What is an IFSP? An IFSP stands for Individualized Family Service Plan. This written legal document is central to early intervention services for children from birth to age three. Mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education act, it establishes why services are needed, what services will be provided, and how, by whom and where those… Read more Transdisciplinary Approach for Early Intervention Services
Sclera Description The formal name for the white of the eye is the “sclera”. A millimeter thick, disorderly forest of crossing collagen fibers, it encircles the majority of the globe or eyeball like a suit of armor, with only the cornea and optic nerve remaining uncovered. The irregularity of the fibers gives it both its… Read more Understanding the Parts of the Eye
The elements within the expanded core curriculum are foundational to success in the general curriculum and in life. They are the body of knowledge and skills we each of us need to function effectively in daily life and the building blocks that allow students to gain access to general curriculum content. These nine essential areas… Read more The Expanded Core Curriculum is Just as Important as Academics
Berthold Lowenfeld, a 20th century pioneer of the field educating visually impaired students, suggested that lack of visual information during early childhood interferes with the development process for blind and severely visually impaired children in three primary ways: the range and variety of experiences, ability to move about, and control of the environment. All of… Read more Congenital Blindness Inhibits Development But ECC Instruction Can Help
More than half of children with visual impairments also have additional disabilities. That means teachers of the visually impaired and orientation and mobility instructors must go into the field prepared to encounter enormous diversity among the students on their caseloads in addition to all the typical types present in any group of school children like… Read more The Majority of Visually Impaired Students Have Additional Disabilities
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act which governs and guides the entire special education process mandates that public schools must offer multiple placement settings for delivering services to students with disabilities. For those with visual impairments, there are four service delivery models employed and each offer a different level of direct services. From most direct… Read more Placement Options for Delivering Services to Visually Impaired School Children
All adolescents are enduring a time of tremendous upheaval as every area of their being undergoes tumultuous changes: their bodies, their mental processes, their feelings, and the way they interact with others and the world. The corridor between childhood and adulthood is full of twists and turns at every step. These characteristic changes can be… Read more Our Adolescent Students Need ECC Instruction To Thrive
American schools are one of the most diverse institutions in the nation. Children from all backgrounds and experiences come together to learn and develop skills in the same environment for hours every day. The visually impaired population of students is no different. Teachers working with them will encounter students from a wide variety of ethnicities,… Read more Responding to Diversity in the TVI Field
Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing a wonderful Mom of a blind child with additional disabilities who is currently a high school student at the Governor Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh, North Carolina. The purpose of our conversation was to gain insights about the challenges and rewards of parenting a child with… Read more Lessons from the Mom of a Blind Child: The Rewards Far Surpass the Challenges
The phrase Expanded Core Curriculum might sound like a huge and complicated undertaking. One may wonder why only visually impaired students must be burdened to master a whole other curriculum on top of the one their classmates have to learn. Thankfully this term is simply used by educators to refer to the set of skills… Read more A Simple Intro to the Expanded Core Curriculum