Visual
Impairments
Reporters:
Arcenal, Sandra
Cauilan, Cyril B.
Taguiam, Sir Joseph C.
“The eyes are the
windows to the
Soul”
Sight and vision are important because
they allow us to connect with our
surroundings, keep us safe and help
maintain the sharpness of our minds
(Blakely, 2015)
hat is Visual Impairment?
Visual Impairment including blindness means impairment in
vision that, even with correction, adversely affects child’s
educational performance.
(Disability Fact Sheet 13, 07/15 and IDEA 2004 )
A wide range of visual function, from low vision through total
blindness
(Duffy, 2015)
Visually impaired person’s eyesight cannot be corrected to a
“normal level” affecting an individual’s activity to perform the
task of daily life
(Mandal, 2013)
Visual Impairment present at birth rate
could be due to genetics anomalies to
injury to the developing visual system.
Dependent on the cause, the possible
presence of other impairments may be
indicated, as an rubelia.
(Guanaratne, 2016)
Having visual disability that is so serious as to impair
significantly their capacity to see, thus interfering with
their capacity to perceive visually presented materials
such as pictures, diagrams and written word. Students
with visual impairment may display comprehension
difficulties, have poor organizational skills, fail to
complete assignments and experience difficulty
staying on task.
Department of Education and Skills (DES)
Those who have deteriorating minimal
residual vision or who are totally blind
may need to read and write through the
medium of Braille.
(Brock, 01/04)
It may be said that visual impairment is the functional
limitation of the eye/s or the vision system. This may
leads to:
Loss of visual acuity and inability of the person to see
objects as clearly as a healthy person
Loss of visual field meaning inability of an individual to
see as wide an area as:
Photophobia – inability to look at light
Diplopia – double vision
Visual Distortion or distortion of images
Visual perceptual difficulties/ difficulties of perception
or any combination of the above features
Beginning in Primitive times, people are blind
were not regarded as being much value to the
societies in which they lived.
Blind babies were abandoned and left to die
either by exposure to the elements or to be eaten
by wild animals.(Early Civilizations)
Blind men were sold into galley slavery (E.C)
Blind women were sold into prostitution (E.C)
Others were used for amusement or most lived
their lives as beggars. (E.C)
By the Middle Ages, civilized societies
(particularly in Europe) began to operate in the
belief that it was an obligation of society itself to
take care for the less fortunate, including blind.
*Alms House (something a kind of homeless
shelter of today) were established to care for the
poor and disadvantage.
Partially Sighted…
A visual impairment that
adversely affects a student’s
educational performance
even when corrected to the
extent possible
low ViSion…
Vision is between
20/70 – 20/60 and cannot
be corrected, student have
Moderate to low vision.
legally Blind…
From 20/200 – 20/ 400 is legally
blind with severe low vision.
From 20/400 - 20/1000 is
profound visual impairment and
is very close to total blindness.
totally Blind…
The lack of light
perception is known as
total blindness or total
visual impairment.
● Blurring Vision
● Loss of a part of the visual field (e.g. central
vision)
● Difficulty maintaining a steady gaze and
coordinated eye movement
● A cognitive problem understanding what is
seen
● Color Blindness
Association of Speech and Language Therapist in Independent Practice,
2003
The intervention process begins with
assessing the needs of the child and family.
The assessment process has multiple
purposes, with the over goals of
determining what interventions are
indicated and establishing baseline
information. The following components of
the assessments process as according to
Steciw, 2015.
Functional Vision Assessment
(FVA)
Functional Vision: how well a students uses visual information to perform
various tasks in various environment
Functional Visual Assessment: an ongoing process of interviews,
observations and assessments to determine a students level of functional vision
Leaning Media Assessment objective process or systematically selecting
learning and literacy media
> the efficiency with which the students gathers information from various
sensory channels: visual, Tactual and auditory
> the types of general learning media the student uses or will use, to
accomplish learning tasks.
> the literacy media the student will use for reading and writing
Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) Needs Assessments
- Body of Knowledge and skills needed by students with vision loss in order
to be successful in school and in post-graduate pursuits as a result of unique
disability – specific needs.
*it is a supplement
Communication Matrix: Communication Assessment for Parents %
Professionals Communication Matrix
- design to pinpoint exactly how a child is currently communicating.
- to assist in creating communication goals.
- user-friendly online version is aimed at parents whose children have severe
multiple disabilities
Development Charts for Blind & Visually Impaired Babies & Children
- compilation of three different developmental scales for evaluating social,
emotional, communication, cognitive, fine motor and gross motor development.
Assistive Technology Assessments
- An area of expanded core curriculum.
- Refers to any product or service that is used to increase, maintain or
improve functional abilities of students with low vision.
Visual Screening
- efficient and cost – effective method to identify children with visual
impairment or eye conditions that are likely to lead to visual impairment so that
a referral can be made to an appropriate eye care professional for further
evaluation and treatment.
USA…
490,420, 000 children in the US with vision difficulty
42, 000, 000 with a severe vision impairment
59, 341, 000 legally blind
According Disability Fact Sheet 13
3, 447, 000 children (ages 3-5)
25, 670, 000 children (ages 6-21)
Blindness and Visual Impairments in the
Philippines
Blindness – 0.06% (26, 690, 000)
Low Vision – 0.09 (40, 035, 000)
Error of Refraction – 53% (21, 218)
Cataract – 40. 8% (16, 334, 000) all other blinding causes is 6.1%
(2, 442, 000)
Visual Impairment – 015% (66, 725, 000)
Cataract Foundation, 2011
Diabetes
Hypertension
Cerebrovascular (Brain Blood Vessel) disease or
stroke
Atherosclerotic Disease
Human Immunodefiency Virus
(cytomegalovirus)
Vitamin A deficiency
Infections
SPECIFIC EYE CONDITION
Macular Degeneration
Cataracts
Glaucoma
Eye Injuries
Tumors Involving eye or surrounding
structures in the head or neck
