About: Administrative Concerns
Whether you are a director of special education who oversees a school district, or a principal of a school, it will be necessary for you to understand the educational needs of braille-reading students. The following information will allow to you better understand your role as partner in the educational process of your students with visual impairments and how to provide services that reflects best practice for the education of braille-reading students.
Understanding the Student's Needs
The education of students who are blind or visually impaired who are included in the general education setting, can be an exciting and rewarding process. Braille-reading students in particular, have very unique educational needs. He or she will likely need additional supports, adapted materials and specialized technology and extra learning from an expanded core curriculum specifically for students who are blind or visually impaired.
In order for you to gain a deeper understanding of the educational needs of your braille-reading student, consider doing the following:
- Review the provincial or state legal requirements needed for the education of students with visual impairments and make sure that you are familiar with these requirements.
- Review your student's educational file.
- Set up a meeting with the parent(s) of the braille reading student to gain an understanding of their philosophies and concerns about their child's education.
- Speak to the teacher of the visually impaired to gain a deeper understanding of the student's eye condition, functional vision, learning media needs and expanded core curriculum needs.
- Take time to observe the student in different settings, such as the classroom, gym, art or music room, on the playground and in the halls during break times. Take note of their social, emotional and educational needs in your observations.
- Develop a rapport with the braille-reading student over time to get a subjective view of their educational life at your school or in your school district.
- Touch base with the student's teacher and resource staff to gain an understanding of how the student is doing.
- Participate in the student's IEP process.
- Consider speaking with other administrators that have had braille-reading students in their schools or school districts.
The Individual Educational Plan
As braille-reading students have such unique educational needs, it will be necessary for the student and his or her team to develop an individual educational plan (IEP) for learning. When written and used appropriately, the IEP is a powerful legal document that not only reflects the needs of the student, but also identifies important learning goals and charts development and growth. It is important to remember two points when developing and IEP. First, the IEP meeting should include all of the student's educational team members. If the student is old enough or mature enough, it would be advisable for him or her to attend the meeting. Second, the student's individual educational plan should be reviewed before each reporting period. This is especially important in the high school setting, where teachers and staff changes are made each term or semester.
The use of specialists at school, in the classroom and in the community
If you have a braille-reading student, or any student who qualifies as having a visual impairment, in your school or school district, you will be legally required to provide support from two types of specialists: (1) teacher of student with visual impairments, (2) orientation and mobility instructor. The expertise from the teacher of students with visual impairments ranges from teaching braille reading and writing skills, technology and other expanded core curriculum skills to helping the classroom teachers adapt materials and lessons to an accessible format. The orientation and mobility instructor will help the student develop the necessary skills for safe independent travel in the school and around the student's community. These specialists are valuable resources and are trained to conduct specialized assessments and make recommendations.
As an administrator, it will be important for you to give these specialists the flexibility to work with their braille-reading student during different times of the day. For instance, it is common for the teacher of students with visual impairments or orientation and mobility instructor to work with their students after school. This is particularly important when working with a high school student who cannot miss any of his or her classes during the school day.
Fostering an inclusive environment in the classroom
While students may be integrated into the general education classroom, it is important that they are included in all educational activities. For instance, taking a student out of the classroom to complete an activity because of the noise made by the braille writer is not an inclusionary practice, even if he or she is completing the same activity as the rest of the students in the class. However, allowing the student to stay in the classroom by creating simple adaptations, such as pairing the braille-reading student with a sighted peer, is more inclusionary. Making simple, but appropriate adaptations that reflect inclusionary practice has been shown to increase social and educational growth. The teacher of students with visual impairments is a great resource and has experience in creating simple adaptations to help classroom teachers. As an administrator, you will likely need to periodically touch base with the classroom teachers of the braille-reading student to see if they need any additional supports or training to help them include the student in the best possible ways. By doing this, you too can directly help the classroom teachers create an inclusionary environment for the braille-reading student.