Teaching Reading and Writing to Students with Visual Impairments: Who is Responsible

Abstract

Teaching and writing to students with visual impairments--Whose job is it? is a very complex question. I am tempted to change the question a bit. Instead, I would like to ask, is responsible? in which case, I could discuss the responsibilities of school administrators (at the school and district level), state departments and provincial ministries of education, and the federal government and the responsibilities they have to recognize and appropriately fund services for students who are visually impaired. I could talk about the responsibility of teachers to put into place appropriate instructional plans and set up effective educational teams, as well as the responsibility of parents for advocating and supporting their child's literacy development during early childhood and throughout school. When considering the central question of this Perspectives column, we need to examine what is meant by reading instruction. In this context, instruction and are interchangeable terms, so the question can be answered based on what I believe about who should teach to students who are visually impaired. The answer might be different for students who are visually impaired and read than for those who are visually impaired and read braille. There are several techniques that can be categorized as teaching methods, and direct instruction is one of them. Also included in the list of methods are discussions, simulations, experiments, field trips, practice, and role-play activities. Some, or all, of these methods could be used in the course of instruction, but the central question of this column is: Who provides direct instruction in to students with visual impairments? Can we separate the braille code from the of for children who are learning beginning in braille? We cannot and should not make such a separation. Yet, even in schools for blind students, there are distinctions between the teacher who teaches and the teacher who teaches braille. Are these distinctions made because most educators learned braille as a code after knowing how to read in print? Is because we overemphasize the braille code because is different and unique? The squiggly lines, straight lines, and circles that make up letters also constitute a code for representing spoken language, but sighted educators are so familiar with that code that seems ridiculous to refer to as a code. Although much work is done in the early years by children who are sighted in letter identification and production, would be very strange to put these children in a print class that was separate from a and writing class. DOES IT TAKE A VILLAGE? I am also tempted to take the easy road (and, frankly, the correct road) and say that instruction is not just the job of one person, that the development of (and writing) skills takes a team. First and foremost, the parents of a child with visual impairment play an early and ongoing role in their child about books, and reading, and loving reading. Second, the child's classroom teacher is a key participant in a child to read and write. Third, the child's teacher of students with visual impairments has an important role to play. But, answering the question, Whose job is it? from the perspective of the it takes a village model makes me feel quite uncomfortable, because this answer begs other questions, such as takes primary responsibility for making sure that the team works effectively together? Or is accountable? or is in charge of the village? These are legitimate questions that speak to the very crux of the matter of Whose job is it? My answer is that instruction for students with visual impairments is the job of a person who possesses all of the following characteristics: * Creativity, flexibility, and other personal characteristics of a good teacher. …