You make a good point about how reading instruction is constantly changing. Even if we are to educate new teachers about best practices, that research will eventually change. It is hard for a teacher like us to keep up with all the changes in the field of education. I agree that a good working relationship with a classroom teacher is key- good communication can go a long way!
@sharon.clark Wow! I havenât thought out limited visits due to excessive travel. In that case, I find it important to use a para to the students learning advantage for any follow through when TVI is not there. Of course are gaps, issues and it will never be the same as a lesson with a 1:1 TVI. With the right para educator, such nuances you describe can be infused during the students day in some regard.
Iâve played around with many formats in the ârole releaseâ of the TVI portion of our job. Iâve found some success with working on one strategy per week with the para educator working with my student. For instance, If the student is having difficulty recalling one specific contraction or scrubbing his braille, the para will be asked to reinforce the strategy being worked on.
That is a helpful way to word the OSEP 2017âs letterâs intention. Thank you!
Our team has really struggled as well with the vision therapy issue and all the students with ocular motor issues. One of the greatest things to have happened is that we will, when requested conduct a functional vision evaluation and learning media assessment with consent) fstudents who are referred with an eye report and this would include those with the above visual concerns. Because we ask that the classroom teacher observe (not always can but many do) the evaluation, they actually can see the impact of the issues (ie convergences insuffiency etc) and from that, considerations are discussed and written in the report. They for example see they have a tracking issue in the classroom, and during the evaulation, they watch improvement when clutter is removed for example, or font is enlarged and made in a simple format. Many times, it is not a student we pick up, because with accomodations, they do not require the speciality of our skills. SO in the end, the school gets information , and the student, staff and family benefit. In some cases, if the impact is high, we have picked those kids up, however, we donât keep them forever. Not because they have ocular motor issues, but because they have learned what to do to improve with accommodations and materials. Just until hey learn skills to compensate. The main idea here is to provide the information. In 31 years of service to VI students, we have never ever stated we would provide âvision therapyâ. That is a line we have drawn clearly. We have found this approach has been successful.
- Which authorâs (Blankenship, Swenson, Farrenkopf, or Holbrook) response is most influential to you? Why?
Anna M. Swensonâs Reflections on Teaching Reading in Braille is the article that I connected with the most. Teaching reading is very rewarding! I also agree that it should be individualized. Teaching the Braille code in isolation and not in conjunction with teaching reading just adds another step later to combine the two learnings. I had a student move into my class that knew a lot of the Braille code in second grade. However she wanted to read by words she knew and not decode and use phonics as she read. It was hard to back up and teach her to use phonics and word attack skills with braille code she knew.
Reading Instruction for Students with Visual Impairments: Whose Job is it? (JVIB, 2008, p. 197-209)
- What has your involvement with literacy instruction looked like in your role? What factors have limited your involvement in literacy instruction? Are those factors things that can and should be changed? Why or why not When I began as a TVI many moons ago, the first blind student I had already knew much of the code. SO my first experiences were with a student in 3rd grade who could read and write, blind from birth, and was instructed in a classroom for the blind within my county. Currently, we have no continuum of services for any student blind or low vision, and we provide early intervention through age 26 in Michigan and these students are within their local districts, with exception of those with complex needs. SO âŚadapting to the changes was a shock to my system. What I have found is that now, collaboration is key, and I work with all the âpeopleâ who work best with the student.
