Learning independent living skills starts at home! My son Liam is in second grade and is deafblind. I continually think of ways that he can help out around the house and do everyday tasks as independently as possible. Of course I think of ways that I...
Blog Posts
Below are recently created blog posts.
By Wendy Miller
By TVIs Krista Papish and Wendy Miller, with support from Cindy White-Botello
How does learning occur? While many of us do this with very little effort, for children with visual impairments and additional disabilities it is an ongoing...
By Deedra Finch
My name is Deedra Finch and I am an itinerant TVI. It’s also my 17th year of teaching (11 years special education, 6 years in both public and residential vision settings). My caseload consists of students who are visually impaired with additional...
By Debra Goodsir
I love Paths to Literacy and often use the ideas it presents with my students. I read everything I can, pass it on to other TVIs and class teachers and discuss it with my students. I also love working collegially with creative, enthusiastic classroom...
By Liamsmom
I am the mother of two sweet boys. My oldest, Liam, is 7 years old and is deafblind. His first language is American Sign Language. My youngest, Finn, is 4 years old and has typical vision and hearing. Going to the grocery store...
By Tracy Fitch
The Braille Challenge hosted by The Braille Institute is an exciting competition of braille skills! The braille challenge encourages students to hone their braille skills in the hopes of placing first in their level. There are five levels: Apprentice...
By laceyjo22
As an itinerant TVI/COMS for a multi-district special education unit, it can be difficult to provide quality professional development for teachers specifically for students with visual impairments. One area that I felt was necessary to provide training for...
By gwyn52
Daniel Downes, Teacher of Vision Impairments, has developed a programme called SEE (Sensory Enriched Experiences) which puts rich literacy experiences at its heart. In the first of a 3-part series, Gwyn, Director of Positive Eye writes about the importance...
By Liamsmom
My son Liam is 7 years old and is deafblind. He is a braille reader and as of lately (this school year especially) he has really taken an interest in writing in braille as well! Below are 10 ways that I try to encourage this new skill at...
By Tracy Fitch
As Teachers of the Visually Impaired one of the major parts of our jobs is to ensure that our students have access to the general education curriculum. This can be difficult throughout a student's school career, and can prove more difficult as the...
By Deena Recker
Using information obtained from Christine Roman-Lantzy’s book, Cortical Visual Impairment, An Approach to Assessment and Intervention, these books are designed to help bring literacy to students who are diagnosed with or demonstrating the...
By Liamsmom
Storyboxes are a great way to make stories come alive for our children with vision impairments. Storyboxes are also a way to make pictures in a children's story accessible. A story box is simply a way to use objects to represent parts of a...
By Keveny Glynn
One of my students participated in an 11-week therapeutic riding program this fall and we wanted to find a way to incorporate literacy, communication, social interaction, and other skills. He kept a weekly "journal" of his experience, which is...
By Tracy Fitch
You've got to think outside of the box!
It's NOT about being pretty!
It's NOT about looking exactly like the print!
It IS about being meaningful!
It IS about being understandable!
Our...
By Charlotte Cushman
A member of our community asked if we had any activities or resources for teaching braille mechanics to students with Cerebral Palsy (CP) or decreased tactile sensitivity. We have included tips for both reading and writing braille. There are many...
By Liz Eagan
Why is the grass greener on the other side? “'The grass is always greener on the other side' because the other side knows what fertilizer to buy," I often heard growing up. But is it? Is the grass greener because they...
By Charlotte Cushman
The holidays are an exciting time of year for children and there are lots of opportunities to incorporate literacy into the fun! The ideas here include suggestions to make Christmas and Hanukkah more accessible to children with visual impairments or...
By Sharon@TSBVI
JAWS, Job Access With Speech, is a popular screen reader, developed for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content or navigating with a mouse. JAWS provides speech and braille output for the most popular computer applications...
By Holly Cooper
Leer en Español.
People often wonder what to get as a gift for a child who has a visual impairment. Every child is unique and has their own interests, preferences, and abilities, so any advice must be considered with the...
By gwyn52
This is the first post in a series about adapting worksheets for students who are blind or visually impaired. It is designed to help teachers and assistants to think through the steps involved in providing access to materials.
Before you...
