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Bringing the Expanded Core Curriculum Into Your Holidays with Your Blind or Visually Impaired Child

Authors: Emily Coleman, Parent and Superintendent of Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI)

Keywords: Expanded Core Curriculum, holidays, family, American Printing House for the Blind

Abstract: In addition to being the Superintendent of TSBVI, Emily is the parent of a child with a visual impairment and multiple disabilities. Before she became the TSBVI Superintendent, she was an active Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI) and contributed articles to APH FamilyConnect. Her article from FamilyConnect, Bringing the Expanded Core Curriculum Into Your Holidays with Your Blind or Visually Impaired Child, is shared below, with active links to each of the nine areas of the ECC. Emily’s suggestions for ways to incorporate the ECC into holiday activities are timeless, and we are proud to reprint that article here, with permission from both Emily and APH FamilyConnect.

The Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) is specific to children with visual impairments, and further explanation can be found by reading The Expanded Core Curriculum for Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired. The ECC covers nine areas of instruction needed for a child with a visual impairment so he can access the world just like his peers without vision loss.

In honor of this holiday season, we present the “9 Days of Holiday with the Expanded Core Curriculum.” It’s a twist on the “12 Days of Christmas” that would only make sense to educators in the field of visual impairment (like myself) and parents of children who are blind or visually impaired (also, like myself). So, enjoy this series and share your own experiences by commenting how you incorporate the expanded core curriculum into the holidays.

“The 9 Days of Holiday with the ECC” Series

  1. Orientation and Mobility
  2. Social Interaction Skills
  3. Compensatory or Functional Academic Skills
  4. Independent Living Skills
  5. Recreation and Leisure Skills
  6. Career Education
  7. Technology Skills
  8. Sensory Efficiency Skills
  9. Self-Determination

Note: APH FamilyConnect is one of the APH ConnectCenter sites whose goal is to empower people who are blind or visually impaired toward greater independence and lifelong success. Richard Rueda, APH CareerConnect Digital Content Manager, provides additional information on some of APH’s services in his article on APH CareerConnect in the News and Views Section of this issue of TX SenseAbilities. Other APH sites include VisionAware, Transition Hub, the Job Seeker’s Toolkit, and a variety of webinars, blogs and resources for people of all ages who are blind or visually impaired.

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