UNIT 1 LEARNERS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT
Key Unit Competence: Trace characteristics of learners with visual
difficulties and teaching approaches.INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITY
If you meet someone working in the street, wearing sun glasses, using white cane:
–What comes in your mind?
–What kind of disability do you think that person may have?–What are characteristics or traits that made you think the person has a disability?
1.1. Definition, causes and characteristics of Visual Impairment
ACTIVITY 1.1.
–What do you understand by the term” Visual Impairment”?
–What do you think can cause Visual Impairment?
–What could be indicators of someone having Visual Impairment?
1.1.1. Definition of Visual Impairment
The term “Visual difficulties or Visual Impairment” is used to describe any
kind of vision loss, whether total or partial. Visual Impairment is an umbrella
term that encompasses all types of vision losses). Visual difficulty can be:
• Any abnormality or problem in vision
• Any factor that can cause one to see less
• Inability of the eye or brain or both to visualize things in the normal
way.
1.1.2. The causes of Visual Impairment
• Parental problems: Poor nutrition of pregnant mothers, eating foods
that contain insufficient energy, proteins, vitamins and mineral salts;
alcohol use, smoking or strong drug-taking; cultural practices where
women are not allowed to eat some nutritious foods; premature births
resulting in babies being born with premature retina.
• Birth problems: Inappropriate use of tools to deliver the baby; difficult
during birth like anoxia (absence of oxygen in the brain) which can
cause brain damage.
• Malnutrition of the child from birth: Lack of a balanced diet, especially
insufficient vitamin A, which can cause night blindness or dry eyes.
• Injuries: Accidents which may affect different parts of the eye; brain
damage due to injuries/disease; e.g. cerebral palsy; chemicals/poison
in water, air and food, plus the use of traditional herbs; pregnant
mothers exposed to dangerous chemicals at work; poor hygiene related
to poverty and ignorance.
• Diseases/conditions: meningitis; cerebral malaria; glaucoma; cataract.
• Old age: As people grow old, they tend to become susceptible to some
diseases such as cataract, long-sightedness.
• Heredity: Genetic/parental diseases, diabetes, allergy.
1.1.3. The characteristics of Visual Impairment
Generally, learners with visual difficulties are characterized by different
behaviors including:
• Problems reading the notes from the chalkboard or scanning
information quickly
• Distortion of perception: i.e. what is being seen and perceived
• Problems in maintaining and changing focus at near and far distances
• Visual discomfort and fatigue.
However, it is very important and beneficial to identify a child with Visual
Impairment at early age for early intervention.
The following are characteristics of Visual Impairment during infancy and early
childhood:
During infancy:
• Lack of eye contact
• No blinking to bright light
• Do not look at his/her hands
• Do not visually follow moving objects in front of his/her face
• Slow response to voiceless toys or parents’ faces; respond only to sound
• No imitation of others’ expressions and actions
• Do not actively reach out for his/her favourite toys
• Fear of gross motor activities, such as crawling
During early childhood:
• Often keep his/her head down; lack eye contact with others
• Limited facial expression and body language
• Tend to hold objects very close to the eyes when looking at them
• Abnormal responses to bright light (gazing at light excessively or trying
to avoid it)
• Often bump into objects or fall over, and get confused with directions
• Search for his/her way using hands
• May press on eyeballs with fingers• Jerky movements of the eyeballs
SELF-ASSESSMENT 1.1
1. What is Visual Impairment?
2. Explain 3 causes of Visual Impairment3. Identify 5 characteristics of Visual Impairment
1.2. Classification and strategies of accommodating learners
with Visual Impairment in an inclusive class
ACTIVITY 1.2
1. How could we categorise Visual Impairment?
2. Which strategies do you think we should use to effectively
accommodate learners with visual disabilities in class?
1.2.1.Classification of Visual Impairment
Visual Impairment can be classified into three levels:
a. Mild Visual Impairment:
–– Can read relatively larger characters
–– No difficulty in identifying shapes, colours and brightness contrasts
b. Moderate Visual Impairment:
–– Can tell shapes and colours of objects and can distinguish between
brightness and darkness
–– Can only read characters with larger size and broader strokes
c. Severe Visual Impairment:
–– Can only distinguish more obvious changes in brightness and darkness
–– May not see anything (completely blind)
1.2.2. Strategies of accommodating learners with visual disabilities
in class
Many learners are visually impaired, but are fortunate enough to have the
impairment corrected by glasses and other optic aids. However, for some with
severe difficulties that cannot be corrected, such learners can only learn with
alternative and adapted assistance.
A learner with moderate visual difficulties can perform visual tasks almost like
a sighted learner, with the use of special aids and lighting. A learner with severe
visual difficulties may need extra time and energy to perform visual tasks,
even with visual aids. A learner with a profound Visual Impairment will find it
difficult to perform gross visual tasks, and detailed tasks virtually impossible.
