13 December 2024
Children with a visual impairment need extra support in school, so read this teaching wiki to find out how to support a child with visual impairment in school.
What is a visual impairment?
Visual impairment is a broad term used to describe when people have less vision than normal. There are lots of different types of visual impairments, causes and treatments.
Visual impairments can develop at any age, depending on the specific visual impairment. Some examples of visual impairments include:
*Colour blindness
*Central vision loss
*Peripheral vision loss
*Albinism
*Night blindness
*Nystagmus
No matter what visual impairment a child has, things need to be put in place to support them and help them with their learning. Visual impairments can affect children’s daily lives and learning opportunities in ways that you might not have even thought about.
How does visual impairment affect learning?
Visual impairments can affect a child’s learning in many ways. Every child with a visual impairment will have different barriers and issues that they might face while they are learning. These will vary from person to person depending on the type of visual impairment they have. But, it is very important that they get the same opportunities as everyone else in school. Read below to find out some examples of how visual impairment can affect learning.
If a child is colour blind, then they will struggle to see certain colours, and distinguish between different colours. This could be a potential barrier for their learning when colours are involved. For example, if the lesson is about painting, then children who are colour blind may struggle to recognise the different colours. This will be even more difficult if they have to do activities such as paint by numbers.
Visual impairments like Nystagmus can also cause difficulty while learning. The constant movement of the eyes can mean it takes children longer to read than others. It can also make seeing the board in the classroom difficult if they are sat too far away.
For children who are partially blind, learning can be particularly difficult. They will need extra support throughout all of their learning, to ensure that they can learn effectively. Children who are partially blind won’t get the same teaching as all the other children because visual aids are used a lot during school.
Visual impairments will affect the daily lives of school children. For children with severe visual impairments, they may struggle to take part in most school activities. Writing can become harder and reading can seem almost impossible, especially if braille is not available, or they can’t read braille.
Children with visual impairments may also find it difficult to take part in physical education. This can depend on the severity of the visual impairment, but it can make hand-eye coordination a lot harder.
As well as physical barriers, children with vision impairments will experience mental barriers too. They may lack confidence and this can really stunt learning. Lacking in confidence might mean that they are unwilling to try new things and find it difficult to work independently or in groups of people.
Finding out every child’s individual needs is incredibly important. Children with visual impairments should have every equal opportunity to learn and should be supported on their learning journey.
How to support a child with visual impairment in school
Now that you know some of the ways that visual impairment can affect learning, you can think about how you can support a child with a visual impairment in school. You need to think about how to overcome any visual impairment barriers you and the child might face. When you are teaching a child with a visual impairment, you need to consider any:
*Physical barriers
*Mental/emotional barriers
*Social barriers
*The first step is to speak to the child and their parents/guardians to learn about their individual needs and what specific support needs to be put in place. Every child is different, and every visual impairment is different, so it is important that you make sure you know exactly what support they need.
Physical barriers
When you are teaching, try to remember to describe any visual aids you are using. Be as clear as you can be so that any children with visual impairments get a good understanding of what you are talking about.
Allow students extra time to read the board if they need it, only move on when you are sure everyone understands and has had time to read the information.
You also need to think about the layout of your classroom. Some of these ideas may seem pretty obvious, but they can be the easiest to forget. This makes sure that the classroom is safe and accessible for them. Make sure there is a clear path for them to walk through and move any furniture that could be an obstruction. Explain to other children to keep things out of the pathway, so there are no tripping hazards, and keeping chairs pushed under the table when they’re not used.
If any children need to be sat near the front of the classroom so they can see better, then make sure this happens. Children with visual impairments may struggle to see from the back of the classroom and won’t be able to read the board, meaning they aren’t learning as well as they could be. You also need to make sure the classroom is well lit.
For children who are colour blind, keep that in mind and make sure that any activities that involve colour are suitable for them so they aren’t missing out. If that isn’t possible, then make sure you give them support to work through the activity or give them a different activity to do instead.
Mental/emotional barriers
Children with visual impairments may come across some mental barriers. They may have days when everything seems a bit more difficult than normal. Not having the right support in place can also cause them to lack in confidence.
To make sure children with visual impairments overcome these barriers, you need to make sure that the right support is in place. Whether they need someone to help them with any reading that they can’t do, or if they need bigger text on worksheets, it all makes a massive difference for them.
You also need to make sure that they can come to you if they ever feel overwhelmed by anything or need some extra support. You don’t want to have a child suffering in silence, so do everything you can to gain their trust and help them.
Making sure they are comfortable with what they’re doing and helping them with any needs they may have can make a massive difference to their levels of confidence. Having more confidence can help wonders with learning!
Social barriers
Some children with visual impairments may find making friends very daunting. They may feel like their visual impairment makes them different to everyone else. But this isn’t a bad thing, we can’t all be the same! However, children with visual impairments may need extra help to make friends. You can do this by letting children work in pairs or groups that you decide on.
Teaching other children about visual impairments is a great step to take, it helps children to understand what it is and what needs they have. If the other children in the class know about any visual impairments their classmates have, then the children with visual impairments may feel more confident, and more willing to ask for help.
Help to teach children about visual impairments with this My Name in Braille Worksheet.
Once children know about visual impairments and how they can affect different people, they can work better with any children with visual impairments. When they work in groups or pairs, they will know how they can help their friends with any work they are doing. Whether that is reading out text to them or explaining pictures to them, it will all help the child with visual impairments to learn more!
Fun ways to encourage learning for children with visual impairments
*Sensory Play
*Audiobooks
*Games
*Sensory play
Get the other sense involved in activities so that children with visual impairments can learn more and explore more things. You could use different textured items like sand and water. You could play different sounds to the children and have them guess what it is and where they might hear that sound.
You could also create your own game with different smells. Use different herbs and spices or things with distinctive smells and let the children guess what it is.
Allowing children to use their different senses helps them to learn in a way that is easy for them and doesn’t involve too many visual aids that the children may struggle to see.
Audiobooks
Some children with visual impairments may find reading extremely difficult. So, to make things easier, you could use audiobooks. This means that the children can listen to the same books that the other children are reading.
Listening to audiobooks allows the children to ask questions about the book and get involved with class discussions. It’s a great way to get them involved, and it’s in a format that is accessible and easy for them to use.
Games
School doesn’t have to be all worksheets and reading, you can make it fun too! Playing games in the classroom can help children learn many skills such as, team work, quick-thinking and problem-solving.
A fun game you could play is a hand clapping game. You can stand at the front of the class and clap out a rhythm, start off with an easy one. The children then have to copy what you just did. You can make it harder and faster the longer the game goes on.
https://www.twinkl.co.za/teaching-wiki/support-a-child-with-visual-impairment-in-school
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