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Educating Blind and Visually Impaired Students: Policy Guidance from OSERS

Published: 08/14/00

Summary

The Department issues this Notice of Policy Guidance (notice) to address the requirements of Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as amended by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, as they apply to the education of blind and visually impaired students. This notice updates OSEP memorandum 96-4, Policy Guidance on Educating Blind and Visually Impaired Students dated November 3, 1995, to reflect new and revised statutory provisions added by the IDEA Amendments of 1997 and conforming regulatory changes to implement those requirements. The Department issued guidance for the education of students who are deaf in the form of a Notice of Policy Guidance published in the Federal Register on October 30, 1992 (57 FR 49274). That policy guidance also is being updated for consistency with the IDEA Amendments of 1997.

This notice provides important background information to educators in meeting their obligations to ensure that blind and visually impaired students receive appropriate educational services in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their unique needs. A description of procedural safeguards also is included to ensure that parents are knowledgeable about their rights, including their right to participate in decisions regarding the provision of services to their children.

For further information contact: Rhonda Weiss or JoLeta Reynolds, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Mary E. Switzer Building, Room 3086, 330 C Street, SW, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: 202-205-5507. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), may call 202-205-5465.

Supplementary Information

To respond to concerns that services for some blind and visually impaired students were not appropriate to address their unique educational and learning needs, particularly their needs for instruction in reading, writing, and composition, as well as orientation and mobility and other self-help skills, policy guidance on educating blind and visually impaired students was issued as OSEP memorandum 96-4 (November 3, 1995). This policy guidance provided some background information on these students and their unique needs, and applicable requirements of Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Part B) were explained. 1

In the reauthorization of the IDEA Amendments of 1997, Public Law 105-17, Congress clarified public agencies' responsibilities in educating blind and visually impaired students in two important respects. Specifically, the reauthorized statute provides that Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams are required to make provision for instruction in braille and the use of braille for blind and visually impaired students, unless, based on relevant evaluations, the IEP team determines that instruction in braille or the use of braille is not appropriate.

Also, reflecting an awareness that a blind or visually impaired individual's ability to move around independently is closely linked to the individual's self esteem, an amendment to the statutory definition of "related services" adds "orientation and mobility services" to the list of examples of supportive services specifically identified in the statute.

The IDEA Amendments of 1997 contain other new requirements applicable to all children with disabilities, particularly in areas relating to requirements for evaluations and reevaluations, focusing IEPs on a student's meaningful involvement and progress in the general curriculum, and strengthening procedural safeguards and opportunities for parent participation in important educational decisions. Even with these significant statutory changes, the core concepts that were applicable prior to the enactment of the IDEA Amendments of 1997 continue to apply.

Background

The population of children who receive services under Part B because of blindness or visual impairment is extremely diverse. These children display a wide range of vision difficulties and varying adaptations to vision loss. With regard to degree of vision, the student population includes persons who are totally blind or persons with minimal light perception, as well as persons with varying degrees of low vision. For some individuals, blindness or visual impairment is their only disability, while for others, blindness or vision impairment is one of several identified disabilities that will affect, to varying degrees, learning and social integration. For example, some children who are blind or visually impaired also have hearing, orthopedic, emotional, or cognitive disabilities.

In addition, persons with similar degrees of vision loss may function very differently. A significant visual deficit that could pose formidable obstacles for some children may pose far less formidable obstacles for others. This is because adaptations to vision loss are shaped by individual factors, such as availability and type of family support and degree of intellectual, emotional, physical, and motor functioning. Therefore, in addition to the nature and extent of vision loss, a variety of factors needs to be considered in designing an appropriate educational program for a blind or visually impaired child, and these factors could change over time.

The challenge for educators of blind and visually impaired children, including those with other disabilities, is how to teach skills that sighted children typically acquire through vision. Blind and visually impaired students have used a variety of methods to learn to read, write, and acquire other skills, both academic and nonacademic. For example, for reading purposes, some students use braille exclusively; others use large print or regular print with or without low vision aids. Still others use a combination of methods, including braille, large print, low vision aids and devices with computer-generated speech, while others have sufficient functional vision to use regular print, although with difficulty.

In order to receive an appropriate education under Part B, it is generally understood that students who are blind or visually impaired must be provided appropriate instruction in a variety of subjects, including language arts, composition, and science and mathematics. However, in order to be educated in these subject areas effectively, blind and visually impaired children must be taught the necessary skills to enable them to learn to read and to use other appropriate technology to obtain access to information. It also is very important for blind and visually impaired children, including those with other disabilities, who need orientation and mobility services, to receive appropriate instruction in orientation and mobility as early as possible. Providing these children with needed orientation and mobility services at the appropriate time increases the likelihood that they can participate meaningfully in a variety of aspects of their schooling, including academic, nonacademic, and extracurricular activities. Once these individuals are no longer in school, their use of acquired orientation and mobility skills should greatly enhance their ability to move around independently in a variety of educational, employment, and community settings. These skills also should enhance the ability of blind and visually impaired students to obtain employment, retain their jobs, and participate more fully in family and community life.

This policy guidance contains an explanation of the provisions of Part B of IDEA as amended by the IDEA Amendments of 1997 and Department regulations that address public agencies' obligations in educating blind and visually impaired students. Statements that utilize the word "should" constitute guidance and do not mean "must," and are not intended to impose any new requirements that go beyond the requirements of the applicable statutory and regulatory provisions explained below.

Go to I. Application of the Free Appropriate Public Education Requirements of Part B to Blind and Visually Impaired Students
Go to II. Least Restrictive Environment and Placement Requirements
Go to III. Procedural Safeguards

Appendix

1 Two other related Federal laws also are applicable to the education of blind and visually impaired students. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Section 504), 29 U.S.C. 794 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Title II of the ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12131, are civil rights laws that protect persons with disabilities from discrimination on the basis of disability. The Department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces Section 504, as it applies to recipients of Federal financial assistance from the Department. OCR also enforces Title II of the ADA, as it applies to public entities, regardless of receipt of Federal funds. Under Section 504 and its implementing regulations at 34 CFR Part 104, children with disabilities in public elementary and secondary education programs operated by recipients of Federal financial assistance are entitled to a free appropriate public education in accordance with the Section 504 regulations at 34 CFR 104.33-104.36. With respect to elementary and secondary education programs, OCR generally interprets Title II of the ADA and its prohibition against discrimination on the basis of disability in a manner consistent with Section 504 and its regulations. The IDEA requirements described in this notice are consistent with recipients' and public entities' obligations to provide FAPE to blind and visually impaired students under Section 504 and Title II of the ADA.

For further information about the requirements of Section 504 and Title II of the ADA, as they apply to the education of blind and visually impaired students, contact the OCR Customer Service Team at the following address and telephone number: OCR Customer Service Team, U.S. Department of Education, 330 C Street, S.W. Room 5212, Washington, DC 20202-1100, Telephone: 202-205-5413; 202-260-0471 for TTD services, Toll-Free: 1-800-421-3481. Fax: 202-205-9862, E-mail: ocr@ed.gov.

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Last Revision: June 28, 2006