Below are some examples of strategies to address their learning needs:
• Sitting arrangements: For learners with some vision, it is important
that they sit in a position in the classroom where they can see on the
board as clearly as possible. It may also be important for them not to sit
directly in very bright light (such as right next to a window), or in very
dark places (such as corners furthest from the window).
However, it is essential to ask the learner where they feel most
comfortable in the classroom, where they feel they can see the board
and their books most clearly, and thus where they feel they will learn
best. It is the teacher’s job to facilitate learner with VI to move and sit
in the ‘best’ location; but it is not necessarily always the teacher’s job
to decide, on their own, where that location should be.
• Organizing the classroom: When a learner with Visual Impairment
starts in a new classroom, the teacher and/or other children should
help to orient them to where the main facilities and obstacles are, and
where to find the learning materials they will need on a daily basis
(books, pens, etc). Teachers should ensure that they tell children about
any changes to the layout of the classroom (e.g. desks or cupboards that
have moved; or other new obstacles that have arrived). The teacher or
other learners should guide children with Visual Impairment to learn
these changes. Teachers and sighted learners should learn to avoid
leaving doors and drawers ajar (leave open) or leaving bags on the
floor in aisles between desks. They should take the habit of tucking
their chairs under their tables/desks when not being used, to minimize
the number of obstacles in the room.
The classroom instructions and regulations could be “Brailled”, that is,
Braille labels could be placed throughout the room, including in places
where there are written signs, and on the various pieces of furniture.
This will help children with Visual Impairment to navigate around
the room and find key objects or equipment needed during lessons. It
will help them practice reading Braille (if they are new to it), and give
sighted children a chance to start learning Braille.
• Effective communication
Communication techniques include the following:
–– Teachers should speak to the class when they enter and leave the room,
so that learners with Visual Impairment know what is happening.
–– Teachers should use auditory or tactile signals, and not just visual
signals. For instance, if the teacher normally puts a finger on his or her
lips to signal “please be quiet”, she could consider changing this signal
to involve first a hand clap.
If a teacher or sighted learners wants to attract the attention of a learner
with a Visual Impairment, they should say the learner’s name. If they
want to end a conversation or move away from a group that is talking,
they should tell the learner with Visual Impairment that they need to go,
not simply walk away.
–– The sighted learners in class should say their names before they start
speaking (e.g. when giving an answer to a question asked by the teacher)
so that children with Visual Impairment know who is speaking. This
may be particularly important at the start of new school year, when
children don’t know their classmates’ voices so well.
–– Teachers and sighted children in the school/class should learn how to
guide a child with a Visual Impairment. To be a guide they should first
identify themselves and offer to guide the child. If the child agrees, the
guide should offer their arm to the child’s hand. The guide needs to
tell the child with Visual Impairmentwhen there are steps up or down,
whether a door is to their left or right, and warn them of possible
hazards.
–– Teachers and sighted learners could learn how to use the concept of a
clock face to describe directions for children with Visual Impairment.
For instance, “it’s at 2 o’clock” would mean the direction the child needs
to move in is in front of them and slightly to the right. They should also
give clear directional instructions, such as “straight ahead”, “forward”
and “right”, and avoid saying, for instance “it is over there”. If there
are any notices on the walls (e.g. notifying children about changes to
the timetable, about a special event at the school, or about rewards
for achievement or behavior) the teacher should ensure that these are
read aloud when they are put on the wall.
• Pairing children: A sighted learner could volunteer to read out loud
to a learner with Visual Impairment. This could help both of them: the
learner with Visual Impairmentis able to access the reading materials,
and the sighted learner can revise the materials through reading it
again, which may be useful is he/she is experiencing some difficulties
with learning the content. When pairing learners, it’s important for
teachers to remember that learners with Visual Impairmentcan andshould help other learners, and not just be the recipients of help.
SELF-ASSESSMENT 1.2
1. Identify 3 categories of Visual Impairment
2. Explain 3 strategies of accommodating learners with VisualImpairment in class
SKILLS LAB
1. Visit one classroom in a nearby primary school, observe
all learners during lesson time, identify those with Visual
Impairment. Classify those learners into 3 categories of Visual
Impairment. Then advise the teacher on teaching approaches or
other reasonable accommodations he/ she should adopt in order
to meet the learning needs of learners with Visual Impairment inthe classroom.
END OF UNIT ASSESSMENT
1. Define Visual Impairment?
2. Give 3 causes of Visual Impairment?
3. Explain the three classification of Visual Impairment?
4. Give 3 characteristics of an infant with Visual Impairment?
5. How can you recognise that a child has Visual Impairment?
6. In the classroom, how can you identify a learner with Visual
Impairment?
7. In your own words, explain how you can accommodate a learnerwith Visual Impairment in the classroom?