Week 4: July 6-10

Cohorts and Events 2026 Hive Summer Cohort
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  1. To what extent do existing supports for tactile graphics use (e.g., resources, training, collaboration, tools) reflect the realities of classroom practice? Which gaps create the greatest barriers for teachers, and why?

In my career my biggest issue has not only been having the time to develop materials, but the collaboration with general education staff. In my classroom 6/6 students require significant modifications to the curriculum. Frequently a teacher will pop into my classroom and hand me the subject material they are working on that afternoon. Well, that just does not work. I have in the past requested to join in a grade level team meeting to figure out what was coming up; but those opportunities evaporated with new administrators. In addition, the general ed teachers are spread so thinly due to classroom management, keeping up with curriculum deadlines, testing, etc-it is next to impossible to find time to review upcoming course content. I feel in general there is a lack of true understanding as to how to academically support students’ with significant needs in the general ed setting. Training for all school staff is critical in this area. It seems there is never time allotted to address this situation.

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Hi Julie,

At the end of this past school year I called a meeting with the admins in my building as well as the special educators. I addressed the issue of not being a part of the general educators PLC meetings where I would be given upcoming curriculum topics. I explained how challenging it is for my students to be effectively included if they did not have the appropriate materials to actively engage in the gen ed setting. This is especially true for my 5/6 students who use AAC to communicate. I also prefer to pre-teach some of the more challenging topics (like polio) so the student has some exposure to the content. Fortunately my request was warmly received and I am ensured the meetings will take place including all of the special ed teachers.

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Hi Kira,

I think it is a wonderful idea to have time in the summer allotted to developing materials. I teach in a small town district and there are considerable budget constraints. I struggle at the beginning of every school year (especially if I have new staff) to adequately train staff on behavior plans, data collection, individual student programs. The school year starts and the staff have had no specific training. My student with CVI, who was new to me last year, could not even complete an infant stacking toy. While I have a TVI assigned to the student, due to the TVI commuting all over the state, I ended up designing and implementing all of the programs. I made tactile books, used a lot of the materials from APH and the student progressed. Because this student’s needs are so different than my other kids, the staff have struggled to teach him. Having time set aside, with staff paid, would certainly help my CVI learner.

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  1. Analyze the tension between time constraints and instructional quality in tactile material creation. How do these competing demands shape instructional decisions?

It is inherent in this job and many others, that time constraints and instructional quality will always be at tension with each other. Caseload can vary year to year. I work in two large regions with birth to three students as an itinerant teacher in their home. There is a lot of driving and moving parts.

If tactile material isn’t thought of ahead and pre-planned, students will suffer. I am fortunate that we have a full time braillist in our office who is wonderful. We have a Tiger embosser at the office and a very pro-active braillist.

I also rely heavily on APH products for my students and love introducing them to the tactile graphics that are already available. This includes The Littlest Pumpkin which is great for students with CVI.

I do not work with school aged children, so I can’t speak to the problems of ensuring high quality tactile material for that age group. I do pre-plan with my students and ensure I have appropriate tactile graphics ahead of time, depending on where they are in their tactile skills. I also like having wikki stixs with me and using their light board to make improv tactile shapes. I believe that a lot of being a TVI is thinking out of the box and improvising on a somewhat spur of the moment basis. One can plan ahead but things may happen or unfold in "real life’. I love this out of the box thinking and working with what the parents have at their home to work with. At the next visit, one can ensure that more appropriate tactile graphics are available, depending on students needs and abilties.

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I love your response and especially about having the student involved in creating the graphic. I think about the Wheatley Tactile Diagramming Kit. Having students on designing and constructing the map would be much more valuable than only one brain doing it. Salient features and landmarks that I think are important may not be the same as what the student may think.

Everyone learns differently. My husband is an engineer and loves Excel spreadhsheets. My brain does not operate like that and I end up more frustrated at spreadsheets and have my own method for keeping track of students, etc.

I think it is easy to fall into the trap of designing things for students that make sense in our minds but may not necessarily work for theirs. I think the students can often be our teachers in a way and can also gain independence, resourcefulness and autonomy from that.

Andrea

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I agree whole heartedly with this. I am fortunate to work in an office with many experienced TVI’s. We also have a braillist in our office who is wonderful and comes with a lot of experience.

I have often found it helpful to join online social media groups to learn not only from other TVI’s, but from parents. I belong to many groups including CVI, ONH, NFB Teachers of Tomorrow, Teachers of the Blind and Visually Impaired, American Printing House for the Blind and Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. All of these sites provide fantastic reources and networking which can be invalaube if one if in a smaller school district without much resources or veteran teachers. It really expands ones world!

