By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
​Updated June 9, 2019

Students who are blind or visually impaired and will be independent travelers will need to learn strategies for accessing transportation, planning a route, and traveling.

Being a Non-Driver

Most students who are visually impaired will not have enough vision to be a driver. These students will need to acquire skills in seeking out and arranging for their transportation needs as well as coping with the reality of not being able to be a driver. To help students learn skills needed to be a non-driver, encourage the student to:

• Identify reasons why persons with and without disabilities do not drive including the functional implications of their visual impairment and the social aspects of being a non-driver. Then help the student understand that there are ways they will still be able to travel independently that do not include driving.
• Share (to the extent to which they are comfortable) experiences and feelings associated with being told they cannot obtain a driver's license. While some students will be indifferent to not being able to drive, other students may need extra support and help to cope with their feelings.
• Understand different rites of passage for adolescents in technologically oriented societies. Work with the student to discover how they can also participate in these rites of passage, but in different ways. This may include permitting the student to independently travel once they have the skills needed for the task (independently walk to the store, take a bus to the mall, etc.)

Access Transportation

Students will need to learn various ways in which they can access transportation in their area. They should also be familiarized with ways people in other cities are able to access transportation. Encourage the student to:

• identify destinations where they believe they are capable of traveling.
• discuss how non-drivers access transportation and how these methods influence their lifestyles (hiring, scheduling, directing, and firing a driver).
• discuss how non-drivers with different lifestyles structure their lives to access transportation.
• identify the advantages and disadvantages of methods of travel (scheduling, costs, routes, and so forth).
• solicit information from businesses and other individuals regarding the location of businesses, activities, and so on.
• identify the advantages and disadvantages of public methods of travel.
• demonstrate skills in asking for and declining rides.

Gather Information on Low Vision & Bioptic Driving

Some states allow people with low vision to use bioptic devices for driving, while in other states it is illegal. The student will need to first determine whether they meet the unaided and aided visual requirements of the state in order to pursue driving with low vision. If the student is a potential candidate for using bioptics for driving, they will need to learn to: 

• understand some of the differences between driving with low vision and driving with typical vision.
• understand some of the legal and self-imposed restrictions in driving experienced by low vision drivers.

Gather Information on Budgeting for Transportation

Transportation is expensive whether you provide your own transportation or use public transportation. To prepare the student for budgeting for transportation, have the student:

• list various sources of funding for transportation, including optional reduced fare programs for those with disabilities.
• establish a weekly and monthly transportation budget.
• evaluate which forms of transportation are most appropriate to purchase in order to meet current and future needs.

Create & Follow Routes & Directions

Anyone who plans to travel needs to understand where they want to go. This is no different for a person who is blind or visually impaired. The Orientation & Mobility specialist will work specifically with students on how to create and follow routes and directions. As part of this training, the student should learn how to:

• use different resources to plan a route.
• create a set of directions for personal use.
• create a set of directions to share with others.
• calculate the time, distance, and cost for short and long distance trips.

Problem Solve as it Relates to Travel

Everyone encounters problems with travel from time to time. Students need to plan for such problems and problem solve ahead of time as to how to handle the problems in order to be prepared. Have the student:

• list several activities that may be done while waiting for late rides in different environments.
• be assertive and solve problems concerning transportation schedules for arriving at or leaving a destination.
• provide a list of ways to reduce the frustrations associated with non-driving.
• complete a self-evaluation to determine what skills they still must develop to maximize independent travel.
• describe acceptable public behaviors while a passenger in transit.

Franki Napolitano has written a blog about Using Airports with Sensory Impairments to address the challenges of navigating the airport. Although the focus of the study was in UK airports, the tips are helpful for all airports. 

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IGLU Cruise features a must-read guide by Lisa Bonet if you are you considering going on a cruise with a guide dog. Lisa provides a list of well thought out tips to help you prepare for and enjoy your cruise with your companion!

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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

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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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