Visual Efficiency Skills

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

The Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments can work with a student to help them develop efficient use of their vision. These skills will help prepare a student for learning as well as prepare them for safe and efficient travel. 

​Spatial Relationships & Eye-Hand Integration

Eye-Hand coordination is an important skill for visual learners as developing skillful hands in important for Braille readiness. Eye-Hand coordination is also referred to as visual motor integration. It is the ability to control hand movement guided by vision. Students who have difficulty with visual motor integration often have difficulty coordinating body movements in response to what is seen. 

Gross Motor Movement

Students who are visually impaired may need motivators and assistance in developing movement milestones. Holding their head up may be unnatural to a student who has low vision or is blind. The student should be encouraged to hold their head up and develop a good posture. The student may need visual and auditory cues to develop gross motor skills.

Visually Attend or Fixate

Fixation is the observed ability to direct a gaze and hold an object steadily in view. Keep in mind that some students may use an eccentric gaze in order to visually attend or to establish a null point. Do not force a student to look straight at an object or at materials as a student may need to turn their head in order to visually attend. Also, don't expect longer fixation than would be acceptable of you. Provide the student with many experiences with objects within arms reach. Once the student visually attends at near, encourage the student to briefly gaze or attend to objects and people that are at mid-range distances (3 to 5 feet) and distance environment. 

Visually Shift Gaze

Shift of gaze is the ability to shift one's gaze from one object or person to another. Begin by using objects the student is interested in or has demonstrated the ability to visually attend to. Wiggle the item slightly to gain the student's attention to the second item. 

Visual Pursuit

Visual pursuit is the ability to look for an item that has fallen out of view. Students need to learn that objects and people continue to exist even when they are out of view. They need to develop the skills to locate objects that are no longer within reach. Encourage the student to look for dropped objects and anticipate the trajectory of slowly moving objects. At first, you may need to assist the student. For students with usable vision, point in the direction that the item has dropped or rolled if the student is able to follow the trajectory of your point. For students who are blind or who have difficulty following the trajectory of a point, you can tap the item on the floor to provide a sound source that will assist the student in locating the object. Teach the student how to use a systematic search pattern to locate objects by providing hand under hand assistance. 

Visually Track 

Once a student is able to visually attend to objects and materials in their environment, they should be encouraged to visually track their movements. Tracking is the ability to maintain visual attention on an object as the object is moving. Tracking is the ability to follow a moving object with your eyes and for this reason, it is an important skill for reading. You must be able to move your eyes accurately in order to read across a line of print.

Visually Scan

To visually scan is to visually search in a systematic pattern such as looking on different planes (high, middle, low), to find objects or to avoid obstacles. Visually scanning is different from visual tracking in that scanning requires the students to view an area in order to locate an item or information as opposed to maintaining visual contact while an object/person moves from one place to another.

Visually Trace

To visually trace is to follow a stationary line such as along the edge of the whiteboard or a painted line on a playground. A student can be encouraged to trace lines or edges of objects to locate requested items. This exploration will help students navigate and develop a more complete understanding of their environment. 

Visual Discrimination & Sequencing Activities

Visual discrimination is the ability to recognize details in visual images. It allows students to identify and recognize the likeness and differences of shapes/forms, colors and position of objects, people, and printed materials. In order to learn to read print, students will need to develop their visual discrimination skills. There are numerous activities that students can do to help them develop visual discrimination skills. Encourage students to visually discrimination through matching photos, letters, words, pictures, or other objects and materials.

Visual Closure 

Visual closure helps a student to quickly process information in the environment because our visual system doesn't have to analyze every detail to recognize what is seen. If a student has difficulty with visual closure, they will have a difficult time identifying an object or picture when part of the object is missing. Visual closure also helps to recognize sight words. 

Figure-Ground Perception

Figure-Ground is the perceptual skill that allows a student to pick out details without getting confused by the background or surrounding images. 

Visual Association

Visual association is the ability to relate visual stimuli to other, previously learned, visual images in a meaningful way. Visual association is used to sort and classify things that belong together but are not identical. 

Visual Memory And Visual Imagery 

​Visual memory involves the ability to store and retrieve previously seen images when the object, picture, word, or location are no longer present. Visual imagery is information that passes through the brain as though something is being perceived when nothing is actually happening. Both of these skills are important for academics but also in developing good orientation and mobility skills.

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TVI's Guide Complete Set Bundle + BONUS Resources

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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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