Summer 2007 Table of Contents
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Short-Term Programs at the Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired

By Lauren Newton, Principal, TSBVI Special Programs

Abstract: this article describes how TSBVI short-term programs can address the needs of students who are academically on or close to grade level.

Key Words: blindness, visual impairment, TSBVI, Short-Term Programs

TSBVI Short-Term Program (STP) classes support visually impaired students who are academically on or close to grade level. These students are generally successful in the regular classroom, but could do much better if provided a brief time out to receive individualized, intensive training in vision-specific adaptive strategies. Parents and school districts may understandably worry that missing school to attend a STP would put their child irretrievably behind; however students who have learned in STPs almost unanimously say they ended up ahead in the long run. After years of serving these students, we have discovered that even though they are bright and successful, academic functioning students may:

Demonstrate conceptual gaps in all areas of knowledge, limiting subsequent learning;
Be unfamiliar with the most current technologies and tools available for visually impaired learners, which means they are not able to access the general curriculum as well as they might;
Lack many essential nonacademic concepts and skills of independent living;
Feel isolated and disempowered because of their differences, and therefore not strive to reach their full potential, in academic or personal areas of life.

These are the areas that STPs are designed to address.

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Dr. Lauren Newton, principal, at (512-206-9119), or email <laurennewton @ tsbvi.edu>.

School Year 2007 - 2008

Our 2007-2008 calendar of classes are listed below. A detailed description of each class, as well as the general program description, can be found on our web page: <www.tsbvi.edu./school/special/short-classes.htm>.

Fall Semester 2007

September 9 – 14: Elementary Access to Academic Skills #1; Special Focus: Math Tools & Concepts –or– Other Expanded Core Curriculum skills
September 23 – 28: Secondary Technology Week #1; Special Focus: Screenreaders & Keyboard Commands –or– Other Technology Instruction
October 14 – 19: Middle School Access to Academic Skills #1
October 25 – 28 **: Career Exploration Weekend (secondary)
November 4 – 9: High School Access to Academic Skills #1; Special Focus: Preparing for College –or– Other Expanded Core Curriculum skills
November 25 – 30: Math Tools and Concepts (secondary)
December 6 – 9 **: “Traveling with Low Vision” Weekend (grades 9-12)
December 13 – 16 **: Elementary School Independence Weekend #1

Spring Semester 2008

January 13 – 18: High School Access to Academic Skills #2
January 27 – Feb. 1: Elementary Access to Academic Skills #2; Special Focus: Technology – or – Other Expanded Core Curriculum skills
February 10 – 15: Secondary Technology Week #2
February 21 – 24 **: Middle School Independence Weekend: Outdoor Adventure
March 27 – 30 **: Low Vision Weekend (secondary)
April 3 – 6 **: High School Independence Weekend
April 24 – 27 **: Elementary School Independence Weekend #2
May 4 – May 9: Middle School Access to Academic Skills #2

** Weekend Programs

“Access” = Needed by VI students in order to access the core curriculum. For Access classes with a “Special Focus”, students may work in that area or choose any other area of the Expanded Core Curriculum.

How Vision Loss Impacts Learning

Fact: Vision loss causes deficits in underlying concepts, which affects all aspects of instruction.

80% of learning is acquired through vision. Classroom instruction is designed for sighted students who share a core of visually-acquired concepts. Students with weak underlying concepts lack a base for understanding higher order concepts taught in the general curriculum (TEKS). Subsequent learning is always built upon that weak foundation.

How A Short-term Program Can Help

We support academic achievement by providing hands-on, experiential instruction to demonstrate basic concepts that sighted children learn visually. Even secondary students need to fill in these gaps in order to master the curriculum.

Reading: much vocabulary is learned visually—e.g., prepositions (under, after), adjectives (few, full), nouns (branch vs. tree, vehicle types), verbs (shrug, crash).
Math: e.g., number, portions, spatial & temporal sequence, shapes, measurement

Fact: Students with visual impairments have difficulty accessing the general curriculum (TEKS). They must learn unique access skills not addressed in the general curriculum.

Tailored, intensive instruction in specific tools and techniques is required to master the core academic areas of “No Child Left Behind.” It can be difficult for local teachers of visually impaired students to stay current in these rapidly changing technologies, or to provide the level of intensity needed.

How A Short-term Program Can Help

We provide a short time away from multiple classroom demands to teach the unique knowledge and skills needed by academic students. We assist students with their school assignments so they don’t fall behind.

Computer technologies: screen readers /enlargers, electronic notetakers, scanning textbooks electronically, and unique strategies for creating and reading word documents, databases, spreadsheets.
Braille for literacy or abacus; Nemeth Code for math and science.
Tactile graphs, maps, tables. Tactile tools to measure time, weight, distance, etc.

Fact: Research documents significant social isolation and dependence in visually impaired students taught in inclusive settings. Self-esteem correlates highly with motivation and success in school & adult life.

Learning in the company of peers and adults who experience similar difficulties can be a life-changing experience.

How A Short-term Program Can Help

Short Classes at TSBVI allow students to belong to both worlds: they remain a part of their family and community while developing lifelong friends who share their unique experiences.

Students often return home with a renewed commitment to learning and enhanced feelings of self-worth. They are better able to describe and advocate for adaptations they need in order to compensate at school and in life.

Fact: Adults with visual impairments often remain unemployed and dependent upon others, even if they were successful in school.

National data indicate a 30% employment rate for persons who are visually impaired.

How A Short-term Program Can Help

Students attending Short Classes meet a range of successfully employed adults who are visually impaired. They listen as these people describe the challenges that they overcame to live independently, successfully, richly, and happily.

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Last Revision: October 8, 2007