Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Teacher trying to support blind mother with distance learning for her son- Help! (self.Blind)
submitted by Premiumsilverette
Hi! I'm a Kindergarten teacher who just heard from the mother of one of my new students. The mother is blind and had a very hard time with supporting her son when we went fully virtual in March. As we start the school year online, I want to make sure her son has full access to all of our live sessions and online activities.
Here is where I need help!
Is there any assistive technology you would recommend to her? Is there anything I can do to help? For example, should I write out descriptions for images that I post? Record voice memos with instructions for her? TIA for help!
Here is where I need help!
Is there any assistive technology you would recommend to her? Is there anything I can do to help? For example, should I write out descriptions for images that I post? Record voice memos with instructions for her? TIA for help!
nkdeck07 5 points 2y ago
In addition to the help here I'd reach out to the SPED educators at your school. They probably know how to help adapt the software the student is using for blind students which could also help the mother quite a bit.
Premiumsilverette [OP] 2 points 2y ago
I’ve reached out the the sped team and some administrators (w/ moms permission) and they will be working with her as well. I guess I’m interested in forms of tech that can be used or tweaks I can make in how I present online work to make it more accessible.
UpsideDownwardSpiral 5 points 2y ago
It would probably help to know what activities they will be doing?
I honestly have no memory of what kind of learning activities we did in Kindergarten. I just remember wanting to go play instead of doing the work. Both years...
I honestly have no memory of what kind of learning activities we did in Kindergarten. I just remember wanting to go play instead of doing the work. Both years...
Premiumsilverette [OP] 3 points 2y ago
Activities are usually along the lines of games: a scavenger hunt for objects of a certain color/shape, making a number collage out of numbers you find around your house etc. Some activities are completed on a tablet: completing a pattern by coloring in the correct colors, putting all of the words that start with the same letter in a box together etc.
The main part that makes this tricky is that my school is a French immersion school so many of my instructions are recorded in French for students to listen to with instructions written in English for parents underneath. Should I also record a set of instructions in English for this student?
The main part that makes this tricky is that my school is a French immersion school so many of my instructions are recorded in French for students to listen to with instructions written in English for parents underneath. Should I also record a set of instructions in English for this student?
UpsideDownwardSpiral 4 points 2y ago
Wow, that is quite the challenge.
Definitely get mom's input on it, because it's very much going to depend on her abilities. Blind doesn't always mean no vision, so theres that, too.
Is this a Canadian school?
Definitely get mom's input on it, because it's very much going to depend on her abilities. Blind doesn't always mean no vision, so theres that, too.
Is this a Canadian school?
Premiumsilverette [OP] 3 points 2y ago
No, the school is in Louisiana. I went through a French immersion program as a kid here. I am in direct communication with mom. Her emails are written via dictation and she has expressed frustration/ difficulty with technology. I’ve offered to set up a phone call so I can discuss directly with her ways to support her. Thanks for your replies!
TheBlindBookLover 2 points 2y ago
As far as the coloring activities go, you could recommend that the parent obtains scented crayons. This would allow them to differentiate the color used by the student for the given activity. This may not be necessary depending on how much remaining vision the parent has.
80percentaccurate 2 points 2y ago
Hey there! Vision teacher here and kindergarten work is notoriously inaccessible especially in online formats. Assume that she can’t access any of the pictures, diagrams, or drawings. Depending on how the work is designed, technology may not be able to read text either because screen readers don’t do well reading pictures of text compared to editable text like you would find in a Word document.
Would you trust mom with the answer key? She may be able to help her son more if she can follow along with the lesson in that format.
Manipulatives are going to be your best friend.
Any description you can add to what you are doing, or the books you are reading can be helpful too. The vision teacher at your school may be able to help you decide what and how to adapt.
Do you know if mom is comfortable with the platform being used for instruction? She may need some resources to get comfortable accessing class.
Would you trust mom with the answer key? She may be able to help her son more if she can follow along with the lesson in that format.
Manipulatives are going to be your best friend.
Any description you can add to what you are doing, or the books you are reading can be helpful too. The vision teacher at your school may be able to help you decide what and how to adapt.
Do you know if mom is comfortable with the platform being used for instruction? She may need some resources to get comfortable accessing class.
Premiumsilverette [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Wow! Thank you so much for your reply. Unfortunately, my school does not have a vision teacher...I’ve reached out to our OT as well as other members of our ESS (sped) team.
I’m using the same platform (SeeSaw) as her child’s teacher last year. I assumed text readers do not read image texts, I will look into best ways to format for text readers. Would voice recordings be helpful or not considering she would have to navigate playing/pausing etc?
We will also be using google class for live classes and theoretically the students are supposed to be able to use it independently but I am skeptical.
I’m using the same platform (SeeSaw) as her child’s teacher last year. I assumed text readers do not read image texts, I will look into best ways to format for text readers. Would voice recordings be helpful or not considering she would have to navigate playing/pausing etc?
We will also be using google class for live classes and theoretically the students are supposed to be able to use it independently but I am skeptical.
80percentaccurate 2 points 2y ago
You’d have to ask mom if voice recordings are helpful for her. They are for some people they aren’t for others.
Guaranteed you have a teacher of students with visual impairments, you just might be sharing that teacher across the district and often times across other districts. They may only be in the building on the first Tuesday of every month for example. The special education director would know how to contact that person.
It’s admirable that you are trying to help accommodate.
Guaranteed you have a teacher of students with visual impairments, you just might be sharing that teacher across the district and often times across other districts. They may only be in the building on the first Tuesday of every month for example. The special education director would know how to contact that person.
It’s admirable that you are trying to help accommodate.
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