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- Environmental accomodations for visually-impaired students affect the quality of the education the student receives.today image by alwayspp from Fotolia.com
Federal laws guarantee that students with disabilities or impairments have access to the same educational resources as their peers. If you are expecting visually-impaired students in your classroom or if you are exclusively teaching impaired students, there are several environmental factors to consider to ensure that the students have equal opportunity for learning. Consider factors such as lighting, seating, access to technology and proximity to peers when arranging and organizing your classroom. - In an inclusive classroom, the ideal location for a visually impaired students is nearest to where the teacher will stand and write on the board. If you will be teaching exclusively to visually-impaired students, arrange the desks so that all students have a clear line of sight to important parts of the classroom including the board, overhead projector or important posters like maps. A small horseshoe-shaped arrangement may work best as long as students on the ends of the rows are not at an angle perpendicular to the board.
The type of desks is also a consideration. Many students with visual impairments bring additional materials such as large pencils or oversized paper as part of their accommodations. A desk that offers large storage and various organizational spaces will help a visually-impaired student organize her belongings. For instance, a desk that has a compartment for writing utensils helps a visually-impaired student locate her items quickly. - Low light in a classroom can pose a problem for visually-impaired students who rely on adequate lighting to see. Keep window shades open and overhead lights on to optimize visibility for impaired students. Limit the amount of time classroom lights are dimmed by reducing the use of the overhead projector. If the lighting in the classroom remains low, seek administrative permission to bring in additional home lighting than can be subtlety and strategically placed near the student to offer additional light.
- Students with visual impairments rely on sound information and cues to absorb information. Consider the sound environment of the classroom in planning. Though seating the student nearest to you will alleviate sound distraction, you should make frequent check-ins with students to ensure that you are projecting clearly throughout the room. Outdoor sounds that are ambient to some students can be distracting to visually-impaired students; keep windows and doors shut to block out unwanted sound. Be vigilant about the noise level in your classroom during group work; monitor sound levels so that visually-impaired students can hear necessary information through unnecessary noise.
- There are several kinds of assistive technologies available to visually-impaired students that can be incorporated into your classroom environment. Equip classroom computers with magnifying software programs that increase the size of the text and images for visually-impaired students. Other software programs utilize text-to-speech technology that reads text out loud to students with severe visual impairments. Provide students with headphones so that text-to-speech programs do not disrupt other students. Few public schools have access to braille texts but inquire with your department head about ordering braille materials for visually-impaired students.
- Strategically place visually-impaired students so that they can interact with peers who may provide educational assistance in inclusive classrooms. Ask the student if he has a friend in the class who is used to working with him in groups. Seat the students near one another in the front of the class or permit frequent group work to promote peer relationships in the classroom.
Seating and Desks
Lighting
Sound
Assistive Technology
Peer Strategies
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