Strategies to help children and young people with a visual impairment (VI) access the curriculum and maintain a good posture.
For children and young people with a VI, the seating and viewing position is a crucial factor in:
- accessing the curriculum
- maintaining good posture
Depending on the eye condition and individual needs a child or young person may need:
- to sit in the front of the classroom, so they can see the teacher and white board
- to sit on the appropriate side of the classroom if their field of vision is affected
- to have good ambient lighting
- windows to have blinds to reduce glare
- to be seated near a power socket if they are using technology
To support posture a child or young person may need to use:
- a slope for near viewing: the desk should be big enough to use the slope
- low vision aids
- an iPad or other resources
- large print resources
Additional advice
- Avoid clutter especially around the whiteboard. This will help children and young people focus on what is visually relevant.
- Be aware that children and young people, especially with nystagmus, may adopt a head tilt to support using their best vision
- Children and young people to have their own copy of any resources
- Enlarge resources on to maximum size of A4 – A3 is too large an area to scan across
- A 2B pencil or dark pen will improve contrast with the page and encourage a suitable near working distance (33cm)
- Ensure that the whiteboard has a good contrast – use black or blue pens
- Bespoke exercise books (that can be branded with school logos) that have darker lines and or wider spacing are available cheaply from the Partially Sighted Society
You can buy useful tools and equipment using the following links: