Ave Maria College

COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
HEI Unique Institutional Identifier: 09077

LEARNERS who
are BLIND & with
LOW VISION
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
01 Unlocking of Commonly
Used Terms
04 Identification and
Assessment

02 Characteristics of VI
Learners
05 Educational Approach

03 Types and Causes 06 Placement Options

 20/20 VISION
Refers to an almost
PERFECT vision. This means
that within 20 feet the eye can
normally see objects at a
distance.
 BLINDNESS
is the term used to describe an
individual who cannot process
stimuli through the visual
system.
 LOW VISION
means an individual primarily
uses his/her sense of sight for
learning but supplements the
information received using other
senses such as tactile and
auditory.
VISUAL ACUITY
Refers to the clarity with which
an individual sees, or the level of
detail that can be detected at
certain distances.
VISUAL
IMPAIRMENT
Means an impairment in vision that, even
correction, adversely affects a child’s
educational performance.

A broad term that may refer to having low

vision, partial sight, or total blindness.
 DEFINITION
01. LOW VISION 03. FUNCTIONALLY
Primarily uses his/her sense of BLIND
sight for learning but Has little vision, however,
supplements the information he/she learns primarily through
received using other senses. the use of other senses to
receive information.
02. BLIND 04. TOTALLY
Cannot process stimuli BLIND
through the visual system Receives no useful information
through the sense of sight, and so
an alternative, uses other senses
for learning.
VISUAL
IMPAIRMENT

Can either be adventitious or congenital

 CHARACTERISTICS:
Cognitive and Language

Children who are They constantly

They constantly They primarily
blind perform have difficulty in
learn by depend on other
more poorly than keeping up with
experience and senses in acquiring
sighted children on reading and
interacting with information from
cognitive tasks writing activities.
their environment. the environment.
 CHARACTERISTICS: Moral
Development & Mobility

Learners often
May move less Cannot perform
have stereotypic
Often bump into often due o past motor activities
behavior or
things. painful experiences through imitation
repetitive behavior
with the and careful with
environment. spaces
CHARACTERISTICS: Social
Adjustment

Demonstrate
Social interactions stereotypic
are limited and behaviors or
often feel isolated repetitive
due to loss of behaviors that have
vision. no apparent
function.
 TYPES AND CAUSES
Refractive Errors Structural Cortical Visual
Impairments Impairments
Refraction is a These are The most common
phenomenon impairments basically cause of visual
characterized by the caused by the poor impairments. This is
bending of light rays development of the caused by a damage
as they traverse the parts of the eye, a on the part of the
diverse biological damage or brain that is
components of the malfunction of the responsible for
eye. eye due to incidents.
interpreting visual
information.
CONDITIONS 1 ALBINISM

2 AMBILYOPIA

3 ASTIGMATISM

4 CATARACT

COLOR DEFICIENCY
5 OR COLOR
BLINDNESS
CONDITIONS 6 CORTICAL VISUAL
IMPAIRMENT (CVI)

DIABETIC
7
RETINOPATHY

8 GLAUCOMA

9 HYPEROPIA

MACULAR
10 DEGENERATION
CONDITIONS 11 MYOPIA

12 NYSTAGMUS

RETINITIS
13 PIGMENTOSA
RETINOPATHY OF
14 PREMATURITY

15 STRABISMUS
 IDENTIFICATION & ASSESSMENT
DOCTOR/ GENERAL OPHTHALMO- OPTOMETRIST
PRACTITIONER LOGIST (LV) (LV)

Conducts A medical professional Conducts diagnoses, prescribes

preliminary visual who diagnoses and corrective eyewear, offers vision
examination of treats eye problems, rehabilitation, and manufactures
diseases, and injuries. low-vision products; offers
the eyes; directs
They also do surgical practical guidance for eye
patients to the problems, diseases, or injuries
right medical procedures and
prescribe and administer without the need for prescribed
specialists. medications or carrying out eye
medication for the eye.
surgery.
 VISUAL ACQUITY
Refers to a person’s ability to perceive
with precision and clarity, both at close
and distant lengths, in order to
differentiate intricate details and forms.

FIELD OF VISION
The space in an environment that a person can
see when staring directly ahead. When the
individual’s field of vision is limited, certain
components of the entire picture or image may
go unnoticed.
 EDUCATIONAL
APPROACH
Braille

The reading and writing system adapted

for the visually impaired is known as
braille. It is a widely recognized writing
system adopted by individuals who are
visually impaired.
 EDUCATIONAL
APPROACH
Braille

The characters are embossed in lines on

paper and can be read by gently touching
the document with the fingertips.
Develop by Louis Braille, a blind
Frenchman.
 Ways in Writing Braille
SLATE & STYLUS BRAILLE WRITER
A pen-like tool, to Comprises an
push dots at the exclusive six keys,
back of the paper on including a backspace,
space bar, and line
the surface of a
separator. This is
slate from right to effortless but
left making tactile expensive compared
dots. to the slate and stylus.
 BRAILLE
A teacher for the visually impaired (TVI)
must have the knowledge of how to write
and read braille in order to use for
instruction, especially for learners who
solely rely on the use of tactile and auditory
senses.
evices to Aid Access to 1 Braille
Print Materials
2 Perkins Brailler

3 Braille Note Taker with

Tactile Output

4 Braille Watch

Braille Printer and

5 Braille Translation
Software
evices to Aid Access to 6 Slate and Stylus
Print Materials
7 Braille Labeler

8 Refreshable Braille
Display

9 Optical Character Recognition

with Speech Output

10 Talking Calculator
 CLASSROOM
ADAPTATIONS

❑ Consider adjusting the level of

brightness inside the classroom. Keep in
mind that although learners who are
blind can benefit with high brightness,
these are learners with low vision who
are sensitive to bright environments.
 CLASSROOM
ADAPTATIONS

❑ Use reflective colors for the board and

floors, and non-glossy reading materials
to avoid unwanted glares inside the
room.
 CLASSROOM
ADAPTATIONS

❑ Make the materials accessible in large

prints and apply multisensory
adaptations in your instructional
materials.
 CLASSROOM
ADAPTATIONS

❑ Consider where the students will be

seated. For those who are nearsighted
they see objects clearly when they are
closer while for farsighted they have
better vision when they are at a distance
from the object.
 CLASSROOM
ADAPTATIONS

❑ Increase the contrast on the letters to

increase the visibility of instructions.
❑ Use devices to enlarge objects, letters,
and numbers.
 CLASSROOM
ADAPTATIONS

❑ Decrease visual clutters in your

classroom. Be cautious in posting
materials that are unnecessary for the
child for it could be distracting for them.
❑ Use real objects instead of pictures as it
adheres to the idea of multisensory
learning.
 PLACEMENT OPTIONS
IE & Itinerant Special Classes &
Resource Model Schools
Teaching Model
In this placement, learners
In this placement,
In this placement, the with VI spend more time learners with VI
learner who is blind or of the day in a resource spend their entire
has low vision is placed room where they are learning in special or
in a general education taught with braille and separate class where
classroom where they functional life skills that they learn together
learn together with are not commonly taught with learners with the
visually-abled learners. in a general education same condition.
class.