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Mainstreaming Education

Below are some helpful hints on mainstreaming a visually impaired student into a typical classroom:

• Have the student sit close to the front of the room.
• Encourage independence in the classroom.
• Choose an auditory or tactile cue, rather than a visual one.
• Allow the student to have a buddy for support.
• Make sure the lighting in the classroom is appropriate.
• Choose activities in which ALL students can participate.
• straight, forward, left, etc. in relation to the students body orientation. Be specific in directions and avoid using vague terms with unusable information such as over there, here, this, etc. "
• "Routinely check the instructional environment to be sure it is adequate and ready for use."
• "Describe, in detail, pertinent visual occurences of the learning activities."
• Document the students history for the benefit of other teachers.

West Virginia University has additional information on mainstreaming on its website, "Inclusion in Science Education for Students with Disabilities".

The National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI) offers for sale a book by Michael D. Oralnsky, Ph.D. entitled "Mainstreaming the Visually Impaired Child: Blind and Partially Sighted Students in the Regular Classroom". This book is geared towards both parents and teachers and focuses on classroom adaptations and other issues. Order from http://www.spedex.com/napvi/order.html.