Classroom Modifications for Students with Visual Impairments

Visual descriptions can be very helpful, especially if they are creative, yet specific enough to understand and visualize. Anything that can be seen can also be described. For example, when teaching about graphs in mathematics, the teacher may find herself saying, “You can clearly see that there are more students buying popsicles in the warmer months". A student with a visual impairment may not see any such thing. Instead, the teacher would describe the chart. "The bars get higher from left to right. The height of the bar tells you how many popsicles were bought that month. The higher the bar, the more popsicles bought. There is a bar for each month, starting with January on the left and going up to June on the right."

As with many modifications discussed throughout this module on special education, you may find that these descriptions help students with other disabilities, such as learning disabilities and help students without disabilities as well. Teaching in more than one way, for example, showing a graph and talking about it, are just good practice in teaching.

Tactile tools are also helpful, as the student can feel his/her way into a description. The child must be given the proper amount of time to feel around and decipher the object. On that note, more time must be given for any task that may take a visually impaired student longer than his/her peers. The students should also be allowed time to approach the teacher after class and ask questions privately if he/she wishes.

Auditory impairments (deaf and hearing impaired)