Chapter 10 Blindness and Low Vision - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

About This Presentation
Title:

Chapter 10 Blindness and Low Vision

Description:

A person whose visual acuity is 20/200 or less after the best possible ... Visual impairment can be congenital (present at birth) or adventitious (acquired) ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:1964
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 10
Provided by: davidf150
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Chapter 10 Blindness and Low Vision


1
Chapter 10Blindness and Low Vision
2
Definitions of Visual Impairment
  • Legal definition of blindness
  • The legal definition is based on visual acuity
    and field of vision
  • A person whose visual acuity is 20/200 or less
    after the best possible correction with glasses
    or contact lenses is considered legally blind
  • A person whose vision is restricted to an area of
    20 degrees or less is considered legally blind
  • Educational definitions of visual impairments
  • The IDEA definition emphasizes the relationship
    between vision and learning
  • Totally blind Receives no useful information
    through the sense of vision
  • Functionally blind Learns primarily through the
    auditory channel
  • Low vision Uses vision as a primary means of
    learning

3
Causes
  • Causes of visual impairments Damage or
    disturbances to any part of the eyes optical,
    muscular or nervous system
  • Refractive errors Myopia (nearsightedness) and
    hyperopia (farsightedness)
  • Structural impairments Cataracts, glaucoma,
    nystagmus, strabismus
  • Cortical visual impairments Suspected damage to
    parts of brain that interpret visual information

4
Characteristics of Students with Visual
Impairments
  • Cognition and language
  • Impaired or absent vision makes it difficult to
    see the connections between experiences
  • Motor development and mobility
  • Visual impairment often leads to delays and
    deficits in motor development low motivation to
    move
  • Physical Stereotypy
  • Social adjustment and interaction
  • Children with visual impairments interact less
    and are often delayed in social skills
  • Many persons who have lost their sight report
    that the biggest difficulty socially is dealing
    with the attitudes and behavior of those around
    them

5
Educational Approaches
  • The age of onset has implications for how
    children with low vision should be taught
  • Visual impairment can be congenital (present at
    birth) or adventitious (acquired)
  • Special adaptations for students who are blind
  • Braille
  • Tactile aids and manipulatives
  • Computer technological aids for reading print
  • Hardware/software that magnifies screen images
  • Speech recognition software
  • Software that converts text files to synthesized
    speech

6
Special Adaptations for Students with Low Vision
  • Functional vision
  • Teaching a child to use the vision that she has
  • Optical devices
  • Glasses
  • Contacts
  • Small hand-held telescopes
  • Magnifiers
  • Print reading
  • Approach magnification
  • Lenses
  • Large print
  • Classroom adaptations
  • Special lamps
  • Desks with tilting tops
  • Off-white writing paper
  • Chairs with wheels

7
Expanded Curriculum Priorities
  • Orientation and mobility training (OM)
  • Cane skills
  • Guide dogs
  • Sighted guides
  • Electronic travel aids
  • Listening skills
  • Functional life skills
  • Cooking
  • Personal hygiene
  • Shopping
  • Financial management
  • Transportation
  • Recreational activities

8
Educational Placement Alternatives
  • 86 of children are educated in public schools
  • Itinerant teacher model
  • Most students who are included in general
    education classrooms receive support from
    itinerant teacher-consultants
  • The most important factor to the successful
    inclusion of students with visual impairments is
    the regular classroom teachers flexibility
  • Other important aspects
  • Peer acceptance and interaction
  • Availability of support personnel
  • Adequate access to special supplies and equipment
  • Residential schools
  • About 7.5 of school-age children with visual
    impairments attend residential schools

9
Current Issues and Future Trends
  • Specialization of services
  • Children with visual impairments are likely to
    receive special education services in the future
    in both regular and residential schools
  • Greater emphasis will be placed on intervention
    with infants and young children and on training
    older students for independence
  • Emerging technology and research
  • It is hoped that all people with visual
    impairments will benefit from new technological
    and biomedical developments
  • Artificial sight may be possible in the future
  • Fighting against discrimination and for
    self-determination
  • Career opportunities will likely expand as
    individuals with visual impairments become more
    aware of their legal and human rights
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com