Weekly Blog #3

    When a student experiences his/her age of onset of visual impairment has a huge impact on life experiences. A congenital visual impairment does not allow for visual memory to play a part in development and thus can cause the student to be reluctant to explore his/her environment. However, an adventitious visual impairment, while allowing for the experience of vision can also carry other negative psychological effects that impact how the student engages in his or her environment.

     The student that loses his/her vision while in elementary school is going to have a different perspective than a student with congenital vision loss. The former would have had at least 5 years of visual memory and experiences to draw from while adapting. That would not be the case for a child with congenital loss and little to no visual memory to gain incidental learning experiences from. Much of early childhood learning is done through observation that leads to exploration. If that child hasn't had the ability to observe due to low vision or blindness from birth, the gaps of understanding the world around him/her are extensive. Learning would be part to whole concepts which wouldn't entirely lend itself to an accurate understanding of complex concepts until the child develops the ability to make higher-order connections.

    Middle school is a time of both dramatic physical changes, while also requiring students to keep up with greater educational demands. For the student with visual impairment, depending upon the age of onset of his/her impairment, adapting to the common demands of this age while also gaining proficiency in the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) is essential. A student that has no visual memory to draw from is going to need guidance in understanding the social complexities of puberty. He/she will require meaningful instruction that further helps fill in the conceptual gaps that have been caused by not having experienced vision The student that has visual impairment through an adventitious loss will need support not only educationally, but emotionally in order to help them feel comfortable in utilizing ECC skills that he/she may feel reluctant to use.

      During the high school years, the focus for students with visual impairment/ blindness should be to gain a greater ability to operate with independence. At this point, the student would have been receiving instruction in the ECC for several years and hopefully, have a greater proficiency in utilizing those skills. Brain development that has occurred by this age should aid both the student with congenital visual impairment and adventitious visual impairment in making those higher-order connections that were difficult prior. Meaningful instruction combined with consistent practice of  ECC skills should further close the conceptual gaps that often confuse younger students.