There are many excellent resources and tools available online for parents and educators. We’ve compiled a set of links to those we think may be most valuable to you, or a sample of some of the many resources from larger websites, in hopes that you’ll explore them more.
CONTACT:
Robin Bliven
Director of Outreach Services
(252)258-0813
robin.bliven@vsdb.va.k12.us
Scroll down to see links for
- Resources from the Virginia Department of Education
- Other resources and tools for families and professionals
- Unified English Braille (UEB)
Resources from the Virginia Department of Education
Guidelines For Working With Students Who Are Blind Or Visually Impaired In Virginia Public Schools (PDF)
Training & Technical Assistance Centers (T/TAC)– funded by VDOE, work to improve educational opportunities and contribute to the success of children and youth with disabilities (birth – 22 years).
Materials for Professionals working with infants and young children with deafness/hearing loss, blindness/visual impairment, or deaf-blindness, provided by Outreach Services, VSDB 2014 and on loan from TTAC lending libraries (Description)
Guidelines For School Division Policy Regarding Service Dogs In Virginia’s Public Schools (PDF)
Standards of Learning (SOL) and Testing: Participation and Inclusion
Students with Disabilities: Guidelines for Special Test Accommodations, 2015
- Orientation and Mobility Questions (024-12)
- Eligibility – Visual Impairment (028-12)
Other Resources and Tools for Families and Professionals
Active Learning Space – a place for parents and professionals to learn about Dr. Lilli Nielson’s Active Learning Theory; site established by Penrickton Center for Blind Children, Texas School for the Blind and Perkins School for the Blind.
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) offers:
- FamilyConnect (co-sponsored by National Association of Parents for Children With Visual Impairments)
- Braille Bug site for children learning Braille
- Effective teaching practices of the Expanded Core Curriculum
- eLearning Center with webinars, courses and continuing education credits for professional development
- Information on scholarships and grants
- CareerConnect presents employment information, career exploration tools, and job-seeking guidance for students and adults with vision loss and the professionals who work with them.
American Printing House for the Blind (APH) offers:
- Braille Tales Participating families receive six free print/braille books per year up to the child’s 6th birthday.
- Links to other sources for children’s tactile illustrated books and books in print/braille and braille
- Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library – Information about emerging literacy and sharing books with young children with visual impairments
- Free audio books for young children with visual impairments
Audio Games Audiogames, as opposed to video games, are computer games with sound as main output rather than graphics. Using sound, games can have dimensions of atmosphere, and are far more accessible to people with all levels of sight. (These games have not been previewed for appropriateness for students.)
Braille Authority of North America (BANA) – offers guidance on the transition to Unified English Braille:
- ABCs of UEB: A Guide for the Transition from English Braille American Edition (EBAE) to The Rules of Unified English Braille, by Constance Risjord (fully downloadable) provides example and practice exercises.
- Braille Music Code, 2015, from BANA– a completely revised publication available for free download in two electronic versions—PDF and BRF. Hardcopy versions will be produced and sold by the American Printing House for the Blind.
- General information regarding the transition to UEB, frequently asked questions, rules and guidelines, tutorials, resources, and example documents in UEB.
Braille Praxis study guide is online from ETS
CanNect offers more than 150 courses for people who are blind or visually impaired in accessible format.
College Guide for Students with Visual Impairments– includes data, assistive technology, student interviews, and scholarship information.
Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind, Learning from role models who are blind or visually impaired, Part I on YouTube (See menu on right for Part II and 8 more videos from role models.)
Computer accessibility for people who are blind by Lexi Westigate
Cortical Visual Impairment resources
CVI – Strategy to See– Diane Sheline’s website for those who care for and work with children with cerebral/cortical visual impairment (C/CVI)
Described and Captioned Media Programs
Great Expectations: Bringing Picture Books Alive to Blind Kids
Educational Apps for use with Windows 8
Essential Assessments Rubric , a resource for teachers of children with visual impairment ages birth to 22 years. TVIs use the essential assessment framework to secure data that drives eligibility, educational programming and instruction.
Evidence-Based Practices for Students with Sensory Impairments, by Ferrell, Bruce, & Luckner, published by University of Florida, 2014
Hadley School for the Blind offers:
- online courses in Family Education
- online courses for professionals– including new courses on Unified English Braille
- resources for independent living
Kansas School for the Deaf and Blind – Video Outreach resources
Michigan Vision Services Severity Rating Scales (MVSSR)– a tool developed by the Michigan Department of Education to assist their Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVI) in determining the amount of time needed for service delivery for each student who is blind or visually impaired.
