Education
Preferential Seating for Students With Low Vision
If you are helping a student with low vision get ready for the school year, “preferential seating” is probably already on the list of accommodations. It is one of the most common supports written into an IEP or 504 plan, and it sounds simple: move the student closer so they can see the board. Here…
Read MoreWhat Does a Teacher of the Visually Impaired Do? A Guide for Families and School Teams
If your child was just identified as having a visual impairment, someone has probably mentioned that a “TVI” will be involved. If you’re a classroom teacher, you may have been told a TVI is coming to consult about a student in your room this year. Either way, the title doesn’t explain much. A teacher of…
Read MoreClassroom Lighting Accommodations for Students with Low Vision
If you are trying to help a student with low vision do better in the classroom, lighting is one of the first things worth looking at. It is also one of the most overlooked. The right lighting can make reading faster and far less tiring. The wrong lighting can cause headaches, eye strain, and frustration…
Read MoreExpanded Core Curriculum for Visual Impairment: The Nine Areas and How to Implement Them
Ask a teacher what a student with visual impairment needs and you’ll usually hear about accessible materials. Larger print, a screen reader, more time on tests. That’s the visible half. The other half is everything the student isn’t picking up by watching, and it’s the half that determines whether they can live independently at 22.…
Read MoreLarge Print Materials in the Classroom: Creation and Sourcing Guide
When a student in your classroom is squinting at a worksheet or holding a book inches from their face, you want to help right now. Large print is often the first accommodation that comes to mind, and for good reason. It is one of the most common and effective supports for students with low vision.…
Read MoreClassroom Arrangement for Students With Visual Impairments
You just found out a student in your class has a visual impairment, and you are already running through everything that might need to change. Take a breath. You do not have to rebuild your classroom or become a vision specialist overnight. The single most important idea in arranging a classroom for students with visual…
Read MoreIEP Goals for Students with Visual Impairment: SMART Framework and Goal Bank
If you’re staring at a blank goal field on an IEP form for a student with visual impairment, the standard goal banks aren’t going to help you much. They’re built for general special education. They’ll give you forty variations on reading fluency and nothing on cane technique, braille display navigation, or how to teach a…
Read MoreClassroom Accommodations for Students with Low Vision: Complete Guide
If you have just learned that a student in your classroom has low vision, you may be feeling a mix of concern and uncertainty. You want to do right by this child, and you may be wondering whether you will have to rebuild your whole classroom or learn a new skill set overnight. Take a…
Read MoreCCTV Magnifiers and Document Cameras for Students with Visual Impairment
If you are trying to help a student with a visual impairment keep up with reading and writing in class, the number of magnification devices out there can feel overwhelming. You are not alone in that. Most parents and teachers we talk with just want one clear answer: which tool actually helps a student read…
Read MoreText-to-Speech Software and Tools for Classroom Accessibility
If a student in your classroom is straining to read the screen, or falling behind because the reading takes twice as long as it should, text-to-speech is usually the first tool to try. It is free on nearly every device your school already owns, and most students can start using it the same afternoon. Text-to-speech…
Read MoreMagnification Software for Students with Low Vision
Watching a bright student lean inches from a screen, squinting to make out text the rest of the class reads easily, is hard. If that is your student or your child, here is the good news: the right magnification software can put the full digital curriculum back within reach, and you may not need to…
Read MoreScreen Reader Software in the Classroom: Implementation for Teachers
A student who uses a screen reader just joined your class, and you might be wondering how much new software you need to learn. Here is the reassuring part: you do not need to master the screen reader yourself. Your real job is to understand how screen reader software in the classroom changes the way…
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