Currently with the totally blind student I have who is 7, I cannot imagine working only in the code. I have learned that I have to bring in all the strategies and tools available, so that he can progress. Through my work with this student, and others in the past, I cannot begin to move through the code, when he is trying to decode words that he has never seen. This led me to create not only the words in Braille, but real objects (Wat is in the Braille Box?) to correspond to the words. I can sit with his team all day long, and they do not have the capacity to make that happen for him. SO in theory, I meet with all of them, we create the story, and we have all the items to go with not just stories but words. This has been highly motivating for him, and once he has understanding of the concepts, the words come. WHile it should never be left to me solely to
instruct in the practice of reading, I agree with all of the authors that it will take all of us to make reading happen. I use the reading teacher, the classroom teacher, and all of the parties who can offer information and exposure practice and reinforcement to assist. However, in the end, I find myself providing all the rich information to support the reading, and because our students require so many more opportunities to practice, I am working on all of it. I have found that words (in print or Braille) mean nothing in the context of reading if there is no background information, understanding, as well as the 5 Pillars of the foundations of reading. It would be so beneficial if the classroom teacher had the same level of comfort to work within the area of great need with our students, as many of us have to continue to build on the reading. While I am not an expert in the teaching of reading by any measure, I know that the student is reading, and because the time is spent with both myself and his Braille specialist/intervener, he can make progress. I would love for me not to have to pull him a few times a week, but it is time well spent. Anna Swenson, along with the rest of the authors in these articles are the true visionaries. They set the stage for each of us to reach higher. I find myself reading and re-reading sections of all their books and publications, because each student is so different. I could wish for things to be different with general education teachers who do their best to support our students, but reading for our students, cannot be taught in isolation, due to not just lack of access, but lack of experiences and background knowledge. I continue to learn from everyone, and hope that I continue to move the students forward. But I will conclude, this is indeed such a huge responsibility. Good thing I love it.
- Which Authorâs response is most influential to you? Why?
I appreciated all the perspectives of the contributors for Reading Instruction for Studentâs With Visual Impairments: Whoâs Job Is It? It is a question I often ask myself. As a classroom teacher in a self-contained classroom at a school for the blind, my role encompasses it all. However, when the children leave my room it is my hope that the mantel is picked up by all who are involved.
I think that Karen Blankenship hit the nail on the head when she said that there is a flaw in the instruction of Teachers for the Visually Impaired. TVIâs need to be taught how to teach studentâs how to read because braille instruction is literacy.
Carol Farrenkopf gave me a clearer understanding of an administratorâs concerns when bridging the gap between best practices and reality. Funding limitations, resources, laws and quality instructors all play a huge roll.
Anna M. Swensonâs response influenced me the most. I will be taking on a new roll next year and am searching for a more tangible answer to âhowâ and âwhatâ should be taught in my classroom. I have always believed that braille and reading instruction are symbiotic. However, I have been asked: How many hours will I spend on braille? What curriculum will I use? The answer is: as much as needed and interest based learning will help guide my teaching. Of course state standards and core curriculum will always lay the path.
It is a huge job and I am ânot a rocket scientistâ either, but I feel more confident that it can be done.
- How did The Eyeâs Role in Learning to Read shape or alter your opinion of serving students with Convergence Insufficiency?
This is a situation that has come up in my practice repeatedly that I have often struggled with. I often get referrals for students who have a diagnosis of convergence insufficiency. Many times the referral comes with a vision therapy report detailing the vision therapistâs assessment, including recommendations and suggestions for accommodations. There is always, of course, a recommendation for vision therapy. Unfortunately, students are put on a long waiting list to receive therapy and the cost is usually beyond a familyâs ability to cover.
Because I cannot provide vision therapy, I usually donât recommend services from a TVI. However, I realize from the module that there are accommodations that can be helpful for the student (same accommodations that would help in the case of low vision), such as large print, use of reader guides, highlighting, etc. Still, Iâm not sure I agree that students with convergence insufficiency should require regular direct instruction. These accommodations are fairly simple to implement and once they are in place, I think the classroom teacher, paraprofessional, or the student himself/herself, can manage independently. It may be useful for the TVI to check in on the student to make sure the accommodations are being used effectively.
This is my 4th year of actually teaching braille. I like the idea of sending home weekly readings to be read to the parents. I will incorporate this in my lessons this fall. I feel responsible for ensuring my students are proficient in readingâmy five braille students as well as my numerous low vision students. I like our other cohort participant, will ensure the low vision students have what they need and check on them to ensure all is well. If there are problems, I spend time with the student, reading and working with the equipment or using the recommended accommodation or equipment. This is done for the sake of time and size of my caseload
- How did The Eyeâs Role in Learning to Read shape or alter your opinion of serving students with Convergence Insufficiency?
