Vision Skills
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By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com Updated May 25, 2019 As part of the Functional Vision Assessment, the Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments should assess the student's visual skills. These skills should be assessed after the assessment of the student's ocular skills, visual acuity and visual fields. Visual PerceptionAssess the student's perceptual behaviors including depth perception, visual closure, visual discrimination, visual association, visual memory, visual sequencing, figure-ground discrimination, and spatial relationships. Observe spatial orientation including position of objects for viewing, ability to sequence objects and pictures, and ability to organize materials.
Depth PerceptionObserve how a student reaches for materials, grasps them, transports them, places them, releases them and imitates the movements) Observe the students depth perception and note if there is any overreaching, under reaching, figure-ground discrimination. Assess if the student uses eye-hand coordination to place puzzle pieces in inset puzzle or place objects where they belong. Also observe the student's travel abilities both indoors and outdoors.
Visual DiscriminationAssess the student's abilities to visually search for and identify of objects, colors, and pictures. Observe the students reaction to the disappearance of objects, reaction to differences in objects, recognition of familiar objects, people, and pictures, and ability to discriminate colors. Observe how a student responds to gestures, details and demonstrations. Observe the student's ability to identify common objects, coins and pictures. Assess student's ability to match objects, colors, and pictures. Assess the students ability to locate landmarks and adapt to lighting changes.
Social DiscriminationAssess if the student orients toward faces or regards faces. Note if the student watches the speaker's eyes and mouth. Observe if the student will establish eye contact or respond with a smile when socially approached. Does the student recognize the caregiver or other familiar adults?
Color VisionSimply asking a student to identify colors by name is not sufficient to determine his ability to distinguish among colors and shades. You may want to organize a set of cards that include lighter and darker shades of the same hue and ask the student to arrange them from lighter to darker shades or in families of related hues. It is also important to evaluate a student's ability to identify colors in real situations.
For students who are able to identify shapes, I like to use the Color Vision Testing Made Easy by Terrance Waggoner.
Observe whether a student can select an item by color or distinguish between associated colors in following directions in a primary workbook or reading graphs and pie charts in a textbook. For younger students, since many classroom activities depend on the ability to identify color, it is important to notify the classroom teacher, as well as the student, of any differences in color recognition, so tasks that are color dependent can be modified, such as working with a lab partner with normal color vision in chemistry experiments.
While the ability to match a set of colored objects may suggest intact color perception, a variety of different hues or saturation of the same color should be used to assess color vision. For this reason, several different sets of toys and materials should be used. Initially, ask the student to match highly contrasting colors to ensure that the student understands the task and has success between: red/green; red/brown; green/orange; blue/green; blue/yellow; green/yellow; and brown/orange/purple.
Accurate perception of color is important as many activities are oriented toward learning colors and using colors in coloring, drawing, labeling. Often reading materials are color oriented and accompanying workbook activities require accurate color perception. Color is often used to provide emphasis or to clarify instructions. In daily living, color perception is used to match outfits, match socks, and play many card games. Strategies/Possible Suggestions:
HandwritingA student's handwriting abilities should also be assessed in the functional vision assessment. Handwriting can be particularly difficult for students with low vision because it requires hand-eye coordination in a sometimes uncomfortable working posture. Some students can write legibly but have difficulty reading their own handwriting; therefore, students should be asked to read material that they have written, especially material that has been written several days before and is no longer familiar. Tasks such as writing a letter to a friend, making a grocery list, or entering homework assignments on a daily schedule will reflect a student's handwriting skills. Students should be encouraged to select their own handwriting tools and paper, and the teacher should explore the efficiency of these and other options.
Use of TechnologyDiscuss the technology used by the student. What are the student's skills with keyboarding? What other types of technology does the student use? Include the student's ability to use other forms of technology, word processing, social networking and cell phones.
Conducting a FVLMA Recorded Presentation
$25.00
This presentation provides a walk-through of the process and steps of conducting a Functional Vision Evaluation and Learning/Reading Media Assessment. Key points include interpreting the eye report, materials to use in the assessment, conducting interviews and observations as well as strategies for direct assessment and writing a professional and thorough report that is informative to all audiences. Next steps are also covered including the importance of a low vision assessment, determining the need for additional assistive technology and implications for service. Objectives:
Includes:
Request a Certificate of Completion To receive a certificate of completion for 1 contact hour (1 CE hour credit), complete the short Conducting the FVLMA 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 difficulty accessing the form, please contact me so we can troubleshoot! System Requirements: Presentations are recorded PowerPoint presentations. You must be able to access PowerPoint to view the PowerPoint presentation. 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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Guiding Principles Functional Skills Community Based Experiences Concepts to Teach Organization & Study Skills Time Management Virtual Instruction Movies & Assemblies Lectures & Instruction Board Work (Chalk, White, etc.) Daily Schedule Morning Meeting Weather Check Dramatic Play Blocks Numbers & Counting Cranmer Abacus Instruction Algebra Geometry & Spatial Sense Measurement & Data Early Literacy Experiences Create Tactual Books Reading Instruction Reading Efficiency Science Adaptations Social Studies Adaptations Accessible Educational Materials Individual Schedules & Communication Cards Adjust Lighting Large Print Optical Devices for Near Optical Devices for Distance Optical Device Use Photocopying Font Legibility Increase Contrast Pictures & Worksheets Keyboarding Instruction Word Processing and Shortcuts Navigate Computer w/o a Mouse Braille Code Braille Instruction Braille Instruction Materials Writing Braille Summer Reading (braille) Signature & Handwriting Nemeth Braille Code Tactile Graphics Guidelines Creating Tactile Graphics Tactile Graphics Instruction Teacher Made Materials Labeling System assistive technology
Overview of Assistive Technology VI AT Resources Non-Optical Low Vision Devices Video Magnifiers Video Magnifier Instruction Screen Enlargement & Readers Low/Med. Tech Tactual Devices Notetaker Instruction Braillewriter Repair Tactile Graphics Technology Braille Technology Auditory Access Devices Accessing Audio Books iPads as Instructional Tools Making iOS Device Accessible iOS Accessibility Resources VoiceOver Apps for VI Note Taking apps Apps for Accessing Books Identification Apps Navigation & Location Apps Braille Apps Magnifier Apps Sound Making Apps Cause & Effect Apps Vision Skills Apps Apps for Early Learning Read to Me Story Apps Apps for Communication Android Apps for VI sensory efficiency
Sensory Input Encourage Use of Vision Sensory Area & Rooms Lightbox Use Sensory Activities for Students with Multiple Disabilities Sensory Tables Visual Efficiency Skills Visual Attend and Scan Activities Visual Tracking Activities Visual Discrimination Activities Visual Motor Activities Tactual Readiness Developing Skillful Hands Auditory Readiness Listening Skill Instruction independent living
orientation & Mobility
career education
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self determination
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