ECC Essentials: Teaching the Expanded Core Curriculum to Students with Visual Impairments is the first comprehensive book for teachers of students with visual impairments to focus on the nine areas of the ECC that encompass the unique skills children and adolescents with visual impairments need to learn in order to access the core educational curriculum and become independent individuals, by providing the rationale, suggestions, and strategies necessary to implement instruction. The nine areas include compensatory access, sensory efficiency, assistive technology, orientation and mobility, independent living, social interaction, recreation and leisure, career education, and self-determination. ECC Essentials helps teachers manage time efficiently and effectively; work with students of different ages and ability levels; collaborate with parents and other members of the educational team; conduct assessments; align instruction with state standards and the general education core curriculum; and maximize planning effectiveness. The book includes learning activities that combine several areas of the ECC; information about additional resources; specific guidelines and strategies for teaching each of the nine areas of the ECC. ECC Essentials provides teachers with a road map for helping their students achieve success in school and in life.

Early intervention is critical to the development and growth of children with visual impairments and other disabilities. This completely revised and updated edition of this AFB classic provides comprehensive information for professionals in such areas as vision, cognitive development, literacy, social development, motor development, and mobility. Early Focus offers tested strategies and recommended approaches to working with young children who are visually impaired or have multiple disabilities and their families, including those that are culturally diverse.

Foundations of Low Vision: Clinical and Functional Perspectives, the ground-breaking text that highlighted the importance of focusing on the functional as well as the clinical implications of low vision, has been completely updated and expanded in this second edition. The revised edition goes even further in its presentation of how best to assess and support both children and adults with low vision and plan programs and services that optimize their functional vision and ability to lead productive and satisfying lives, based on individuals' actual abilities. Part 1, Personal and Professional Perspectives, provides the foundations of this approach, with chapters focused on the anatomy of the eye, medical causes of visual impairment, optics and low vision devices, and clinical low vision services, as well as psychological and social implications of low vision and the history of the field. Part 2 focuses on children and youths, providing detailed treatment of functional vision assessment, instruction, use of low vision devices, orientation and mobility, and assistive technology. Part 3 presents rehabilitation and employment issues for working-age adults and special considerations for older adults.

An essential tool for anyone working in the area of low vision, Functional Vision presents a systematic, comprehensive, integrated approach to assessing an individual's functional vision and delivering the appropriate services determined by the assessment results. Based on groundbreaking work by distinguished professionals who have developed the specific principles and procedures for helping people of all ages with low vision, including those with multiple disabilities, the text explains how to link intervention to assessment findings and to teach compensatory skills through everyday activities at school, work, home, and in the community. This detailed and practical guide provides case examples, charts, figures, and sample forms that enable practitioners to apply expert methods in their work with clients.

This award-winning handbook gives teachers specific strategies and methodologies for teaching braille. It offers in-depth information on techniques for working with children at all levels of learning, with congenital or adventitious visual impairments, those with additional disabilities, and students who are just learning English. It also contains information on assessment and technology, as well as convenient assessment forms. Instructional Strategies offers a wealth of information and practical tips for new practitioners and seasoned professionals alike

Essential Elements in Early Intervention is a complete sourcebooks and guide for early interventionists, teachers of students with visual impairments, and other professionals who work with young children with visual impairments, dual sensory impairments, and multiple disabilities. It includes comprehensive information on vision and hearing examinations, functional vision and hearing assessments, and effective methods of providing early intervention services. The new edition includes expanded, updated information on federal special education legislation, best practices in early intervention, evidence-based outcomes, and the role of the early interventionist, as well as strategies for working with families and educational teams successfully.

When a child with an autism spectrum disorder is also visually impaired, the effects on learning and behavior and complex and varied. Two exceptional educators condense their years of personal and professional experience into a one-of-a-kind handbook of effective ways to work with such students, including suggestions and approaches for assessment, instruction, and program planning; forms and tools for capturing vital information; information on assessment instruments, instructional materials, and web sites rich in important advice. Professionals and educators, as well as parents, will find critical guiding principles and valuable strategies.

This handbook gives teachers practical tips and advice on improving literacy skills for students with low vision. It includes clear explanations of topics such as how to interpret eye reports, perform functional vision assessments, and work with low-vision service providers. Busy teachers will also welcome the chapters on easy-to-implement games and classroom activities that are fun for students and, at the same time, are useful aids to improving literacy skills. A resource section, tables, sample reports, and sidebars provide additional information on helping students use their vision effectively.

Professionals providing services to people who are visually impaired work with individuals from broadly diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural groups. Many speak languages other than English. Basic Spanish for Orientation and Mobility is a new user-friendly, valuable tool for communicating O&M instruction to students who primarily speak Spanish. This handy and comprehensive manual provides O&M lessons broken down step-by-step and displayed side-by-side in English and Spanish. It also includes phrases and O&M terminology needed to convey instruction, and easy-to-read vocabulary lists

For every classroom teacher who works with students who have multiple disabilities in addition to visual impairments, this book includes information in concise, nontechnical language on: How visual and other impairments affect learning skills; Practical teaching methods and strategies for helping students with severe multiple disabilities and those who can participate in an academic program; Techniques for working effectively in the classroom with students who have a wide range of special needs.

