Cornea - transparent curved part of the eye that shows as the surface

Pupil - This is the little opening that changes, based on the amount of light that is needed to enhance vision

Iris - colored part of the eye -- regulates the amount of light that gets into the eye

Lens - the focus on the eye - made of muscles that thicken or thin out as needed and this is the part of the eye that accommodates for distance

Retina - inside lining of the eye with photosensitive cells that react to light

Optic Nerve - Main nerve that carries messages from the eye to the part of the brain that decodes and makes meaning of it

Sclera - strong protective covering that protects the eye

Ciliary body - helps balance the fluid in the eye and also changes the shape of the eye as a function of the focusing process

Illustration from the National Eye Institute

Personal page with links

Journal for Deaf and Blind

Special Education Resources on the Internet (SERI)

Numerous links

Huge resource list and links, including Assistive devices, laws, large number of conditions, unbelievable collection!

American Foundation for the Blind

Blind Child Center - commercial

Special Needs Network

Resources and reading material

Braille Institute

Pictures of the eye and how it functions

Eyes illustrated, eyes and vision discussed

"The style and ways of the dominant American culture are often in conflict with other cultures that comprise the United States. Because the dominant culture typically dictates how services are delivered, these services are either inappropriate or ineffective for many Native American children with disabilities and their families. Professionals might be more culturally sensitive by remembering that the circle is a recurring theme of life and health, particularly in Native American cultures. People are born into a circle of family and community that embraces mutual support and oneness. When one member is affected by something or an event, the entire community is also affected. So, when one member is involved, everyone should be involved. Rather than focusing on the individual, the focus of services should be with the family and its extended members. For example, when working with students with visual impairments, Ponchillia (1993) recommends that all family members be shown how to use equipment and adaptive techniques so they can better support the individual with the disability. - Smith, 1998

The leading causes of visual impairment in those persons not considered to be legally blind are cataracts, refractive errors, and glaucoma.

The leading causes of visual impairment for those defined as legally or totally blind are retinal disorders, glaucoma and cataract.

Most children in the special education programs with visual impairments have one of these disorders. The most accurate prevalence figure for the school aged population is that 1 percent of children have a visual impairment.

Identification of vision impairments is made through the combined efforts of preschools, Child Find programs, and school vision screenings. Vision acuity testing is done by preschools and schools. Observation is done by teachers, parents and others who have close association with the child. Referrals are made to ophthalmologists, or optometrist on children where a possible problem is detected.

Developmental Characteristics: Psychomotor - The physical development of children who have visual impairments resembles that of children whose vision is normal. Visual impairments can often have indirect effects on children’s physical development. Visual impairments do not retard physical development. Motor development does not differ markedly from the child with normal vision in the first few months of life. Differences that occur later are largely the result of the limits that are placed on the physical activities of many children with visual impairments. Cognitive - There are no significant differences in intelligence of children with visual impairments and children with normal vision. However, there are differences in concept development. These differences result from the restrictions placed on visually impaired children, rather than the loss of vision itself. The visually impaired child must learn through direct experiences, and are unable to use imitation. Although visually impaired children go through the same sequence of developmental stages as other children, they go through them considerably slower. Some visually impaired children may never grasp some concepts. School Achievement: Visually impaired children tend to lag behind children with normal vision in school. The visual impairment is not necessarily the cause of school under achievement School under achievement is an indirect result of the visual impairment. Affective - Social development of children with visual impairments does differ when compared to that of children with normal vision. Most of the social and emotional problems that effect the visually impaired child are caused by the attitudes and reactions of those who can see. This is an issue that the visually impaired child will have to deal with throughout not only his school age years, but his entire life. All efforts must be made to enable the visually impaired to lead a normal life independently. Children who have visual impairments will have to learn special skills that will be different than the normal school curriculum.

Visually impaired children will need to learn orientation and mobility skills as well as daily living skills. Some visually impaired children will need to learn Braille and also have written materials in larger print. In some cases optical aids and different lighting and contrast can be effective for some children.

There are several people who have achieved greatness while being visually impaired: Helen Keller Louis Braille Stevie Wonder Roy Orbison - contributed by Laurel Padilla - Northern Arizona U Student

Resources for teachers and parents

Assistive devices for low vision

Guide dogs

Site index for guide dogs

Braille - Louis Braille, (1809-1852), French teacher of the blind. Born in Coupvray, he was blind from age three. In 1829, while teaching at the National Institute for the Young Blind in Paris, Braille conceived the idea of modifying point writing to enable the blind to read. This resulted in the Braille system.

Braille Institute

Catalogue of popular items

Royal London Society for the Blind - can be heard through voice synthesizer

Education services - lots of links

New York Institute for the blind

The Schermerhorn Program

Life skills

telling time "playing" with others, making change making change eating with others taking care of self dressing toileting stewardship of belongings toys

Needs

Student - to learn and be stimulated while being safe

Teacher - to teach each student adequately

Class - to learn, concentrate, fulfill their own need to know

Student - to be soothed, to know that the bell is going to ring and be ready for the next set of activities

Teacher - to make transitions easily

Class - to make transitions easily