Blindness

Request and encourage student input on how to best accommodate the student's learning needs.

Give clear verbal descriptions of visual aids including video and printed content used throughout your presentation.

To find calculators for students who are blind, consult the National Federation of the Blind Independence Market Online or American Printing House for the Blind.

Use tactile accommodations of graphic materials:

• Tools for creating raised-line drawings can be found at the American Printing House for the Blind.
• One method for drawing tactile lines on a map or diagram is to go over the lines with a pattern tracing wheel; to do this effectively, put something soft under the drawing or map first.
• Raised-line drawings can be created with fabric paint, a glue gun, or other commercially available materials, such as Wikki Stix.
• Additional information is available at Access2Science.

Rulers, protractors, and other measuring tools are available in tactile and Braille format from the American Printing House for the Blind. Additional measurement devices can be found at AssisTech.

For writing activities, provide computer accommodations. Provide a document format that can be edited electronically by the student, such as an accessible PDF file, a Word document, or a plain text document. Consider a computer with optical character recognition, voice output, Braille screen display, and/or embossed Braille output. For more information, consult the video presentation and publication Working Together: Computers and People with Sensory Impairments or the AccessSTEM Knowledge Base.

Tools for teaching orientation and mobility concepts, compass directions, and navigation can be found at the American Printing House for the Blind. Consider consulting the student's mobility instructor.

Braille compasses can be found at AssisTech. Talking compasses and a talking globe can be found at the AbleData. [Seems to now be defunct]

Tactile maps can be obtained from the American Printing House for the Blind.

Provide audiotaped, Brailled, or electronic-formatted lecture notes, handouts, and texts.

For students who are legally blind yet have a fair amount of usable sight, consider the accommodations listed for individuals with low vision.

Consider the needs of students with disabilities during lab orientation and lab safety meetings.

Assign group activities in which all students take responsibility and contribute according to their abilities.

Use multiple formats—oral, written, visual, tactile, electronic—for instruction and demonstrations.

For general information about accommodations for students with disabilities in science classes, consult Working Together: Science Teachers and Students with Disabilities and The Winning Equation: Access + Attitude = Success in Math and Science.

For additional information, consult the AccessSTEM Knowledge Base.