[CASL-L] Materials for visually impaired students

[Lord, Douglas]

Hi Ellen,

I can offer some information that will, I hope, be enough to get you started and perhaps raise general awareness in this area.

The Bureau of Education and Services for the Blind<http://www.ct.gov/BESB/site/default.asp> (BESB) within the Department of Rehabilitation Services is going to be the most directly assistive of the statewide services available. If the child is legally blind, they may already be a client and have a variety of supports in place. BESB encourages families to contact them for information and assistance.

See http://www.ct.gov/besb/cwp/view.asp?a=2847&q=331418 about the services that BESB offers for school-aged children. BESB works with school-aged children at school, in special-needs programs and at home. Education consultants, specializing in the education of children who are blind or visually impaired, can provide assistance to:



·         Conduct a functional vision assessment

·         Become a member of each child's educational planning team to formulate appropriate goals and make referrals to related professionals, such as orientation and mobility instructors, rehabilitation teachers and vocational counselors

·         Provide curricular materials in Braille and large print as appropriate

·         Consult with parents and other education team members regarding specific techniques for working with blind and visually impaired children

·         Instruct a child in Braille, use of low vision aids, organization skills, adaptive equipment and other skills needed for independence

·         Provide specialized educational and consultative services to deaf-blind children, parents and professionals

Apart from the BESB, software can help enlarge screens (e.g., Zoomtext screen magnifiers, Jaws screen readers) and hardware can enlarge print materials (e.g., Optelec<http://www.optelec.com/en_US/optelec-clear-reader> readers, CCTV equipment). The latter might be of interest as they are magnifiers that specifically enlarge print.

Audio services (e.g., http://www.bookshare.org) may also be helpful, but the likelihood that they will have the exact materials the child needs is, most probably, hit-or-miss.

My colleagues at the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped<http://www.ctstatelibrary.org/organizational-unit/library-blind-physically-handicapped> offer reading materials, though not formal curriculum support. These would be mostly for pleasure reading or perhaps to supplement your library’s offerings.

I hope this is helpful. If I or my colleagues in the Division of Library Development can be of assistance to you or other matters, please feel free to contact us at your convenience.

Douglas C. Lord, LSTA Coordinator
Division of Library Development
Connecticut State Library
Middletown Library Service Center
786 South Main Street
Middletown, CT 06457
(860) 704-2204
800-437-2313 (in CT only)
Douglas.Lord at ct.gov
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CSLDLD

From: casl-l-bounces at mylist.net [mailto:casl-l-bounces at mylist.net] On Behalf Of Ellen Nosal
Sent: Friday, September 20, 2013 2:42 PM
To: CASL listserv
Subject: [CASL-L] Materials for visually impaired students

I have a seventh grade student who is legally blind and needs to have his materials enlarged. Do you know of resources for books that will be of interest to him?

Thank you,

Ellen Nosal, MLS
Library Media Specialist
East Hampton Middle School
East Hampton, CT 06424
Visit the blog: http://ehmslib.blogspot.com/
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