Visual Impairments Jason Christian TLSE 457

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Visual ImpairmentsJason ChristianTLSE 457

• "...to ensure the rights of all blind and
  visually impaired infants, children, and youth,
  professionals must do more than react to crises
  the must become proactive." "The unique needs of
  blind and visually impaired students must be
  understood by all service providers--including
  regular education teachers, administrators, and
  legislators."
• Billie MilesSpecial Education DirectorSan
  Antonio ISD, San Antonio, Texas

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Defining Visual Impairments

• Visual impairment is the consequence of a
  functional loss of vision, rather than the eye
  disorder itself. Eye disorders which can lead to
  visual impairments can include retinal
  degeneration, albinism, cataracts, glaucoma,
  muscular problems that result in visual
  disturbances,corneal disorders, diabetic
  retinopathy, congenital disorders, and infection.

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Types of Visual Impairments

• Refractive Disorders The way the eye focuses
  light is impaired, as in myopia (near
  sightedness), hyperopia (far sightedness), and
  astigmatism (blurred vision).
• Muscle Disorders The ability to control eye
  movements is impaired, as in strabismus (crossed
  eyes).
• Receptive Disorders The ability to receive and
  process signals from light is impaired, as in
  retinal detachment caused by glaucoma or a blow
  to the eye.

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Causes of Visual Impairments

• Among children under 5 years of age, prenatal
  cataract is the leading cause of legal blindness,
  accounting for 16 of all cases. This is followed
  by optic nerve atrophy (12 of all cases) and
  retinopathy of prematurity (9 of all cases)
  (National Society to Prevent Blindness, 1980).
• Blindness occurs mainly among children with birth
  weights below 1,000 grams (2 lbs, 3 oz) at rates
  of 5 to 6 (Hack, Klein, Taylor, 1995).
• Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is the leading
  cause of blindness among premature infants in
  developed, and rapidly developing, countries
  (World Health Organization, 1997a).

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Prevalence Rate

• Based on data from the 1996 National Health
  Interview Survey less than 1 (0.6) of persons
  under the age of 18 are visually impaired,
  defined as blindness in one or both eyes, or any
  other trouble seeing even when wearing glasses,
  representing 448,000 children and youths

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Assessment/Diagnosis of Visual Impairments

• List of tests that were administered and the
  results of those tests
• Conditions under which the tests were conducted
• Patient's subjective responses to the testing
• History of the patient's symptoms
• Diagnostic conclusions

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Characteristics

• The effect of visual problems on a child's
  development depends on the severity, type of
  loss, age at which the condition appears, and
  overall functioning level of the child. Many
  children who have multiple disabilities may also
  have visual impairments resulting in motor,
  cognitive, and/or social developmental delays.
• A young child with visual impairments has little
  reason to explore interesting objects in the
  environment and, thus, may miss opportunities to
  have experiences and to learn. This lack of
  exploration may continue until learning becomes
  motivating or until intervention begins.
• Because the child cannot see parents or peers, he
  or she may be unable to imitate social behavior
  or understand nonverbal cues. Visual handicaps
  can create obstacles to a growing child's
  independence.

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Instructional Ideas

• Note takers or copies of lecture notes
• Audiotape class sessions
• Clear verbal descriptions of visual aids,
  graphics, and writing on chalkboards or dry-erase
  boards.
• http//www.nhbvi.com/Agenda/Goal1/Book1/considerat
  ionschart.html

• Screen magnification software.
• Laptop computers for writing in class.
• Students who have visual impairments combined
  with other types of disabilities have a greater
  need for an interdisciplinary approach and may
  require greater emphasis on self care and daily
  living skills.

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Technology For Students with Visual Impairments

• Screen readers
• Screen magnifiers
• Braille embossers
• http//www.viguide.com/techcat.htm

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12 Signs of Vision Loss

• Over cautious driving habits.
• Find lighting either too bright or too dim.
• Frequent eye glass prescription changes.
• Holding books or reading material close to face
  or at arm's length.
• Squinting or tilting the head to see.
• Difficulty in recognizing people.

• Change in personal appearance.
• Changes in table etiquette.
• Changes in leisure time activities.
• Moving about cautiously.
• Bumping into objects.
• Acting confused or disoriented.

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Interesting Facts

• Of children who incur diabetes 80 will have
  diabetic retinopathy after 15 years of age.
• Fifty thousand people lose sight every year.
• 90 of eye accidents can be avoided by using
  proper eye wear and adhering to eye safety
  guidelines.
• Fire works attribute to 8,800 children losing
  sight in some form.

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Famous People that wear Glasses

• Morgan Freeman
• Tupac Shakur
• Jason Alexander
• Sylvestor Stallone
• Hugh Grant
• Sigourney Weaver
• Sam Newman
• Red Simons
• Elton John
• Julian Lennon
• Mary Pierce
• Kurt Russell

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Resources

• Friend, M. Bursuck, W.D. (2002). Including
  students with special needsA practical guide for
  classroom teachers. BostonAllyn Bacon.
• www.preventblindness.org/children
• www.uky.edu/kmkram1
• www.afb.org/htm

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Resources for Educators

• Websites
• http//www.nhbvi.com/Agenda/Goal1/Book1/stimulate.
  html
• http//www.gate.net/labooks/VI.htmlVIabout
• http//health.discovery.com/encyclopedias/3023.htm
  l
• Books
• Chen, D. (2001). Visual impairment in young
  children A Review of the literature with
  implications for working with families of diverse
  cultural and linguistic backgrounds (Tech. Rep.
  No. 7). University of Illinois at
  Urbana-Champaign, Early Childhood Research
  Institute on Culturally and Linguistically
  Appropriate Services. Retrieved April 29, 2002
  from http//clas.uiuc.edu/techreport/tech7.htmlc2
  
• Hatton, D. D., Model Registry of Early
  Childhood Visual Impairment Collaborative Group.
  (2001). Model Registry of Early Childhood Visual
  Impairment First year results. Journal of Visual
  Impairment and Blindness, 95(7), 418-433.
• McWilliam, R.A., Scott, S. (2001). A support
  approach to early intervention A three-part
  framework. Infants Young Children, 13(4),
  55-66.
• McWilliam, R. A., Tocci, L., Harbin, G. L.
  (1998). Family-centered services Service
  providers' discourse and behavior. Topics in
  Early Childhood Special Education, 18, 206-221.