When A Student Doesn't Qualify

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

You may wonder what to do when the student's vision cannot be corrected to 20/20 but they are found to not meet the eligibility criteria for school based vision services. Other school personnel and/or specialists may be able to address the students unique visual and learning needs. A reading specialist may be contacted to work on reading and learning disabilities. An occupational therapist and a physical therapist may address concerns of eye hand coordination and vision perception difficulties.

​Some students may be under the care of a developmental optometrist who has suggested the student participate in vision therapy. If a student is participating in vision therapy, these therapy sessions take place in a clinical setting under the direct guidance of an optometrist with homework activities to take place at home.

So how can the school support the student who's vision is not "normal" but does not qualify for school based vision services from a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments. As stated above, the student may be eligible for other areas of school support (OT, reading specialist, etc.). Additionally, the school can provide the student with necessary accommodations. Accommodations should be based upon the assessment of visual skills by the optometrist (or ophthalmologist) and the anticipated classroom demands. The student's educational team should consider recommendations for current appropriateness and NOT as ongoing learning approaches or management techniques. Optometrists who support vision therapy expect student's vision to improve, therefore, if the student's vision improves, the student may not need accommodations for school progress.

Many developmental optometrists will provide the school with a checklist of accommodations the student may need with the accommodations they feel necessary circled or highlighted. As with any student, these accommodations can be provided without meeting the eligibility as a student with a visual impairment but data should be collected and maintained to determine whether the accommodations are needed. 

1. Allow the use of a finger in following along the line of print when reading. A marker assists but direct tactual finger contact with movement will offer greater assistance to the student with eye tracking difficulties. 
2. Encourage eye contact with this child in all listening situations.
3. Minimize chalkboard-to-desk copying, and where possible substitute desk copy work.
4. Modify task demands to insure success at the child's present skill level.
5. Spoken instructions will be followed better if given singly, visualized and executed before the next instruction is issued.
6. Color coded tasks may confused rather than assist this student. 
7. Physical or line guides will help in space organization.
8. Vocalization or sub-vocalization of visually presented information will be helpful in building visual memory. 
9. Tasks requiring fine motor paper-pencil responses should be restructured to allow more gross motor involvement.
10. Direct chalkboard tracing of large well-written script may be helpful in improving handwriting.
11. Encourage the use of a pencil grip.
12. Promote a reading and writing distance equal to the length of the child's arm from elbow to middle knuckle.
13. Where possible use a sloping work surface for reading and writing. 
14. Discourage head tilting or lateral head shifting, which allows one-eyed seeing as the nose blocks the vision of one eye. 
15. Encourage proper paper placement and posture for writing.
16. If the front of the classroom is used for most teaching activities, this child's focusing difficulties will be alleviated by seating toward the front. (or back, left side, etc.)
17. Stress encountered during near point activities will be reduced with the use of "learning" or "counter-stress" lenses, which have been prescribed. 
18. Short visual work periods will tend to reduce visual stress and possible related fidgeting.
19. Reduce time on written homework.
20. Consider the use of cursive writing to help reduce reversals and directional inconsistencies present in manuscript.
21. Encourage egocentric and spatial right/left awareness with physical activities. 
22. Simplify physical activities to build confidence and success in gross motor skill and development.
23. Directional confusion and resultant reversals will be reduced by supplying orientation arrows with copy material. 
24. Large print books and material should be considered for this student.
25. Due to the visual difficulties of this child, timed tests might not be accurate measures of performance.
26. Scranton tests may be difficult. Please let someone bubble answers for this child.
27. Visualization of letter formation and spelling of short words will be assisted by "back tracing". Trace a letter or a short word on the student's back, say it aloud and have him "feel" and "see" the pattern with his eyes closed. 
28. Misreading of word beginnings and endings may be helped by slowing the student's responses and delaying inaccurate and premature "closure" (e.g. have the student vocalize at half speed or use a timing device such as a metronome to encourage "seeing" before saying).
29. Finger movement games will help develop fine-motor control for writing.
30. During testing, allow a teacher or other designated person mark the bubbles on any testing that requires the filling in of small answer bubbles, in order to facilitate an accurate measure of this student's academic ability.
31. During testing allow additional time on any timed testing, in order to facilitate an accurate measure of this student's academic ability.
32. During testing allow a teacher or other designated person read the test questions to this student. 

The above list was developed by Roswell Eye Clinic, a member of the American Optometric Association, in Roswell, Georgia

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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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