THE VISION IMPAIRED STUDENT IN YOUR CLASSROOM INDIVIDUAL, SOCIAL

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THE VISION IMPAIRED STUDENT IN YOUR CLASSROOM -
INDIVIDUAL, SOCIAL FAMILY PERSPECTIVES
Geoff Bowen Psychologist, Statewide Vision
Resource Centre
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CONTENTS

• Are vision impaired students really different?
• Living your life fully!
• Families, grieving and disability.
• Working with students in the classroom
• Stepping back
• Discipline issues
• Social skills

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MISCONCETIONS ABOUT VISUAL IMPAIRMENT

• THERE ARE MULTIPLE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF
  VISUAL IMPAIRMENT THEREFORE IT IS DIFFICULT TO
  TALK ABOUT THE EDUCATIONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL
  IMPACT EXCEPT IN VERY GENERAL WAYS.

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However issues to consider

• Approximately 75 of visual impairments result
  from some problem with aspects of the central
  nervous system.
• Approximately 25 of visual impairments result
  from a "mechanical" problem of the eye.
• 60-70 of children with visual impairments will
  ultimately be diagnosed as having a secondary
  disability.
• 50 of blind students have a learning disability.

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• Same abilities, personalities and basic needs as
  their fully sighted classmates.
• Regular classroom and follow the same academic
  program as other children.
• Biggest obstacle to their living and learning
  naturally is the attitude of other people who
  have normal vision.
• Most of them can see, although not well, so that
  while methods of instruction need to be adapted.
• There is no special psychology attached to being
  blind.

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• The teacher should be to evaluate his or her own
  feelings about visual impairment and about the
  child who has joined the class.
• As with other mainstreamed exceptional children,
  the attitude of the teacher will more than likely
  shape the behaviour of the childrens peers and
  ultimately the childs own feelings and
  self-concept.
• (Bowd, 1986)

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AFB Living With Vision Loss

• Live independently and productively
• Read and write
• Raise a family
• Have a social life

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AFB Living With Vision Loss

• Travel
• Maintain a careeror launch a new one
• Enjoy recreational sports and games
• In short, lead a normal life

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Unemployment - Australia

• Surveys suggest that while people who are
  blind or vision impaired are eager to work (62
  participation rate, which is high relative to
  other disability groups (ABS 1997), only 21 are
  able to find work (RBS 1996 101).
• BCA estimates that the rate of unemployment
  amongst vision impaired and blind people in
  Australia to be around 70 percent.

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DEALING WITH FAMILIES

• It is important to be sensitive to a familys
  current emotional state and equally important to
  avoid categorising family members according to
  predetermined expectations that accompany
  traditional models. At any given point, families
  need opportunities to express themselves, and
  they need acknowledgment of their feelings by
  others. They also need specific, relevant
  information regarding their child, presented in
  an honest, empathic manner. (Cohen et. al. 1992)

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Grieving Helping Parents of Disabled Students

• Be aware that all responses to the loss are ways
  of coping. This is anything the person does,
  thinks or feels.
• Dont take it personally.
• Individuals will move through the process at
  THEIR rate. Try and be patient.
• Be with the person, not solve their problem (
  give advice when asked for).

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• Allow the pain - enter into it/ not try to take
  it away.
• Allow expression of feelings without judgement.
• Accept the story being told over and over again.
• Crisis or change may reactivate a more intense
  period of stress.
• Listen and hear what is really being said (Learn
  some basic counselling skills).

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• Communicate information in an honest and
  empathetic manner.
• Involve the client in collaborative problem
  solving.
• Our attitude can be disabling.
• Be aware of the needs of the siblings.
• Ethnic differences. Be aware that different
  groups deal with disability in different ways.
• Information should be provided from a culturally
  relevant perspective and in language
  understandable to the client.

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WORKING WITH VI STUDENTS IN THE CLASSROOM

• Beware theslippery sided sympathy pit. Remember
  if you do it right they wont need you anymore!
  Step Back!
• Non-verbal discipline skills the look, eye
  contact, body posture and teacher placement.
• VI students need considerably more verbal
  indication of where they are at with their
  behaviour.

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19 WAYS TO STEP BACK

• It often feels right to give help to students
  with visual impairments, but this may not be in
  their best interest. Use the following list to
  help yourself step back.
• Adapted from Classroom Collaboration, by
  Laurel J Hudson, PhD (Perkins School for the
  Blind) Available at http//www.afb.org/Section.as
  p?SectionID6TopicID19DocumentID1573

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19 WAYS TO STEP BACK

• Youre stepping back so your students can step
  forward and become independent. Keep this in
  mind.
• Pause before answering or helping.
• Sit on your hands for a whole task while you
  practice giving verbal instead of touch cues.
  Hands off the hands.

