Children who are visually impaired pose a great challenge to the educators in today’s educational world. This is due to change in main focus in education instructional techniques that put to task educators to create an appropriate learning environments for young children with disabilities by presenting the children with choices to allow them participate in shaping their learning. The curriculum design should be learner centered that requires the teacher to engage and involve young learner through various activities of interactive learning.
The reason to make instruction design as learner centered as explained by Linda (2009) is that, through engaging children with disabilities in classroom activities reduces their sense of helplessness and increase their ability to learn in class. Psychologically, it has been proven that when an individual is able to create and influence personal change, such as by making a choice; such individual begins to open doors to an endless number of possibilities in his life.
Therefore, in context of early childhood education in relation to visual impaired children, by providing a curriculum that is learner centered, visual impaired children shall have an opportunity to use cognitive skills, motor skills social skills and communication skills. Thus, in teaching and instructing preschool visually impaired children, the instructor should focus on potential strategies for increasing the engagement or choice-making skills of young children.
Diagnostic criteria for Visual impairment Visually impaired children have damage to the visual systems in their brain which connects to their sight. In this regard, in educational practice visual impaired child or learner means a medically verified visual impairment establishing either visual field of 20 degrees or less or bilateral scotomos a congenital eye condition or visual acuity of 20/60 or less in the better eye with the best conventional correction.
These conditions interfere with the learner’s ability to acquire information in the academic setting by hampering their ability to interact with environment. However, a student to meet diagnostic criteria to be visually impaired as stated in 34 CFR, §300. 7(c) (13) manual should be stated in exact measures. Thus the main guide to diagnose children with visual impairment is through interfering to the 34 CFR, §300. 7(c) (13) manual. In details, the 34 CFR, §300.
7(c) (13) manual states that for a child to meet diagnostic criteria as visually impaired, first and foremost, the visual loss should be stated in exact measures of visual field and corrected visual acuity at a distance and at close range in each eye in a report by a licensed optometrist. In addition to this report by a licensed optometrist, prognosis whenever possible should be included. In cases where the exact measures of visual field and corrected visual acuity at a distance and at close range in each eye cannot be found, the eye specialist must provide and state the best estimates.
In accordance with 34 CFR, §300. 7(c) (13) manual, preschool child who is to be considered visually impaired is the one who has been determined by a licensed ophthalmologist that he or she: have a serious visual loss after correction or have no vision; or have a progressive medical condition that may or will result in a serious visual loss after correction or no vision. Secondly, the child should have been evaluated and determined by the following evaluations.
First and foremost, a learning media assessment by a professional certified in the education of students with visual impairments that accompany the conducted learning media assessment with recommendations concerning specific visual, tactual, and/or auditory learning media that are appropriate for the student. Furthermore, the recommendations should state whether or not continued monitoring and evaluation is required (Bailey and Wolery, 1992). Second evaluation which can be done is a functional vision evaluation that should be conducted by a professional certified in the education of students with visual impairments.
If a professional who is certified in the education of students with visual impairments, the alternative authority should be a certified orientation and mobility instructor. In both cases of evaluation, the evaluation must encompass the performance of tasks in a variety of environments (Bishop, 1996) that puts the child to task in utilizing both near and distance vision. To add to the recommendations, an aspect of the need for a clinical low vision evaluation and mobility evaluation should be inclusive to give a more compelling criterion for diagnosis.