Andrea

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The time and availability of materials and resources does at times create a higher cognitive load for my student. For example, toward the end of the year two of my middle school students were entering a section in math on graphics and transformations. I had the ability to create graphs by at times I used one kind of line (hot glue) for the x and y axis as I wanted the axises to be very distinct when the students were reflecting points over them, they graphed with foam stickers and connected the points with graphic art tape. Then in a lesson later in the unit they were learning about translations and the axises didn’t need to be so distinctive so I went back to using graphic art tape for the axises and hot glue for the preimage. The students did say they were confused at first with the switch. In hindsight I should have let them know ahead of time and worked to find some sort of medium line that could have used throughout the lesson. It is challengeing also because the graphics that the students receive in testing materials and in textbooks when not created inhouse are typically one texture or are embossed graphics. A balencing act for sure.

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Yes I agree! Time and availibility of materials are so important to allow for the student to have ample time to pre-learn and pre-view so that they are able to enter the classroom in a good place.

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Having braillist(s) and paraprofessional(s) who are trained in tactile graphics creation makes such a huge difference!

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1. To what extent do existing supports for tactile graphics use (e.g., resources, training, collaboration, tools) reflect the realities of classroom practice? Which gaps create the greatest barriers for teachers, and why?

There are free and solid resources for creating graphics. Some of the biggest challenges have been software issues, devices for output, such as embossers, and the opportunity to have the graphics created in time for the student to use in class. Another challenge is that most TVIs are covering multiple campuses and grade levels, so finding time to design, produce, and evaluate a tactile graphic is very challenging.

Technology restrictions within school districts can be a serious challenge. Many times, the drivers and software that can be used by embossers to generate tactile graphics are blocked by the district’s security software. Sometimes there is no fix, or the fix can be very lengthy. Another frequent challenge is collaboration with gen ed teachers. Materials requiring tactile graphics production are often not requested soon enough to allow for production.

There is also the challenge of producing a good tactile graphic. Libraries of graphics exist, but even when accessible, there’s no guarantee a given graphic can actually be produced on your embosser. And production aside, there are design decisions to make, such as what matters in the image, how much detail to keep, how to label it, whether a tactile graphic is even the right call. Sometimes a 3D model or hands-on activity teaches the concept better.

Equipment access is inconsistent too. While some districts have embossers, swell-form machines, and on-site braille transcribers, others use regional service centers or contract braille transcribers, which can cause delays.

Little time in training is spent teaching TVIs things like readability, simplification, spacing, texture, labeling, and how to get feedback from students and adjust. Between training gaps, equipment access, and communication with gen ed teachers, a lot is working against getting graphics to students on time.

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This really resonates. The part about a teacher handing you material for that afternoon says so much about how disconnected the planning process can be from the realization that adaptation takes real lead time. It is not a quick turnaround job, and you are always reacting instead of preparing.

The loss of your spot in grade level team meetings stands out to me too. That seems like such a small thing to cut administratively, but it was probably one of the only structural ways you had to get ahead of the curriculum instead of scrambling after the fact.

I also think you are right that this comes down to a broader gap in understanding, not just a logistics problem. General ed staff are stretched thin managing their own classroom demands, and if there is no training or expectation that supporting significant needs students requires early planning and coordination, it will keep falling through the cracks no matter how good anyone’s intentions are.

Your point about training for all staff feels like the real fix here, not just another workaround for TVIs to absorb. Curious whether anyone in the group has found a way to get that kind of training taken seriously at the administrative level, since it sounds like the will is there among teachers but the structure keeps getting deprioritized.

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I have had similar frustrations when attempting to produce materials. This is such a great example. Your question about layout consistency is such an important one, and I think it gets at something deeper than just aesthetics. When a student moves from page to page and has to relocate the year, the description, and the instructions each time because the layout shifts with the content, that is real cognitive load. Every page becomes a small puzzle of orientation before the student can even get to the content itself. I am not sure of the answer since producing these materials is so specialized, either more access to braillist or some way to be assisted in producing graphics, maybe AI will open up opportunities as it continues to evolve.

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  1. To what extent do current tactile material practices reflect student-centered design? Where do you see gaps between what students need and what is typically provided?

In my experiences, tactile graphics in schools are created with each individual student’s needs in mind. Unfortunately, with out proper training graphics are made to be pretty and not functional or understandable. Adding to the dilemma is reproduction turn around time, tools available, and materials that are highly visual and detailed.

So an example of creating student centered graphics. A student in kinder, my "favorite” tactile graphic year, has color vision and sees outlines, shadows/light. For this student. We created tactile graphics that included color and bold sharpe outlines paired with tactual information. This little visual input excited him and always kept him interested. Through out his education, we continued this type of tactile graphic. They continue to benefit him in his high school classes.

I am a firm believer that as teachers our jobs not only include teaching how to read graphics but to also use all the sensory tools a student has and succeeds at using to teach concepts. Yes this student uses Braille much more efficiently than print, but every little thing can help enhance.