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• If you need touch cues, try hand-under-hand
  instead of hand-over-hand. This gives students
  much more choice.  
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• Acknowledge your impulse to make students' days
  go smoothly.  There's a reason you chose the
  helping profession.
• Sit further away. If you have been within arm's
  reach, sit just within earshot. If you have been
  sitting just within earshot, sit across the room

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• Pat yourself on the back every time you help with
  seeing, not thinking. Your job is to give
  information.
• Even though helping can feel right, be aware that
  to much assistance is short sighted. Sometimes
  less is more, less is better.
• Unless you are the Classroom Teacher, catch
  yourself before you correct students' work.
  Remember, this is about the students' skills . .
  . not yours.

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• Commit to no intervention for a whole activity.
  Take data instead. Things may not fall apart as
  much as you expected.
• Have students discreetly ask their classmates for
  information (what page they are on, what is the
  school lunch, who the teacher is talking to,
  etc.) Coach them to do this on the telephone in
  the evening as well as during school hours.

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• Assign students learning partners and sighted
  guides.
• Teach students to decline assistance, Thanks,
  but let me try it by myself.
• Whenever you add prompts, include a plan to phase
  them out.

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• Make sure that team members (especially the
  principal) know your reasons for stepping back so
  it doesn't seem like you are shirking your
  responsibilities.
• Collaborate with other adults to break your
  habits of helping to much. Agree to remind each
  other to step back.
• Try helping only when classroom teachers give you
  a signal. They may prefer to respond directly, or
  give students longer to work it out

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• Let your students make mistakes and get into
  trouble. It's part of the human experience!
• Post a sign, Are there any other ways I could
  step back?
• Remind yourself that you're stepping back
  so that students can become independent. It's
  harmful when you cover for them. Don't be
  responsible for holding them back in this area.

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Other Thoughts

• Never do something for a child that they can do
  themselves.
• People change their behaviour when they are
  inconvenienced not when those who care about them
  are inconvenienced.
• Increase students sense of mastery in their
  lives. Dont cheat them and lie to them by trying
  to give false self-esteem. Self esteem grows out
  of challenge and mastery rather telling a child
  they are great regardless of what they do.
• Have a laugh now and then.

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THE MOVING IN APPROACH

• Get close to the child and gain their attention
  i.e. arms length, eye contact and say their name.
• Tell your child specifically what you want them
  to do in calm clear voice.

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• Give the child time to cooperate and encourage
  them if they do. If they argue stay calm and even
  drop your voice level and say something like I
  hear what your saying but I want you to
  do..(Repeat the instruction). If argument
  continues step 4.
• Back up your instruction with a consequence.
• If they do what they are told after the
  consequence, use lots of praise.

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EFFECTIVE DISCIPLINE

• YOU MUST PLAN FOR EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT.
  
• POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT IS THE KEY.
• BEFORE YOU RULE REMIND, WARN OR GIVE A
  CONSEQUENCE, PRAISE AT LEAST TWO STUDENTS FOR
  COMPLIANCE.

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OTHER USEFUL IDEAS

• PROXIMITY PRAISE
• THE CANTER MARBLES IN JAR APPROACH
• ORGANISE DOWNTIME

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SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND DISABLED STUDENTS

• There is considerable evidence that
  non-disabled peers tend to react less favourably
  towards disabled children, whether the disability
  is cognitive, sensory or physical in nature.
  Non-disabled peers are less likely to initiate
  social interaction with disabled classmates and
  are less likely to respond positively to the
  approaches of disabled peers.

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• This limits the positive learning experiences
  that children with disabilities have in their
  social interaction with other children. On the
  one hand they tend to have fewer chances to
  interact with peers and on the other hand their
  attempts to use appropriate social skills are
  often not rewarded. It is not surprising
  therefore to find that disabled children often
  have social skill deficits. Furthermore, the lack
  of success from social interaction may, in turn,
  produce poor self-image on the part of the
  disabled child. Spence, 1995.

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 FRIENDSHIP THE SIGHTED AND VI STUDENT

• VI students list two significant criteria for
  friends they dont make fun of my eyesight if
  I have problems they help me out
• Sighted students the most important criteria for
  friends they hang around with you they are
  fun

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WHAT VISION IMPAIRED STUDENTS MISS OUT ON

• Visual modelling
• Visual cues to regulate social interaction E.g.
  Eye contact regulates conversation
• Turn taking.
• Visual feedback after their behaviour.
• Incidental social engagement.
• Freedom from the prying eyes of caring
  adults.
• Honest feedback from peers.

