The links below can be followed to give a full article on papers associated with the teaching of the visually impaired.
| INCLUSION |
| CURRICULUM |
| RESEARCH |
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RESOURCE
BASED LEARNING |
My name is Val Smith and I am a qualified teacher who specialises in the teaching of information and technology for the blind and visually impaired. Down load a copy of my CV. I have written various papers regarding the teaching of the visually impaired and could be useful for professionals who are involved in this field. The location of this training is in Wolverhampton at the Maltings for the Adult Education Service.
The people who attend are of mixed gender, ethnicity, age and ability. The speech synthesiser and screen reader is used to turn the written word on the computer screen into speech enabling blind people access to the written word. The adult education offers level 1-2 having excellent results. The tuition I deliver is with the Jaws screen reader and the M-Power, we also have Pacmate QT and BT, Plextalk digital recorders and a Braille embosser. To obtain training I can be contacted at Beacon Centre for the Blind or by email.
Wolverhampton Adult Education Service were the first organisation in the United Kingdom to offer a course to learn Braille through the use of technology. It promoted independence and help students reach their full potential. Unfortunately there is very few blind people who are in paid employment so they need to develop as many skills as possible to compete in the work place. It is recognised that braille is an essential skill. This theory is backed up by David Etheridge: “Approximately half of the 3000 registered blind who are in paid employment, use Braille at work, so clearly for many of those with the severest visual disabilities, Braille is an essential skill.”
Etheridge, D.T. (1994) p100.
We need to promote literacy amongst the visually impaired and in my opinion there is no better way than Braille.
The fact we are using technology to teach Braille will raise awareness of technology and promote our successful computer course for the visually impaired.
The headings list below gives the user the ability to read a brief description on some of the papers I have written, so they can follow the link to the full article of interest. There is a link at the bottom of the page to my email for further enquiries.
The link in the table relates to a communication assignment that is based on Mr X a male student who is 65 years of age, and who was registered blind from birth. He was chosen because up to January 23rd of this year had never read a printed document. My objective was to enable him to gain some form of independence, and offer him freedom to be able to read what he chooses. The statement by Paulo Freire, would coincide with my own outlook,
“People with disabilities should be free from restrictions which limit their potential.” Freire, P. (1973).
The rationale behind this assignment was to produce, pilot and evaluate a set of resources to enable a student to learn how to send and receive E-mails which is a basic skill that supports inclusive learning.
The underpinning philosophy of this essay relates to Booth (2000 p.79):
“I regard inclusion/exclusion, essentially, as a political process. Possibilities for, and barriers to, inclusion are shaped by all aspects of education and social policy – not just by policies that carry an inclusion label.” click the link above to read more
on inclusion.
The logic behind the curriculum assignment was to study a curriculum model and draw comparisons to the way I perceive my own curriculum.
I considered the theoretical concepts of what is meant by curriculum and try to relate this to the practical experiences I have encompassed. I analysed a design model and related it to a course I deliver.
Roth asserts that, “the English word research comes from a prefix and a mean to seek out again:' most academic or scholarly matter of seeking out ideas and materials already found or others.”
Roth, A.J. (1988) p2.
This research assignment examines suitable methods of accessing information for VIPS {visually impaired people} , facilitating their learning requirements. VIPS need to be included into further education to promote social integration and to enable widening participation. The contemporary Tomlinson report asserts that, “A new vision of inclusion, based on a better match between learning requirements
and provision, is at the heart of far-reaching proposals for improving further
education following the first national inquiry in England into FE provision for
students with disabilities and/or difficulties in learning”.
The initial part of this assignment was to produce a statement of intent, this was used as a template and will be entered into my appendices.
My mission was to create an interactive resource base -learning package for a specific target audience, who happened to be two female blind students.
One of the powers of interactive electronic instruction is the capability to engage by providing rapid, compelling interaction and feedback to the student
(Malone, 1981:333-369).
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