How to Teach a Blind or Visually Impaired Student

Teaching Strategies

Explain any visuals. When you are teaching a visually impaired or blind student, it is important to clearly explain all visual materials. For example, if you are showing a picture to illustrate a point, you should describe the image. You could say something like “I have put a picture of Queen Elizabeth I on the board to illustrate the way she was depicted. She is wearing a large gown with a lot of detailed embroidery. This demonstrates her wealth and power.” You should also get in the habit of dictating what you are writing on the chalkboard or whiteboard. This way students who are unable to see the board can still follow along with the material and take notes.

Always give oral instructions. Do not provide your students with a handout that contains assignment instructions. Visually impaired or blind students in your class may have difficulty seeing the words and learning what is expected. Instead, you should always give oral instructions for every assignment and activity.

Ask students to clap to ask a question. Many classrooms rely on visual cues in order to ask questions or get the teacher’s attention. It is very traditional for students to raise their hand if they want to speak during a lesson. Visually impaired or blind students may not notice when their peers raise their hands. Instead, you should replace visual cues with audio cues. For example, you could have students clap twice if they want to ask a question.

Provide tactile learning experiences. When you are teaching a class with visually impaired or blind students, you should try and incorporate tactile learning experiences whenever possible. For example, instead of talking about rocks and showing images of different types of rocks, you should actually have physical rocks available in the classroom for the students to touch and handle. This can also be done with different foods, shells, properties of matter, etc. This will allow your students to explore and learn without relying solely on sight.

Address all students by name. Students who are visually impaired or blind may not always know who is talking. As a result you should always address students by their name when you call on them to answer or ask questions. This way the student who is visually impaired can learn to identify their peers based on the sound of their voice.

Give visually impaired or blind students additional time to complete work. In some instances visually impaired or blind students may need extra time to complete their assignments and tests. This is typically because reading braille or using some form of technological aide can take additional time. Although you want to give an appropriate amount of time for visually impaired or blind students to complete their work, you do not want them use their vision as an excuse to hand in work late. Set deadlines and make sure they stick to them.

Treat all of your students equally. Even though you will need to make certain modifications to your teaching style and classroom structure in order to accommodate students with visual impairments, you should still hold these students to the same standard as the rest of their peers. For example, all classroom rules and behavioural expectations should apply to all of the students in the class. Avoid giving special treatment to visually impaired students.

Consider the curriculum. When you are teaching visually impaired or blind students, you may need to modify the curriculum and the way you teach the curriculum in order the meet the students needs. For example, when teaching art, you will want to rely more on tactile experiences. Try sculpting and working with clay, instead of drawing or colouring. Try using this excellent online resource for teaching visually impaired and blind students: http://www.teachingvisuallyimpaired.com/

Using Aids and Assistive Technology

Record lessons. The easiest and cheapest way to improve the learning environment for students who are visually impaired or blind is to record all lessons. This way students can listen to the instructions or lesson multiple times in order to make sure they completely understand what is expected. Students can record lessons using smartphone apps that can be easily downloaded for free. For better sound quality the school could invest in a microphone and recorder that could then upload the audio file to the student’s personal computer.

Provide braille textbooks and handouts. As soon as you discover that you will have a visually impaired or blind student in your class, you should order all class textbooks in braille. You can also have all of your course materials and handouts transferred into braille by using braille translation software. This software can be purchased online and costs approximately $600. This process can take quite some time, so be sure to plan well in advance.

Allow the use of smart scanners and readers. Students who are visually impaired or blind can benefit from the use of smart scanners and readers. These technological devices will easily convert documents such as books and handouts into speech. This way students who can not see the material presented on a written document can still access the information. The machine will actually read aloud the materials. These devices range in price from approximately $150 to $1000 and can be ordered online. You can also download a reader application such as the KNFB Reader which will convert printed text into speech. This app costs around $100.

Encourage the use of page magnifiers. Page magnifiers can be used by students with visual impairments, to help enlarge images and text presented in any book or handout. This will assist students with visual impairments in reading all course material. These devices are relatively easy to use and range in cost and effectiveness. Handheld magnifying glasses enlarge the image approximately 2.5 times the regular size and cost approximately $10 to $20. Electronic page magnifiers can enlarge an image 10-15 times the regular size and range in price from $200 to $1000

Write with dark colours on the whiteboard. Many students who are visually impaired will need written material to be presented in high contrast in order for them to read. It is best to write using a dark black marker on a whiteboard. Always write using large images and letters to help assist with reading. If your classroom has a blackboard, you should always use white chalk. Avoid using colours. Colour should only be used sparingly for large images, such as titles.

Providing an Appropriate Learning Environment

Seat visually impaired students close to the front. In order to give visually impaired or blind students an equal opportunity to succeed in the classroom, seat them near the front of the room close to the board. While teaching you should stand near the visually impaired child. This will allow them to hear you better.

Consider lighting and glare. Visually impaired students often experience light sensitivity issues, so seating them away from the window and other glaring light is beneficial. Try and control the glare in the classroom by using blinds and curtains. Light should be distributed evenly throughout the room for optimal visual effect.

Ensure there are large walkways between furniture. You should also leave ample space between desks, chairs, cabinets, and shelves. This will make it easier for visually impaired and blind students to navigate through the classroom without bumping into objects. Make sure the cupboard doors and drawers are always closed and that chairs are neatly tucked under desks. If things are left slightly askew this can cause problems for visually impaired and blind students.

Maintain a consistent classroom arrangement. Once you have created the classroom layout at the beginning of the school year, leave the furniture in the same place. Visually impaired and blind students will learn the layout and be able to navigate their way around the classroom without bumping into any objects. If you rearrange the furniture and seating assignments this can cause confusion for these students and will add unnecessary stress to their learning environment.

Clearly explain where classroom supplies are located. You will also need to give added directional instructions when explaining where classroom supplies are located. For example, if the pencil sharpener is located next to the whiteboard at the front of the classroom, you should provide visually impaired students with clear directions from their seat. You could say “the pencil sharpener is straight in front of your desk and then two steps left of the whiteboard.” These added instructions will help a visually impaired or blind student navigate the classroom.