I found the abstract âOpening a Window into Reading Development: Eye Movementsâ Role Within a Broader Literacy Research Frameworkâ not only fascinating but validating a position I took in the school district I work over this past year. As a district we adopted an overall goal related to the DESE requirements that involves increasing reading skills across all grade levels. The districtâs mission statement during our first day orientation identified this as what all staff would be working on for the school year. It involved all students who score poorly on Fastbridge assessments be monitored 3 times during the year with reading benchmarks. Though I have realized reading skills as a deficit for many students and agree this needs to be addressed, my immediate thoughts were for students who have more hidden visual impairments that are not yet identified. This includes CVI, the most common visual impairment in children, and those with visual motility issues. My professional goal therefore became to come up with a plan to better identify these students.
As a TVI, over the past several years, I receive screening requests for students who display symptoms of visual motility issues. I can easily screen 25 or more students who cannot track and/or cannot converge. Several years ago a 7 year old student had a full special education evaluation which included psychological, educational, OT and Speech. I was pulled in after all these assessment were completed and the team was meeting to discuss the overall results. He scored very poorly in all areas and an IEP was going to be written to reflect his needs. I had screened him 2 days before the meeting and he was not able to converge and was seeing double for all near materials. I was the last to speak at this team and after speaking the principal said, âSo all this testing could be invalid.â to which I agreed. The student went for an eye exam, returned with glasses and was a completely different learner where he could focus, respond and show how smart he was. I also had a student many years ago who came to my attention at the end of his junior year in high school. He had been identified by an optometrist to have a vertical asymmetry of the eyes that could not be observed visually. His entire world was in double and he stated he thought he was supposed to see 2 images of his mom.
These examples have lead me to pursue this project as I feel itâs so important that we identify such needs and address them in whatever way possible.
I canât say this altered my thinking about servicing students with convergence insufficiency as I have provided accommodations for these needs over the past 10 years or so. I am seeing the prevalence increase and the need for material adaptations much higher as well.
With the increased numbers of students with CVI as well as this area of vision needs, our caseloads, which are already over the top, are exploding.
Swenson seems to be the most influential because of how much Braille has been an important part of literacy for anyone who has a visual impairment. It is important to learn this kind of literacy due to how much a child can develop reading skill and spelling as they grow as they read and go through their further schooling as time goes on and continue to use it in college. I did notice in the article about the concerns with missing language arts classes that are crucial due to the child, it would be wise to at least have books or language arts homework read out so the child could write it down in Braille, either using a Brailler or a slate since those would be the first tools they would use. Or at least have someone get it embossed when it comes to readings since I did have to improve my own reading speed once by reading books on my displays. Also, it would help with read aloud speed since it could be slow at first and then improve in speed as the child grows.
I remembered while watching a video of a former teacher in how she has to describe how she has to accommodate her students with special needs when it came to certain school work on a certain lesson. She had mention that it takes a lot of time to make sure that student is not only following the lesson but keeping up with the lessons and the work linked to it within the school day or for homework. There are times where the teacher does have that burn out and it could cause them to be more limited when teaching a student even with reading and how they teach it in their class. Not all teaching techniques are the same and that could frustrate the student even one with a visual impairment.
How does the OSERS 2017 memorandum contribute to your understanding of eligibility for students with visual impairments, including blindness? Evaluate the implications of removing modifiers from state level definitions of visual impairment, including blindness.
The OSERS 2017 memorandum allowed for open discussion regarding federal and state guidelines. At times I think it was hard for local, counties and state agencies to wrap their head around the broader definition of a visual impairment including blindness. Up until this point, state rules and regulations were followed, not giving proper acknowledgement to the federal guidelines. Prior to 2021, Michiganâs Administrative Rules for Special Education (MARSE) had more strict criteria for qualifying a student with a visual impairment including blindness. Michigan most often, would qualify students only based on MARSE and not on the broader terms in the federal guidelines. The memo, prompted Michigan to look more closely at their process and criteria, resulting in a MARSE rule change in 2021 to align with the federal guidelines. We now consider the adverse educational impact instead of strictly looking at acuity, field and deteriorating eye condition.
