Students+with+Vision+Loss


 * BACK TO SPECIFIC SPECIAL NEEDS**

=**Students with Vision Loss ** =

Out of the 5 and a half million students with special needs in schools, those with visual impairments number 26,590, which is less than 1% of the student population with special needs
===Students with Vision Loss have a serious problem with their visual acuity; the degree of severity of their vision loss is represented by a number in proportion to perfect vision, or 20/20 === A student who is considered to have vision loss/blindness may:
 * Be legally blind, thus their visual acuity is 20/200.
 * Have tunnel vision, which is any more than 20 degrees less than the 180 spectrum that a normal eye can see.
 * Have very little peripheral vision.

There are three levels of classified vision loss. They are:

 * Low vision/Partial sight- The student can read, but needs assistance from glasses and/or enlarged print.
 * Functionally Blind- The student reads through the use of Braille, but can use their eyes for most daily tasks.
 * Blind- The student cannot rely on their vision when performing tasks; they must rely on the development of their other senses.

A person can become blind through:

 * Congenital vision loss: Vision loss occurred at/before birth; the student has never experienced the visual world.
 * Acquired vision loss: Vision loss occurred gradually over time; the student has limited experience with the visual world.

There are three types of vision loss.

 * Astigmatism: curve of the cornea; symptoms of near and farsightedness.
 * Hyperopia: farsightedness; objects cannot be seen close up
 * Myopia: nearsightedness; objects cannot be seen that are far away

Types of Eye Conditions and their Symptoms

 * Albinism: abnormal optic nerve development; vision loss and possible light sensitivity
 * Amblyopia: lazy eye; vision loss, poor depth perception
 * Cataracts: a cloudy or solid lens; vision loss, blurriness, problems seeing colors, sensitivity to light
 * Glaucoma: abnormal pressure in the eye due to fluid blockage; loss or peripheral vision, night vision, sensitivity to light
 * Nystagmus: the eye moves involuntarily; vision loss, problems fixing vision on a single object
 * Optic Nerve Atrophy: damage to the optic nerve; blurriness, problems with color/night vision, sensitivity to light
 * Optic Nerve Hypoplasia: the optic nerve did not develop when in the womb; lessened visual acuity
 * Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP): degeneration of the retina; results in loss of peripheral vision ("tunnel vision")
 * Retinoblastoma: cancer of the retina; if not treated, the eye may have to be removed
 * Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP): premature infants whose blood vessels in the retina did not develop properly, retina can scar and detach; visual acuity, refractive errors
 * Strabismus: muscle imbalance in the eye; both eyes cannot look directly at the same object simultaneously


 * Cortical Visual Impairment**: (NOT a condition of the eye itself) damage to the part of the brain or pathways to the brain that allows for sight; no notice of visual stimuli, touch is preferred rather than sight, problems discriminating between objects when the background is complicated visually

Organizations for those with Vision Loss/Blindness:
National Federation of the Blind American Foundation for the Blind

Helpful Learning Adaptations
Braille: Braille is a series of raised dots that allows for recognition of letters and even music through the arrangement of the dots. Many adults and children who are blind or only have functional vision can use Braille to read and write using their sense of touch. Large Print: Pages/writings that have been enlarged so that the letters are proportionally larger can be very helpful for students who have low vision.

Kurzweil Reading Machine
A Kurzweil Reading Machine takes written material and verbalizes it for the student. A student who is blind or has low vision would benefit from this if they need to be able to read a book or other material that may not be available in Braille. Also, related to the reading machine would be taking advantage of sound options on articles and other online resources. A student who is in a large class would be able to listen to an article being read to them (maybe with headphones) while the rest of the class reads silently.

Descriptive Video Service
Descriptive Video Service allows a teacher or other professional to take a movie and manipulate it so that it also details the nonverbal parts of a performance, such as body language and movement. It is the equivalent of closed captioning for those who are deaf or have hearing problems. A student with vision loss who is in an inclusionary class that is watching a movie would be enabled to follow the movie not only through the words, but also through the descriptions given.

Kaossilator:
Korg's Kaossilator is a machine that creates sounds such as drum beats, synthesizer sounds, and instrumental sounds. These sounds are controlled by the touchpad (shown in the picture below); all a student must do to create music is use one finger to control the pitch and duration of the sounds. This device would be great for students with vision loss, for it allows students to create music without having to read notes. The range and pitches that can be triggered by the touchpad can be chosen for the student, as well as the instrument or sound that will be created through the Kaossilator. Example of Kaossilator use below:



Soundbeam:
Soundbeam is a product that produces sounds based upon movement within a certain space. As a student moves, whether with their finger, hand, or even whole body, Soundbeam translates the motion into different pitches. This is yet another technology that allows students to create without having to read musical notation. Student with vision loss would benefit because they could rely on their ears to coordinate their movements with certain pitches. The Soundbeam system can also come with pedals and other extras that can encourage a student's creativity. Example of a person with special needs using Soundbeam:

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Dancing Dots
Dancing Dots is an organization that allows for those with sight and the blind to create Braille music, as well as other helpful needs that musicians with vision loss and their teachers might have. A teacher can create and order music for a student who is blind or has low vision, allowing the student to keep up with the rest of his or her class. Dancing Dots also recently released "The Lime Lighter", a device that displays music virtually on a screen. The music can be magnified so that the player or composer can read the music easily despite their vision problems, and a pedal allows the user to move to the next section of the music. The color of the music, as well as other aspects of the music can be manipulated so that those with low vision are able to read music without issue.

iNudge:
iNudge is a pattern sequencer that uses a grid to represent musical events. These musical events are looped and multiple loops can be layered on top of one another. iNudge would be advantageous for a student with vision loss because it uses blocks and colors to represent timbre and musical pitch and duration. Students only need to click on a block in the grid to create sound, and when the sound is played, it becomes illuminated. Those students who are visually stimulated by color rather than words would greatly benefit from using a web application such as iNudge.

Zoom Features:
Zoom features would allow students with visual acuity issues to enlarge print on a screen that may be too small for them to read. On notation software, the % sign can be used to zoom in and out, and other programs permits the user to zoom using other controls. An iPod touch or iPad might be useful for a student with low vision because it lets them to zoom in on anything by bringing their fingers together on the screen. This is a small (yet possibly expensive) adaptation, and would also let the student be independent in a classroom without the teacher adapting for the entire class.



Colored Notes:
Many computer music notation programs, such as Finale and Noteflight, allow teachers or even the students themselves to take a piece of music and apply a different color to each of the pitches that are used in the composition. This is useful for students with and without special needs who are having trouble either reading the notes because of low vision, or simply recognizing pitches when notated. A student with low vision could rely on his or her color perception to perceive what notes are contained on a page of music. Example shown below:



Popular Musicians with Vision Loss
Stevie Wonder media type="youtube" key="wXrkg_DweRs" height="345" width="560"

Ray Charles media type="youtube" key="gOWKbPDRdKw" height="345" width="560"