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Have you ever wanted to be supportive to someone with a visual impairment, but you didn't know where to start or you were afraid of making a mistake?

Don't let a lack of knowledge, worries, and fears stop you from being supportive. Explore how you can help someone with a visual impairment, whether you're a parent or educator. 🙂

What does it mean to be visually impaired?

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As of 2020, the World Health Organization defines a person as visually impaired and blind if their visual acuity (VA) is less than 3/60 in the eye with the best vision.

A VA of 3/60 means that a person can see at 3 feet what a person without a visual impairment can see at 60 feet.

"Visually impaired" is a general umbrella term that includes people that are:

  • Partially sighted

  • Low vision

  • Legally blind

  • Totally blind

Note: Depending on the country, these terms differ. For example, the United Kingdom (UK) uses "severely sight impaired" instead of blind.

What challenges do the visually impaired face?

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A person with a vision impairment might have the following everyday challenges:

  • Inability to drive safely to family events, school, work, and more

  • Learning how to read braille and finding braille novels, books, or media

  • Difficulties manipulating objects,like replacing smoke detector batteries

  • Trouble recognizing familiar people from their face or voice alone

  • Reading important safety information on medication labels or street signs

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A learner with a vision impairment might struggle in-class with:

  • Eye fatigue when trying to focus and understand surroundings

  • Self acceptance in learning differentlythan peers

  • Sensitivity to light from fluorescent room lighting causing eye-strain

  • Bumping into things, such as other classmates, desks, trashcans, and bags

  • Not being able to see distant objects, such as board notes, classmates, and videos

What other issues might the visually impaired experience?

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Learners with vision impairments are more likely to experience:

  • Low self esteem from not sharing visual experiences with sighted peers

  • Lack of motivation to learn in class, socialize, or try new things

  • Bullying from others that do not understand their challenges

  • Isolation from social situations to avoid negative comments

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The emotional impact of feeling worthless, lonely, and worried about not being good enough as a learner with a visual impairment can lead to:

  • dropping out of school

  • unemployment during adulthood

  • self isolation from society

Wherever possible, it's critical to show your support by making the best referrals to prevent your learner from future setbacks.

How do you support learners with a vision impairment?

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If you're a teacher, be supportive in-class and:

  • Use clear auditory instruction and large-print materials

  • Allow verbal answersduring exams and quizzes

  • Provide recorded lessons, if possible

  • Verbalize students' preferred names to get attention

  • Give breaks in between activities to avoid fatigue

  • Directly talk to learners, not their companions

  • Keep walkways open to avoid falls

  • Don't leave them out of group work

  • Don't lower expectations of what they can or can't do

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If you're a parent or legal guardian, be supportive at-home by:

  • Providing clear auditory communication, verbally or recorded

  • Stay updated with medical appointments

  • Making home changesto fit specific needs

  • Adapting household chores by age

  • Treating the learner the same as their seeing peers or siblings

  • Using clocks that makes a sound at every hour

  • Seeking support groups and resourcesto build community

Quiz

Anjuri (she/they) just transferred to class from India. They're squinting and having trouble with following along on the class worksheet because they're visually impaired. As a teacher, what are some ways to support this student?

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