A reliable and easy-to-use resource for general education classroom teachers working with students who are blind or visually impaired, this guide provides information on students' abilities and needs, resources and educational team members, special education requirements, the expanded core curriculum, and technology used by students. It is essential reading for general education teachers with visually impaired students, school administrators, school nurses, paraeducators, related personnel, and parents.

The second edition of this popular and classic text, now updated for the 21st century, provides a complete manual for the beginning O&M instructor that serves as a reference for the experienced practitioner as well. An invaluable guide for teaching travel techniques to students of all ages, the second edition of The Art and Science of Teaching Orientation and Mobility provides step-by-step presentations of each O&M technique and describes in detail how to individualize and teach each one; outlines the scope and sequence of a complete O&M curriculum; offers a guiding philosophy as well as principles and strategies for effective teaching; includes a new chapter on assessment and provides more extensive content on today's more challenging traffic environment.

This book explores creative methods of teaching various orientation and mobility techniques to persons who are blind or visually impaired, including those with multiple disabilities. Imagining the Possibilities is a hands-on teaching resource for pre-service and practicing O&M specialists. It offers materials, samples, and creative teaching strategies for working effectively with students.

Collaborative Assessment is designed to help all professionals who work with visually impaired students understand the impact of visual impairment on assessing students' learning potential. Written by the expert assessment team at the California School for the Blind, this book focuses on evaluating students in a variety of areas, including psychology, speech and language, orientation and mobility, and technology, and provides a framework for developing a cooperative, interactive team of professionals from a variety of disciplines to achieve accurate evaluation of the needs and strengths of students. School psychologists, speech and language pathologists, administrators, teachers, and parents will find this book invaluable. Includes helpful forms and checklists and annotated lists of assessments in each area.

Packed with important information for today's parents and professionals, this new edition of a groundbreaking work presents the latest research on how visually impaired children learn and develop at different ages and in the various developmental domains: sensory development, communication, movement, manipulation, and comprehension. Clear, practical, and reassuring, and full of suggested activities, this book provides a guide to teaching young visually impaired children the important life skills they need to know--skills that other children may learn simply by observation and imitation--and preparing them to enter school ready to learn with their peers. From early intervention services to the full range of educational placements, Reach Out and Teach is the ultimate guide to helping a visually impaired child learn and grow.

Learning to Listen/Listening to Learn is the first comprehensive work to address the systematic development of skills in listening for and interpreting auditory information for students who are blind or visually impaired. Listening skills are a crucial but often-overlooked area of instruction for children who are visually impaired and may have multiple disabilities, essential to literacy, independent travel, and sensory and cognitive development. Chock full of practical strategies, this volume examines the development of and instruction in learning skills at different ages, from infancy through high school. It also addresses listening skills in orientation and mobility and the needs of children with multiple disabilities, hearing impairment, and learning disabilities, as well as English language learners. Appendixes provide a Listening Skills Continuum chart and a checklist to use in assessment.

Rehabilitation professionals have long recognized that the needs of people who are blind or visually impaired are unique and require a special knowledge and expertise for the provision and coordination of effective rehabilitation services. Contributions to this text from more than 25 experts provide essential information on subjects such as functional, medical, vocational and psychological assessments; demographic and cultural issues; placement and employment issues; and the rehabilitation team. Each chapter includes a Learning Activities section that can be used in class assignments or during in-service training. Sample forms, such as a Job Analysis Worksheet, a Comprehensive Vocational Evaluation System Protocol, an Individualized Written Rehabilitation Program, and a Work Environment Visual Demands Report are included in the appendices. An extensive glossary provides easy access to clear definitions of terms.

This easy-to-understand guide explains the role of paraeducators (sometimes called classroom aides, teaching assistants, or paraprofessionals) in working with students who are visually impaired and assisting other members of the educational team. When You Have a Visually Impaired Student in Your Classroom: A Guide for Paraeducators provides basic information about visual impairment, the learning needs of visually impaired students, and the special devices and materials they use. Includes easy-to-use forms to help organize information and tasks.

This handbook for parents, family members and caregivers of children with visual impairments explains special education services that these children are likely to need and to which they are entitled--and how to ensure that they receive them. Edited and written by experienced parents and professionals, this helpful and easy to use resource addresses the effect of visual impairment on a child's ability to learn and the services and educational programming that are essential for them to get the best education possible. Chapters address early intervention, assessment, different types of services, IEPs, accommodations and adaptations, different types of placements, children with other disabilities in addition to visual impairment, and negotiation and advocacy.

How do children become social beings? When a child is unable to observe visually and imitate how other people react and interact, this complex developmental process can become fragmented and incomplete. As a result, providing specific information, direct instruction, and opportunities for social interaction to children who are blind or visually impaired is critical to their growth and education. Edited by two groundbreaking educators and researchers, with contributions from other outstanding educators and researchers in this area, Teaching Social Skills to Students with Visual Impairments explores what theory can tell us about how children who are visually impaired become socially skilled individuals. It then presents a compendium of techniques and strategies for helping youngsters, from preschoolers through young adults, including those with additional disabilities, develop and refine social skills.