With change also comes reflection of practice and defining new ways to assess, especially now that more students with convergence insufficiency would need to be assessed. Teachers in Michigan have done a fantastic job, although not always easy, relooking at how to use their learning media assessment (LMA) and functional vision assessment (FVA) to work with all students that may have an adverse educational impacted due to visual impairment. It also caused teachers to look at their service delivery and what they could bring to the table to support all students.
As we all know, we look at braille for all students, but not all students will need that intensive support. We have been challenged to look at the programs and services for students and offer our expertise, equally acknowledging that there may be another person on the IEP Team that can offer their expertise. The TVI doesnât need to wear all of the hats. All members of the IEP Team, including parents have a role and expertise to contribute.
I must agree. I had a hard time narrowing down who was most influential in this article. There is a disconnect in the teacher prep programs and the little instruction that TVIs get in terms of teaching reading. Itâs the assumption that because we know the code, we know how to teach reading. One of my go-to books is Anna Swensonâs Beginning with Braille. It was my bible when I first started teaching. It is a huge job and the TVI has a significant role as a leader in this process. They just shouldnât be expected to do it alone.
I love how your county involves the whole team in evaluation. It not only shows everyone what the student can do and what is useful, but it allows more buy in from the team as a whole. I also appreciate that Michigan as a whole âstays in their laneâ with vision therapy. We as TVIs are not trained to perform it and it should stay in the intended clinical setting.
Reading Instruction for Students with Visual Impairments: Whose Job is it?
I am most influenced by Canadaâs Carol Farrenkopf. âEveryoneâ is responsible. I am in complete agreement that anyone involved with a student (regardless of having a VI or other disability) should use 'both best practices and reality"! In the case of our beloved students with visual impairments, I believe it more so that they are exposed frequently and consistently to opportunities to not only learn but use that learning in real situations. When I first became a TVI I was told by my mentor that 'we donât teach reading - JUST the code". She could not have been more wrong. As a special education teacher previously I at least had some background on how to create UDL instruction for students. This should be taught in all college prep programs (for TVIs) Farrenkopf succinctly addresses sums up Braille learning and reading with âliteracy instruction cannot be separated from braille instruction.â I think if we even try we will find that one will always attach itself to the other.
However, despite this knowledge, and need I even add âpressureâ, to accomplish this, how many of us really have the time and/or resources to effectively teach both braille and reading instruction at the time, consistency, span, and duration as noted in Best Practices? This is not a complaint but rather a reality of most of us with heavy caseloads and without assistance (braille transcribers, paras, etc.) We must rely on others to help our students progress. Lastly, families need to be encouraged to work with their children to reinforce skills learned.
Eligibility Determinations for Children Suspected of Having a Visual Impairment include Blindness Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
This article was very eye opening. In my state, (Delaware) we do not serve students with convergence insufficiency. The general consensus is that condition is best served through an occupational and/or vision therapist . we do not provide services to those students in our public schools. However, âŚâstate eligibility guidelines and definitions for âvisual impairment including blindnessâ may NOT EXCLUDE (emphasis mine) a child with convergence insufficiency or other visual impairment âŚ**IF that condition, even with correction, adversely affects the childâs educational performance.â This makes sense to me as my role as a TVI is based on providing access to students who qualify based on visual âissuesâ. However, I would need additional training to serve that population.
My state has two qualifiers for qualifying a student with a VI. One is the typical 20/70 range (among other qualifiers) and the other is a reduction to 20/50. This began two years ago. The 20/50 applies to school students. I appreciate federal mandates and guidelines but it does get tricky when students move across state borders and the ârulesâ change.
I am a fan of Anna Swenson. Her book Beginning with Braille has been the Standard I use when teaching beginning braille learners. She teaches so much more than I ever learned in my TVI training. She puts the practicality of braille instruction with real and, dare I say, fun activities. Knowing how and what are essential when we have limited time and need to make the most of our instructional time.
Reading Instruction for Students with Visual Impairments: Whose Job is it? (JVIB, 2008, p. 197-209)
- Which authorâs (Blankenship, Swenson, Farrenkopf, or Holbrook) response is most influential to you? Why?