Gaps! Okay, textbooks and state testing. Our students don’t get an opportunity to see other tactilegraphices in places such as text bookslike they used to. So, many times the only,not in house made graphics are in state testing. This leaves gaps. We try to get our hands on as many examples as possible.

Reading tactile graphics is an important still and utilizing as many tools as possible to learn is valuable.

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This is a great response and thought process. When I started out 25 years ago the TSVI did all their own braille 'graphics, all while serving students. it wasn’t easy. Our tools were limited. Now we, TSVI, have a braille department to support and work with we have a few more tools than we had before.

Something to add to your comment is just the thought that if you are producing 5-10 assignments per week per class. That’s a lot of graphics. Especially in a graphic heavy class Such as math. Reality is the time need ed to produce and teach the graphic is very tough to overcome,

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Time is so hard. Classes move fast. Buy by the time the student nous figured out The . graphic, the class has moved to the next question or task, them to the next topic. This is a challenge. I’ve found that classes with heavy tactile graphics often require more hands on, in class support in order to simply facilitate graphic use and materials.

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Sometimes I have had to create more than one graph to teach multiple concepts that sighted students can learn from one graph. This is most important when the learning is novel and getting it right the first time is essential. I find that many teachers think the tactile should mirror the visual including aesthetics but we are after the facts and concepts that make the most sense to our students.

I appreciate your comment about switching the question around. What a unique idea (to me!) I am now asking myself why I don’t do that to get to the heart of the learning. Thank you!

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5. How well do current preparation and training systems equip educators to make informed decisions about tactile graphic design? What gaps do you see, and how do they impact students?

There are some guidelines and training to create tactile graphics. This book explains the braille formatting style and placement arrangement on a tactile graphic document. There are 7 sections on the process to create tactile design. This provides standardized guidelines and considerations in preparing the design. Reading some of the preparation that goes to creating tactile graphics help me to understand how to put it together. Even though I do not have much experiences designing and creating tactile graphics, this is a skill I am seeking to improve and master. I have talked to a couple of TVI professionals and most of the had to “wing” it and learn by trial and error. Also, they consult with other TVI and experts in tactile graphics designer for training. I often go to APH video trainings on YouTube. There is a lot of good information but I feel there is not enough hands-on training in-person or a lot of resources to find. If there is, I would love to have that information. The guidelines are a good start to dive in and really put in the practices and training. Also lack of equipment/software could be an issue to put in the training in practice. I think its important to have more specialized training in tactile graphics so its more available in school settings. It is a lot of work and its time consuming. There should be someone who specialize in this to lighten the load on TVI so they can focus on teaching. I feel it depends on the student and their preferences in AT and how much they are comfortable learning from the tactile graphics. The graphics needs to be understood for the reader and need to be decided what information to include. I feel its ongoing process with the planning and editing. Unit 3 emphasized careful planning which information is vital to include. I would love if there was a specialized training for individuals who want to be a tactile graphic designer. I know I would love to have more training with hands on practices.

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I notice the challenges for support in training with tactile graphics too. It is frustrating with software issues, and school district don’t provide enough support for the production. There is little training working with tactile graphics. All we want to do is provide for our students so they can learn successfully with accessibility in mind.

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Its so unfortunate there is little time to address the issues in developing materials for the students. Its hard to keep up with the academic demands and making sure all students have the same access. I hope we continue to push this issue to bring awareness to what our students needs and how our teachers can be supported to provide materials for them to learn.

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Question #1: Analyze the tension between time constraints and instructional quality in tactile material creation. How do these competing demand shape instructional decisions?

Wow this is a tough one! As in anything that requires modification to become accessible- time is a huge factor for an educator. Often one has to pick and chose what to spend their time on and to what extent. This requires thought on what will make the biggest impact, and how much time it will take to do/create that thing. Often considerations are based on what is available vs. what time and resources will it take to create what is needed? Have they previously created this resource? Is it readily available? Can they modify something that already exists? Can it be purchased reasonably? Do they have what they need to make it? Do we have the technology to do so? What’s the lead-time on that? In the end- how does this enrich the student’s understanding and experience?

All of these things impact instructional quality in tactile material creation. Teaching is always a balance of time versus need versus impact. An educator must consider the standards they are required to teach, where the student is at, the curriculum they are required to cover, and the tools they have available to teach with. Tactile materials are NOT the norm and are generally not easily provided with a curriculum and so often must be created. When it comes to tactile graphics, even more time and expertise is needed to create these materials. A good resource is your colleagues. As well, what does the educator have access to technology-wise? Tech is expensive and not all schools have the tools to create certain types of tactile materials. It’s a struggle and a balance. More or less time spent does not measure the worth of the educator and that’s a tough one to address as well. Many things factor in here and it is important to balance the scales the best one can.