Vision is as a result of an interaction of various elements, light, light reflector, eye and the brain. Failure or lack of either of these elements can render a person visually impaired. Vision is important in daily activities, especially in education. However visually impaired people are also able to acquire education through means of braille. Teachers with students with a visual disability are expected to support the students ensuring they remain at par with other students.
Making the classroom safer
Technology has provided various means to assist visually disabled students to understand class material and live in a close to an ideal environment. Being a teacher with a visually impaired student, I would use enlarged text and audio texts to accommodate my students (Smith & Tyler, 2014). Audio means would be the medium of teaching so as to accommodate these students.
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I would ensure I interact with the student on a personal level. By this, I would be able to understand how the student perceives the world, and most importantly how they communicate. Creating a relationship with the student will assist me in understanding how to teach the student best and also ease the student into the classroom environment.
As the teacher, I would ensure the classroom is arranged in a consistent manner to ensure independence in navigation for this student. Permanent features of the classroom, like cabinets, doors, windows and other accessories like computers and phones can then be taught to the student to enable them to navigate comfortably.
Next, I would ensure the classroom is always free of visual and physical clutter that may hinder the student. I would guarantee no excessive furniture is in the classroom, with all activity areas well-defined (Willings, 2016). All shelve and containers would also be built in a lower-than-shoulder height to prevent physical injuries during movement, or accidental falling of objects from the shelves.
In giving and writing assignments, I would adjust my procedures to accommodate the student. In dictating assignments, for example, I would dictate extra time since their reading and write speed may be slower than the rest (Willings, 2016). I would also significantly reduce the workload of the student by allowing them to write answers directly on the worksheet rather than having to rewrite the questions as expected of the other students.
I would also regularly conduct special classes with the student to enable them further understand the class content. In these sessions, I would be able to understand the weak points of the students and know means of improving the students (Willings, 2016). With the student understanding the classwork, he or she will be able to attend classes and concentrate effectively without feeling disadvantaged.
For the safety of the student, I would ensure all scatter rugs and runners are tapped down, and no loose electrical cords in the class. Student discipline would be taught to the other students to tuck their chairs under the desk whenever the get up so as to remove all distractors in movement. Finally, additional tactual clues like different floor textures would be placed in the classroom for students with no functional vision.
References
Smith, D. D., & Tyler, N. C. (2014). Introduction to Contemporary Special Education: New Horizons. Pearson Education, Inc.
Willings, C. (2016, February 26). Classroom design tips . Retrieved from Teaching Students with Visual Impairments: http://www.teachingvisuallyimpaired.com/classroom-design-tips.html