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COMMON SOCIAL DIFFICULTIES OF VI STUDENTS

• Focus too much on themselves rather than others
  interest and concerns.
• Are not good listeners.
• Have poor gaze direction.
• Use inappropriate smiling.
• Avoid conflict.
• Have low levels of risk taking
• Dont understand peer group rules and whats
  cool.

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• Make inappropriate movements, which emphasises
  how different they look.
• Demonstrate a lack of peer preference and
  affection.
• Give low levels of peer reinforcement.
• Have limited or no opportunities for reciprocity-
  they are always the ones who need assistance.
• Are unresponsive to overtures from others.
• Ask more questions and more irrelevant ones.

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• Suddenly and abruptly change a conversation
  topic.
• Are often over involved with adults.
• Miss contextual cues.
• Make too many demands on others.
• Show too much dependent behaviour (independence
  is confidence in action)
• Play with toys inappropriately or with
  inappropriate toys.
• Have low levels of collaborative skills for group
  work.

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• Look different and seem low in confidence.
• Stand too close.
• Are passive and unassertive.
• Use echolalic speech.
• Frequently have poor motor skills.

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SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS TO FOCUS ON

• Gaze direction and appropriate body posture.
• Controlling inappropriate movement.
• Active listening.
• Assertiveness (proactive and reactive).
• Sharing and taking turns.
• Cooperation.
• Joining in and approaching.

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• Giving and receiving compliments.
• Focussing on the interests and concerns of
  others.
• Expressing preference and affection.
• Conversational skills.
• Identifying peer group norms and whats cool.
• Giving peer reinforcement.
• Demonstrating competence.
• Demonstrating independence.

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• Conflict resolution.
• Tease proofing by learning internal emotional
  control.
• Learning to be open and cool about their
  disability.

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STRATEGIES TO USE WITH VI STUDENTS

• Cooperative activities and games.
• Direct teaching of social skills.
• Provision of social descriptions for students to
  work from.
• Peer prompting.
• Musical and sound games.
• Changing seating and grouping.
• Setting up a buddy system.

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• Discussing the skills of friendship.
• Developing independence.
• Giving opportunities for the students to
  demonstrate competence.
• Develop a risk-taking program.
• Setting up situations where the student helps
  others.
• Setting up opportunities for social interaction.
• Sharpening listening skills.

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• Using the same discipline system as is used with
  the other students.
• Involve parents in the development and
  implementation of the program.
• Have more regular PSG meetings where the
  students social development is a high priority.
• Encourage the development of social skills OF all
  students within the school.
• Self-monitoring of inappropriate movement.
• Positive encouragement reward.

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QUESTIONS TO EVALUATE SOCIAL SUCCESS

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• Does the VI student play with and talk to peers
  as much as do his/her classmates?
• Do students talk with VI classmates in the
  classroom, play with them on the playground, and
  invite them to after school and weekend
  activities?

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• Does the VI student show affection and display
  preference for classmates?
• As an educator, do you go out to observe
  interactions during recess, and intervene when
  necessary, so the VI student is not isolated in
  the playground?
• How does the status of the VI student among
  his/her sighted classmates change during the
  school year, and how do interactions between the
  VI student and sighted classmates develop?

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SELF PERPETUATING SOCIAL SKILLS PROGRAMS

• Changing the attitudes of non-disabled peers
  towards their disabled classmates, through
  discussion and education.
• Teaching non-disabled children to initiate
  interaction with disabled peers and/or rewarding
  them for doing so.
• Teaching non-disabled children to respond
  positively towards the social initiations of
  disabled peers and/or rewarding them for doing
  so.

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• Teaching non-disabled peers to train children
  with disabilities to use social skills. This
  method assumes that the training process will
  carry over into naturalistic situations and that
  peers will become naturally occurring triggers
  for socially skilled behaviour in real-life
  settings
• Social Skills Training by S Spence, 1995

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FOCUSED ON

• Importance and need for Social Skills
• Assessment Techniques
• Teaching Social Skills to Visually Impaired
  Preschoolers
• Teaching Social Skills to Visually Impaired
  Elementary Students
• Social Skills for Teens and Young Adults with
  Visual Impairments
• Wolffe, K.E, Sacks, S.Z and Thomas, K.L AFB Press
  2000