Visual Impairment Including Blindness

Introduction 

"Visual impairment including blindness" means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance.  The term includes both partial sight and blindness. (34 CFR §300.8(c) (13)

Resources

• Guidelines for Working with Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired in Virginia Public Schools
  • Word - ADA Compliant Version
  • PDF - Original version

• Required School Screenings Guidance Document for Special Educators (Word)
• Training & Technical Assistance Centers (TTAC)

Braille Literacy

• Superintendent's Memo #198-16: Implementation of Unified English Braille for Students Who Are Blind Or Visually Impaired

• Unified English Braille Implementation Plan for Virginia Public Schools - Updated September 2019 (Word)

• Braille Authority of North America - 

  Information and resources to promote and facilitate the use, teaching, and production of braille. 

Outside Resources

• Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals – Certification agency for O & M specialists

• Accessible Instructional Materials Center of Virginia (AIM-VA)

• American Council of the Blind

• American Foundation for the Blind

• American Printing House for the Blind

• Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired

• Braille Authority of North America – Information and resources to promote and facilitate the use, teaching, and production of braille

• Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) – general information about children and youth with disabilities

• Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) – provides services designed to support equal educational opportunity and improve the academic achievement of students who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind

• Infant and Toddler Connection of Virginia – Early Intervention (Part C, IDEA) services

• Learning Ally

• Library and Resource Center

• National Consortium on Deafblindness (formerly DeafBlind Link) – works collaboratively with families, federal, state and local agencies to provide technical assistance, information and personnel training. NCDB brings together the resources of three agencies with long histories of expertise in the field of deaf-blindness

• National Federation of the Blind

• Part C Screening Tool – video demonstrations of Visual Skills Component from the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired

• Virginia Consortium for Teacher Preparation in Vision Impairment – Information about the Virginia Consortium for Teacher Preparation in Vision Impairment made up of five universities: George Mason, James Madision, Norfolk State, Old Dominion and Radford. Its primary goal is to prepare teachers to be highly skilled at working with students with visual impairment and blindness

• TTAC Online – A community linking people and resources to help children and youth with disabilities

• Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired (VDBVI)

• Virginia Project for Children and Young Adults with Deaf-Blindness

• Virginia Rehabilitation Center for Blind and Vision Impaired

• Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind

• Virginia Consortium for Teacher Preparation in Vision Impairment