Pop-Up IEP
2. "We were excited to discover how well your child can see!"
Proactive Solutions for Parents
- Work with your child’s teacher of students who are blind or visually
impaired (TVI) to educate the school staff about the efficiency and effectiveness
of non-visual techniques. Provide examples of how persons who are blind
or have partial vision use such techniques effectively.
- Educate school staff about the multifaceted dynamics of low vision. Provide
examples of when your child saw things inaccurately due to partial vision
which may have resulted in a safety hazard or developing an incomplete concept.
Personal examples enhance staff’s ability to understand and realize why
what you are telling them is important!
- Arrange for the staff to meet at least one person with low vision who
successfully uses both visual and non-visual techniques to maintain gainful
employment and live and travel independently.
- Help your child become comfortable with non-visual techniques by giving
him/her lots of practice with them at home. Do not place a higher value on
techniques that use vision. Instead, place the value on effectiveness, efficiency,
safety, and independence.
- Teach your child to speak up when he cannot see something, does not understand
something that is being presented visually, or is visually fatigued.
- If a technique doesn’t work well for your child, help the child find
another way. Encourage your child to discover what works by offering the
various tools or methods with a positive attitude and lots of chances for
practice.
- Educate your child and teachers to recognize common signs of vision fatigue
and to know what to do if they occur. Signs of visual fatigue include headaches,
neck or shoulder strain, general tiredness, blurry or reduced functional
vision, nausea, or rubbing eyes frequently. Possible alternatives include
switching to a non-visual technique, such as braille or auditory reading,
alternating between near and distance viewing tasks, adjusting lighting,
using optical aids, or briefly resting the eyes.
- Ask the TVI to conduct a functional vision evaluation to help determine
under what conditions and with what aids it would make sense for your child
to use residual vision. The TVI can also conduct an assessment to determine
the student’s primary and secondary learning media.
- If you disagree with the IEP, make sure to include a written statement
noting your objections. Unless indicated otherwise, signing the IEP indicates
attendance, but not necessarily agreement.
Read the Law
Additional Information
Collabortive effort between the
National Center on Severe and Sensory Disabilities
and the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
Copyright © 2008 National Center on Severe and Sensory Disabilities
Copyright © 2006 National Center on Low-Incidence Disabilities
Permission to use for educational purposes granted.