Background+Information

__**In Delaware the visually impaired are serviced by the Division for the Visually Impaired (DVI) from birth to death. During a child’s educational years they can be serviced by DVI itinerant teachers or the Resource Room for the Visually Impaired, each county has a resource room which provides services to all the districts. Each Resource Room is housed in a district and if students from other districts need to come to the Resource Room the districts pay the housing district to service the student. DVI services students who need 1-3 days a week service to consult services once a month and they generally have 30-40 students on their caseloads. The Resource Room provides everyday services to those who require it, usually students who are Braille readers, or students with low vision who need extra help to learn how to deal with all the components of regular education and the equipment they will need to function in school. Most often the low vision students graduate from the Resource Room and go back to their regular/home school. Braille readers tend to stay longer in the Resource Room because it takes longer to learn the skills needed to be independent.
 * __Background Information

__How to best service the visually impaired students__

To provide the students with the best education possible the teachers have to:
 * Understand their visual impairment- the degree of impairment, prognosis, stability of condition, tolerance of visual fatigue and if there are any other disabilities.
 * Understand how they are challenged- orientation and mobility, manipulating spatial concepts, obtaining/manipulating/producing many types of information such as text, graphs, facial expressions, gestures and self-esteem.
 * Realize that little incidental learning is going on, which can affect how they participate in class activities.
 * There are often gap in their concept development.
 * Need to learn Braille.
 * Understand how low vision and blindness have a huge impact on their ability/opportunity to form relationships with peers.
 * Collaboration between the TVI and the classroom teacher is critical to students success.
 * Making the classroom, activities, and curriculum accessible through adaptations, specialized equipment, and computers and that all this takes time to prepare and needs to be taught to the student.

__Curriculum__ The visually impaired follow the state/district core curriculum. On top of that there is the “Expanded Core Curriculum” (Hatlen, 1996) which include: Compensatory or Functional Academic Skills, Including Communication Modes (skills they need to access the core curriculum, study/listening/organizational skills, braille, LP, using a calendar...) Orientation and Mobility Skills Social Interaction Skills Independent Living Skills Recreation and Leisure Skills Career Education Technology Visual Efficiency Skills These skills need to be taught to the VI students in order for them to be successful in the Core Curriculum and life.