As a TVI with just five years of experience in the field, I have never had a braille learner on my caseload who hadnât already learned to read, so my role was exclusively to teach the braille code within the context of reading instruction. Consequently, the question of whose job it is to provide reading instruction had never crossed my mind. I can already tell that this will be a worthwhile learning experience for me.
From the selected readings, Karen Blankenshipâs submission resonated with me the most. I am not too far removed from my teaching preparation classes to become a TVI, and I can attest that there was never a moment where the teaching of reading was covered. Blankenship cites five areas of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. While I am familiar with all areas, I will readily admit that I am not well-equipped to implement interventions in any of the five proficiencies.
Blankenship continues to discuss potential implications for the future, suggesting that if the role of reading instruction is to fall upon the TVIs, two things are to occur. First, TVIs will need to become dually certified in general education with an âemphasis in research-based literacy instruction,â as well as in the education of children who are blind or visually impaired. Second, she poses the question of whether the itinerant model for service delivery would be valid given that so much time is often required for driving from location to location.
Expanding on Blankenshipâs potential implications for the future, I think about my own path in becoming a certified teacher of students with visual impairments. I spent 12 years as a secondary resource room teacher and co-teacher of English before I made the switch to the VI field. While I did not receive extensive instruction in teaching the five proficiencies of reading, I did receive a masterâs degree in learning disabilities, which I have leaned on quite a bit as many of my students have struggled with their academics. Additionally, having a background in special education, I would imagine, made the transition to working with visual impairments much easier than say for someone who has never conducted an IEP before. While I see the benefit of receiving extensive preparation in reading instruction, there is no question that my path in special education, at least to this point in my TVI career, has been far more valuable.
Touching on Blakenshipâs second potential future implication, if we were to move away from the itinerant model for service delivery, would this even be feasible given the personnel and budget constraints that are likely not going to resolve in the near future? Assuming these werenât barriers, would every TVI have to have classroom hours for reading instruction? Would every TVI embrace this role? I for one will admit that the itinerant model was one of the draws for me in joining this field as I was seeking a way to leave the classroom after twelve years.
Lastly, if TVIs are expected to perform the role of reading instructor, teach braille, and cover all the areas of the Expanded Core Curriculum, as well as ensure access to the general curriculum, would this enormous task with increasing responsibility be appealing to people who are considering joining the field? It should be noted that most of the job postings that exist are seeking a candidate who can also serve as an O&M Specialist, which comes with its own financial and time demands. Unless a person who can âcheck every boxâ is given additional compensation, it is quite likely that the majority of candidates will select a job in education with fewer responsibilities if it means the same amount of pay. These are all additional factors that would need to be considered.
In response to your comment, being the âbraille teacherâ, I completely relate. We are often designated to that singular position. One thing I have implemented to counter that label is to include other students in the classroom when teaching Braille. While it is not always feasible or appropriate, I try to have at least 1-3 reading partners with by Braille learners. Not that the other students learn braille, but that the braille learner and the print learner are working and discovering together. (This works best when the students are doing centers or other seat work rather than whole group). This also promotes social skills and I often have a student that wants to learn braille as a result. I mean, we learn sign language to communicate with our deaf friends, why canât we learn braille to write notes to our blind friends? Kids LOVE to get notes (even when note passing is frowned upon.)
Hi, there. This is Jeff from Michigan. First, itâs wonderful that you were a reading specialist before becoming a TVI. I have to believe that your experience is something quite valuable when providing braille instruction. I was a secondary resource room teacher prior to making the switch to VI. I have also found that making original, individualized materials for reading instruction based on studentsâ interests has been the most successful method for engaging them. Often, the needs of our students are so unique that a common curriculum would offer very little value. For four years, I worked with a high school student who in addition to having no vision, wasnât verbal, had a cognitive impairment, and was also diagnosed with autism. When I started working with him, he knew the braille alphabet and had very little endurance for reading. Only by providing highly motivating materials (with a lot of trial and error) was I able to increase his reading skills and braille knowledge. I decided to comment on Blakenshipâs article, but Swensonâs definitely resonated with me as well.
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