Chapter 4

Instruction of Visual Skills
taught directly by TVI or O&M

Instruction provided directly by a TVI or O&M specialist in vision-specific activities may be necessary under the following conditions:

Direct instruction of skills in vision-specific activities must always include a strategy for transitioning skills to regularly occurring activities. You will need to provide two kinds of instruction:

  1. Student instruction: Instruct skills in vision-specific activities if necessary and transition skills by providing support in regularly occurring activities for a limited time.
  2. Team training: Train team members who are part of instruction in regularly occurring activities to provide ongoing support.

Student instruction

Start the process of providing instruction in vision-specific activities by looking at the intervention column of your BVEE Intervention Guide. Decide if any of the skills listed need to be addressed by you in a vision-specific activity for a period of time before they are transitioned into the regularly occurring activity in which the need for the skill was observed. If you determine that instruction in a vision-specific activity would be beneficial, write a lesson plan (Table 4.1) for the activity.

Table 4.1. Sample Direct Instruction Visual Skill Lesson Plan for vision-specific activities

Visual efficiency goal: Use telescope to read short passages of projected text
Visual efficiency short-term objective: Use telescope to read captions in a comic strip by starting on the left and moving smoothly to the next picture in the array to the end of the sequence
Materials: Handheld monocular telescope, enlarged (4-inch by 4-inch) high contrast panels from Garfield® comic strip
Instructor: TVI
Location: Conference room
Frequency: 3x weekly
Procedure: Sit 12 feet from whiteboard. Focus telescope. Find star at beginning of array. Read captions in panels sequentially. Sit 20 feet from whiteboard. Focus telescope. Find star. Read captions in same set of panels.
Evaluation: Four errorless readings of captions in five consecutive trials
Transition strategy: Play “I Spy” in the classroom. Use telescope to find named pictures with text labels in a projected array (supported by classroom teacher with role release).
Visual efficiency short-term objective: Shift gaze from a familiar object to a light-reflecting object when moved at a distance of 2 feet against a solid black background with direct object lighting
Materials: Favorite familiar toy (fluorescent yellow hand clapper right now, but may change), red Mylar® pom-pom, flashlight, black floor mat, black folding screen, floor chair
Instructor: TVI, 3x weekly
Location: Specially adapted corner of small room next to classroom
Frequency: Daily
Procedure:
  1. Get toy from now container (anticipation calendar).
  2. Go to mat.
  3. Transition to floor chair.
  4. Look at hand clapper presented in lower peripheral field.
  5. Follow clapper movement to midline in central field.
  6. Shift gaze to red Mylar® pom-pom introduced in lower peripheral field.
  7. Follow movement of pom-pom to midline in central field.
  8. Shift gaze back to clapper when moved in central field.
  9. Shift gaze back to pom-pom when moved in central field.
  10. Hold pom-pom co-actively with teacher and sing “Rah-rah, sis-boom-bah” song.
  11. Hold clapper co-actively with teacher and clap for selves when song is finished.
  12. Repeat steps 4-11 four times.
  13. Put clapper and pom-pom in finished container.
Evaluation: Four shifts to moving object within 5 seconds in five consecutive trials
Transition strategy: Hang duplicate pom-pom and clapper in adapted play environment for independent exploration activity; visually locate pom-pom and clapper displayed on activity symbol shelf along with other objects that are used in the anticipation calendar.
Visual efficiency short-term objective: Identify four words used as labels in the classroom environment written in familiar fonts (Tahoma or Arial), unfamiliar fonts, cursive, and hand-lettering
Materials: Word cards—four each familiar font, unfamiliar font, cursive, hand-lettered; sorting tray
Instructor: TVI
Location: Classroom, in reading center
Frequency: 3x weekly
Procedure: Present four words printed in familiar fonts. Read each word while placing it in one of the four sections of the sorting tray. Present the “deck” of mixed word cards containing three examples of each word written in different graphic formats. Read each word and place it in the correct section of the tray with the word it matches.
Evaluation: 12 out of 12 correct matches on five consecutive trials
Transition strategy: Change some labels used in the classroom to different formats each week

An image depicts a black folding screen with a glow at its center. A paper flower is at the right of the screen and a balloon is at the left of the screen.

A black folding screen (Invisiboard) and a flashlight can help a student shift gaze from one object to another.

An image depicts a word “Books” written in four different font styles.

Familiarity with a variety of type fonts can help promote visual efficiency goals when used in the classroom environment.

Team training

For many students, instruction in special activities is an effective strategy only when supported by team members who provide instruction in regular activities on a daily basis. Team members with special training must share their knowledge and skills with all team members who support the achievement of those skills. Training may be informal or formal.

Informal training typically occurs in classrooms during scheduled observation times. The TVI shares information, models strategies, coaches team members, and answers questions. When team members are familiar with collaborative service models, this type of training may be sufficient.

Occasionally, team members require more formal support. This support may occur when team members are new to collaborative service models, when optical devices are used, or when instruction requires intense and precise use of accommodations and strategies. Table 4.2 shows how to document training and to evaluate its effectiveness.

Table 4.2. Sample Team Training Plan for Visual Efficiency Instruction

Activity: “Rah-rah, sis-boom-bah”
Visual Skill: Shift gaze between two objects with movement
Instructor: Classroom teacher
Location: Accommodated area of small room next to classroom
Frequency: Daily
Role Release Procedure Date Date Date
Lesson plan shared and reviewed 9/12/18
Procedure modeled 9/12/18 9/13/18
Procedure coached 9/13/18 9/14/18 9/15/18
Procedure released (no further coaching required) 9/16/18
Date and observation summary
9/18/18 Procedure carried out as released with one exception: pacing too fast. Modeled procedure again with special attention to pacing.

TVI initials: MS
Teacher initials: ER
9/21/18 Procedure carried out as released.
9/25/18 Procedure carried out as released.
10/8/18 Procedure carried out as released.