Simulation Activities

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
​Updated March 11, 2018

It can be beneficial, and in some cases necessary, to formally instruct those new to the vision field, team members, or peers with the opportunity to experience some of what it is like to be blind or have a visual impairment.  Providing in-service training using vision simulators is an excellent teaching tool to help educators learn about the impact of vision impairment on their students. Low vision simulators can make for a fun and educational in-service!
It must be stressed that simulating a visual impairment is not the same as having a visual impairment. The sighted person has the visual memory and experiences to draw from and assist them in identifying information and navigating their way through the environment. 
Keep in mind that it is critical to ensure that everyone stays safe during any type of simulation especially during any movement activities. Each person under simulation should have a sighted monitor to ensure safety.
  • Walk in a hallway to locate specific room numbers or areas. You may choose to provide the person with a verbal prompt or provide them with a card with the room number in print/braille and request they find the room.
  • Locate a doorway leading to the outside.
  • Go outdoors and locate a specific car in the parking lot or locate the correct bus.
  • Walk in well lit and dimly lit areas. Similarly, walk from a brightly lit to a dimly lit environment and vice versa.
  • Provide the person with a coin purse and encourage them to use a vending machine.
  • Request the person to locate and use a water fountain.
  • Find a requested item in a familiar and unfamiliar classroom.
  • Provide the student with a set of keys and request that they open a locked door.
  • Play catch with a playground ball, a tennis ball or a beach ball.
  • Get a wet paper towel and clean the table top and sweep up crumbs from the floor.
  • Arrange for participants to go through the lunch line and get their lunch.
  • Alternatively, provide a "potluck" meal. Prepare labels in different fonts and sizes and have participants fix themselves a plate.
  • Provide items to create a simple snack and encourage participants to assemble their snack including spreading cream cheese, peanut butter, etc.
  • Present an educational video and quiz participants on information that was dependent on vision.
  • Write information on the board and require participants to take notes.
  • Provide participants with textbooks and call on different participants to take turns reading passages and locating different pages in the text as well as reading diagrams. Also, have the students look up information in the glossary.
  • Encourage participants to locate specific websites and find specific information.
  • Find a particular item in a flyer or on a menu.
  • Provide participants with a word search and require that they complete it in a designated amount of time.
  • Provide participants with an "I Spy" book and require that they locate items in the picture in a designated amount of time. 

Vision Simulation Kits & Resources...

Zimmerman Low Vision Simulation Kit
The Zimmerman Low Vision Simulation Kit contains goggles and interchangeable visual acuity and visual pathology simulations, as well as peripheral field restriction simulations that allow family, friends, colleagues, and those who work with individuals who have low vision, to better understand the effect that low vision has on mobility, learning, employment, and activities of daily living.
Fork in the Road logo
Vision Rehabilitation Services offers simulators that provide a reasonably accurate picture of some of the functional limitations and abilities that may be experienced with different types of visual impairments.

App Resources...

VisionSim app
Free. Braille Institute's VisionSim (v3.0) app for iPhone and iPad was developed to allow people with healthy vision to see the world through the eyes of a person experiencing one of nine degenerative eye diseases. The eye diseases that are simulated are age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, chronic open-angle glaucoma, corneal edema, diabetic retinopathy, homonymous hemianopia, macular degeneration, retinal detachment, retinitis pigmentosa.
ColorDeBlind app
$0.99. ColorDeBlind is an app that allows users to experience what it is like to be colorblind. It also modifies the live video to help people who are color blind see the real world in ways they haven't before. 

Program Printables

Sign up for free membership to access the FREE downloadable handbooks and handouts on the Free Program Printables page along with access to the Goal Bank pages. 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 many free printable resources.

​Resources to Support You in Teaching Students with Visual Impairments

ECC Instructional Resources

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Recorded Presentations

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Braille Jewelry

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Job Posting Service

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Free Membership

Sign up for free membership to access the FREE downloadable handbooks and handouts on the Free Printables page along with access to the Goal Bank pages. 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. ​

ECC Complete Set Bonus

Purchase the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC Complete Set and immediately unlock the pages within the ECC Complete Set Bonus including bonus printables, interactive sensory stories, interactive matching activities, interactive choice making activities, job task box activities and MORE! This is my way of continuing to support you and say "Thank you!" for choosing to purchase the Complete Set. 

Tips for Being a "Physically Fit" TVI Recorded Presentation

$25.00

Itinerant teaching is very rewarding, but it can present many challenges as well. TVI’s must be able to work well with a variety of personalities to best support students and their teams. It is just as essential to be organized, flexible, reliable, and a team player as it is to be knowledgeable in your field. Seeking out professional development opportunities, developing a professional support system and continually striving to excel will foster growth in all TVI’s whether new to the field or those with years of experience. The intent of this session is to provide strategies for itinerant TVI’s to excel in their careers by providing specific strategies to improve their effectiveness as an itinerant VI professional. ​​This hour-long presentation is packed full of tips and strategies from Carmen Willings who has been a full time Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments for over 20 years. This webinar is perfect for TVI's just entering the field and for all TVI's as they start the new school year!


Objectives:


  • Learn organization and time management strategies.
  • Improve effectiveness as a professional and in coping with challenges.
  • Identify strategies to grow in career 


Ways to Access the Presentation


  • Recorded PowerPoint Show of Tips for Being a Physically Fit TVI
  • Closed Caption Video Recording of Webinar 
  • Tips for being a "Physically Fit" TVI Transcript​
  • Tips for Being a Physically Fit TVI Handout


Request a Certificate of Completion

To receive a certificate of completion for 1 contact hour, complete the short "Be A Physically Fit TVI" quiz on Google Forms and receive a score of at least 80%. Don't worry. If you don't pass, you can look over your notes or 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 PowerPointpresentation. 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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