Simulation Activities to Understand What it's Like to be Blind

Simulation Activities

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. Learn how to set up simulation activities for team members and peers.

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...

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.

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...

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.

$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.

Handouts

Social Etiquette Handout

This Social Etiquette Handout can be provided to anyone as guidelines for how to interact appropriately with persons who are blind or visually impaired.

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.

TVI's Guide Complete Set Bundle + BONUS Resources

$200.00 $100.00

Buy together and get BONUS resources!

The TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC Complete Set includes the following:

TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired (a 346 page pdf download)
Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets: TVI's Guide to the ECC Grab and Go Supplements (a 210 page pdf download)
Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Worksheets: A TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC Grab & go Supplement (a 338 page pdf download)
Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists: Grab & Go ECC Supplement (a 446 page pdf download)
NEW!Interactive Sensory Stories page access and booklet of activities!

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.

NEW! Access to TVI's Guide Bonus Membership Pages

Bonus pages include tutorials, printables, interactive sensory story downloads, and interactive choice making, matching and visual discrimination computer games (PowerPoint based interactive games), and job task activities.

Note:

All products are digital pdf downloads. Once you make your purchase you will be directed to an order confirmation page where you will find the download link. This download will also be included on the receipt sent to the email address you provide. The pdf download can be found directly under the order number. If you encounter any difficulty, please let me know and I can assist you. Once you purchase the complete set you will have immediate access to the bonus pages!

*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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