-open door or trap their fingers in the hinge while feeling their way around. Use a door stop or door wedge to keep the door in a fully open position.
Consider keeping electrical outlets covered, particularly with younger students or students with multiple disabilities that are curious and frequently tactually explore their environment.
Be sure to tape down any electrical cords lying on the floor to prevent trips or falls.
Avoid clutter scattered around the floor and in the hallways. Instead, encourage students to put toys an belongings away when they are done playing with them. Cluttered hallways can be a particular problem in the winter when students leave boots scattered by the walls in hallways. Encourage students to keep their boots up close to the wall or in classrooms if possible.
Be cautious of stairs and drop-offs. Add visual adaptations such as painting color contrasting strips on stairs; and/or add tactual cues such as non-slip mats, adhesive tread strips or different type of flooring by stairs or drop-offs.

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TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired
The TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC is a digital pdf available for download. It is designed specifically for fellow itinerant Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI’s), and 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. 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.

In addition to the book, the following two supplements are included:
·      TVI’s Guide to the ECC Concept Checklist
·      TVI’s Guide to the ECC Activities Checklist

For complete product details and additional images, visit the TVI's Guide product page.

TVI's Guide to the ECC Product details
·      Digital pdf download: 346 pages (11 pt font)
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English

Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets: TVI's Guide to the ECC Grab and Go Supplements
The Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets is a Grab and Go supplement to the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC. 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 companion 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.

For complete product details and additional images, visit the Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Product Page.

Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheet Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 210 pages
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English

Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Worksheets: A TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC Grab & go Supplement
The Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Grab and Go ECC worksheet packet is a print on demand workbook that contains worksheets in print and simulated braille to use for data collection. Present the student with a hard braille copy and use the worksheets to document accuracy and fluency in reading braille. As a companion to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to the ECC Thematic activities presented in the curriculum guide. These word lists and sentences will help the student refine their keyboarding or braille reading skills while bridging ECC concepts presented in the thematic units. Although the lists and passages can be produced using a manual braillewriter, you may also copy and paste the passages into any braille translation software for quick production on an embosser. They may also be entered into a typing program such as APH’s Talking Typer to build keyboarding fluency.

For complete product details and additional images, visit the Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency & Maintenance Product Page

Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency Worksheet Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 338-page print and simulated braille worksheets
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English

Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists: Grab & Go ECC Supplement
The Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists Grab and Go ECC supplement is a 446 page pdf downloadable print on demand workbook that includes 2940 vocabulary card on 3 1/2" x 2" templates divided by each of the 32 Thematic Units along with a checklist of each unit words in print and simulated braille. As a companion to the TVI's Guide to the ECC, the vocabulary cards correspond to the ECC Thematic activities presented in the curriculum guide.

Additional Use:
Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments can have a extremely varied caseloads. It is possible to go several years without having a student on your caseload who requires braille instruction. Like other skills, if you do not practice your braille regularly, it is easy to lose those skills. Use these checklists and cards to maintain your braille skills. Fold the checklist along the line dividing the print from the braille. Choose to either read the print and produce the word in braille using a braillewriter or read the simulated braille and decode it. Finally, these vocabulary cards and checklists may be used with family members or peers who are interested in learning and practicing the braille code.

For complete product details and additional images, visit the Thematic Vocabulary Cards & Checklists Product Page

Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 446-page print on demand resource
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English

BONUS!
Lotto Cards
The LOTTO Cards Grab and Go Supplement includes 37 theme related unit cards along with activity suggestions that support activities within the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC.

On My Way File Folder Cards
Print and use these cards to represent locations the student may visit that are related to the current thematic unit. Use these with the On My Way File Folder Game outlined in the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC p. 27.

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