Blindness or Vision Impairment Awareness

Advice and Strategies for Teaching Students with a Disability

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What is Blindness or Vision Impairment?

Blindness or Vision Impairment Awareness Brochure PDF [143kb]

'Legal' blindness is considered to be the inability to identify anything less than 6/60 distance vision or a restriction of this visual field to 10 degrees of arc. This means that what people can usually see at 60 metres a person with vision impairment can only see at 6 metres.

Vision impairment varies from person to person and may range from blurred vision, reduced depth and distance perception, sensitivity to glare, tunnel vision to poor night vision. Vision impairment may impact on a person at birth, deteriorate over time or occur suddenly as a result of an accident, hereditary condition, diabetes, glaucoma, stroke, eye infections and congenital conditions. It is estimated that less than 5% of people with vision impairment are totally blind. Most people have some useful vision. The amount and kind of sight they have, and how well they are able to use it, depend largely on the diagnosis of their particular impairment. An appropriate environment can, however, greatly increase their ability to function independently.

Positive Interactions in the Learning Environment

Communicating

Be conscious of additional messages conveyed non-verbally such as facial expressions and body language and attempt to verbalise these. For example, you may need to convey that someone has nodded or smiled to indicate agreement.

introduce yourself by name and introduce anyone else who may be present
always face the person and speak normally, neither louder nor more exaggerated
say when you are leaving the room
ensure that the student is aware of any room changes, not relying on a note on the door or board.

When offering assistance:

ask if the person would like any help
allow them to take your arm and walk about half a pace behind you; never grab them or try and lead them
ensure that the path of travel is clear especially if the person uses a cane
give clear and concise information about what is ahead
don't use gestures to indicate directions use clear indicators such as '100 metres to your right'

When approaching stairs

advise whether you are going up or down and how many steps there are
say when you are reaching the top or bottom of the stairs
advise when there are signs like "work in progress" or "slippery when wet"

When guiding a person to a chair

place their hand on the back of the chair
indicate which way the chair is facing and whether it swivels or has arms
place their hand on the roof of the car so they can bring it down to touch the back of the car seat

Trained dogs

Anti-discrimination legislation makes it unlawful for guide dogs to be refused entry to any building or public transport
A guide dog or any animal trained to assist a person with a disability will be highly disciplined. It is important not to interfere in any way in the interaction between the guide dog and its owner
Do not feed, pat or talk to the guide dog
Take into account the dog's needs for food and water, always checking with the owner first
Ensure there is adequate access to outdoor areas for exercising and toileting
If you are asked to take a guide dog for a walk, be sure to ask the owner or regular handler for any special instructions on how to handle the animal

Assistive technology

Access to information

Braille is the tactile representation of text. Not all blind people read Braille but for those that do, ensure sufficient time is allowed for notes and exams to be transcribed. Consult your Teacher/Consultant.

Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) enlarges print onto a computer screen
Micro recorders are useful for recording meetings, conferences etc.
Monocular hand held mini-scopes magnify information to provide a close-up view.
Large print software programs magnify text on the computer screen eg: ZoomText
ZoomCaps computer keyboards provide more visible keys
A portable Brailler can manually record directly into Braille

Screen Readers

Screen readers enable a person to hear, review and edit text that is typed on the computer screen.

Other Sources of Support

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