Technology for Students with Visual Impairments Chapter Eight
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company 8-2 Overview Categories of Visual Impairments Instructional Considerations Traditional Technologies Advanced and Adaptive Technologies
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company 8-3 Describing Visual Disabilities Totally Blind –Little or no visual sensitivity Legally Blind –Acuity of 20/200 or less Low Vision –Can use large print and magnification Partially Sighted –Helped greatly by corrective lenses
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company 8-4 Instructional Considerations Concreteness Unifying experiences Learning by doing Universal Design: providing all students with opportunities to engage in concrete, hands-on, connected learning experiences
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company 8-5 Placement Decisions Students with visual impairments have specific educational needs –Mobility and orientation training –Learning Braille –Learning to use adaptive technologies such as screen readers Once comfortable with such tools, students can be completely incorporated into the regular curriculum with minor instructional changes
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company 8-6 Traditional Technologies Recorded books –Available from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped and from Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic –Especially helpful for students with LD and communication disorders Braille –Use declining because of advances in technology –Still, however, the most popular text system
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company 8-7 Advanced Technologies Screen readers –Read aloud any text on the screen, including , web pages, and word-processing documents –Help navigate menus and desktops Screen recognition software –Interprets voice commands Optical character recognition (OCR) software –Converts printed text to computer files
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company 8-8 Adaptive Technologies Talking calculators Adaptive keyboards Closed-circuit television Descriptive Video Service
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company 8-9 Summary After direct instruction in areas such as mobility, orientation, and Braille, students with visual impairments can be included in the regular curriculum Instruction should be concrete, with plenty of hands-on activities and unifying experiences For these students, a variety of technologies can make more information easily accessible