The Center for Instruction, Technology & Innovation offers our component and non-component school districts access to Teacher of the Visually Impaired Services. These teachers’ provides direct, consultation or evaluation services to students whose visual impairment adversely affects educational performance. All services for students with visual impairments come through recommendations from the student's home school CSE office or 504 representative.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a TVI tell me how the student sees?
A teacher of the visually impaired completes a functional vision evaluation. The teacher of the visually impaired uses current medical information, input from parents, teachers, and the student, as well as observations of the student. The information is used to describe how the student is functioning visually as well as to make recommendations of accommodations/services. The quality of information in the functional vision evaluation is determined by the information available.
The student has not been to an eye doctor. What can the TVI do?
It is important that the student see an eye doctor. First an eye doctor needs to ensure that they student has the best treatment/glasses to receive optimal vision.(A visit to an optometrist who specializes in low vision in addition to the regular eye doctor is the best and is important before recommending equipment.) If the student still has a visual impairment that affects their education, the teacher of the visually impaired then becomes involved. Accommodations/compensatory skills are obtained/taught to assist the student to learn. When a student with just a visual disability is provided with appropriate accommodations they should learn at about the same rate as their peers.
What is the difference between a Vision Therapist and a Teacher for the Blind and Visually Impaired?
A vision therapist is an optometrist who specializes in the resolution of visual disorders through the use of vision exercises and therapeutic lenses, prisms or other devises to promote binocular vision. A Teacher for the Blind and Visually Impaired is a licensed/certified educator who utilizes diagnostic information to develop appropriate educational plans to best facilitate and encourage the development of a child’s functional vision.
Adapted from the Pediatric Vision Service of Nassau and Suffolk Counties.