National Federation for the Blind
- National Reading Media Assessment (NRMA) for Students with Visual Impairments– a learning media assessment; the target population for this tool consists of youth with an identified visual impairment who have enough visual functioning to identify print letters or shapes by sight, levels pre-reading through grade 12.
NOAH: mission is to act as a conduit for accurate and authoritative information about all aspects of living with albinism and to provide a place where people with albinism and their families, in the United States and Canada, can find acceptance, support and fellowship.
“Out of Sight,” an animated short video (5:30) that contains no dialogue and is not described.This Disability Movie website has included a complete description that can be read aloud with the video, providing a focus for discussion of the why and how of described video.
Part C Screening for infants and toddlers with visual impairments– from the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired
Paths to Literacy for students who are blind or visually impaired
People with Albinism,inspirational stories told by persons with albinism, their supporters assisting them medically and those advocating for their human rights
Perkins School for the Blind offers:
- hundreds of online tutorials and webcasts for professionals and families (link with that can be taken for CEUs or for credit.
- Paths to Technology microsite is designed to assist educators and families in learning and staying current on ever-changing technology for students with visual impairments and blindness.
- Paths to Transition is Perkins’ new microsite with resources and activities for independent living and career exploration for youth who are blind or visually impaired, including those with additional disabilities.
- Perkins Scout , an information clearinghouse on blindness/visual impairment including the latest info on assistive technology, early intervention and preschool , teaching strategies, etiquette, gardening tips, literacy and Braille, O & M, and transition.
- Perkins Activity Bank, with great ideas shared by TVI from across the U.S., and categorized by subject area.
- Perkins eLearning is working with Christine Roman to create an endorsement for TVIs in Cortical Visual Impairment (Perkins-Roman CVI Range© Endorsement). – Note: This certification may not be recognized in your state.
Scholarship information for students who are blind/visually impaired
Simulations of vision caused by eye disease from the National Institute of Health/s National Eye Institute and from Perkins Scout
Sportable provides adaptive sports and recreation opportunities in Richmond, VA, with the goal of transforming the lives of people with physical and visual disabilities through sport!
Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired addresses all aspects from diagnosis and referral to adaptations and unique instruction; provides a wide range of resources.
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired offers:
- Administrators’ Toolbox for Visual Impairments including recruitment ideas, workload analysis, and performance evaluation
- Assessment Instruments often used with students with blindness/vi
- Assessment – Selecting Instruments and Interpreting Results
- CANnect offers accessible online learning for high school students and adults who are blind or visually impaired.
- Characteristics of Cortical Visual Impairment Checklist
- Cortical Vision Impairment webpage – This web exercise includes introductory materials about what CVI is, examples of visual behaviors to look for; and an introduction to Christine Roman-Lantzy’s CVI Range; intervention ideas for students at each phase of resolution; and three case studies which include a walk-through of the assessment process for each student.
- Distance Learning website including “Instructional Strategies for Visually Impaired Students Under the Age of 3”, “Key Things That Professionals Should Share with Parents About Transition”, “Orientation and Mobility”, “iDevices”, and more from the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
- Resources for teaching the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC)
- Resources on assessment and regarding technology for blind, visually impaired, and deaf-blind
- Visual Impairment Scale of Service Intensity of Texas (VISSIT) is a tool developed to determine service time needed for students with visual impairments. Evaluation includes the most recent functional vision evaluation, learning media assessment, and relevant current evaluations in all areas of the Expanded Core Curriculum.
Virginia Family Special Education Connection: provides a one-stop shop for parents, families, and caregivers of children with special needs; provided by Virginia Department of Education’s Training and Technical Assistance Centers.
Unified English Braille
UEB Online developed by the Renwick Centre in Australia. A free web-based course.
Guidance for Transcription Using the Nemeth Code within UEB Contexts from BANA
Hadley School for the Blind is a new course for professionals who know current code and wish to transition to UEB.
UEB webinars from Hadley
Provisional Guidance for Transcribing Foreign Language Materials in UEB from BANA
Six Dot Celebration – (Email BRL2 Publishing directly: info@brl2.com ) almost 300 pages of UEB reading and writing practice for students from middle elementary through high school, provided on a USB drive that allows an individual teacher to print and emboss whatever they need to use with their students
UEB Guidelines for Technical Materials produced by the Math Focus Group of the International Council of English Braille (ICEB), a subgroup of the former UEB Rules Committee during the UEB development phase. The purpose of this document is to give transcribers information and examples to produce Mathematics, Science and Computer notation in Unified English Braille.
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