School-Based Education

Specialized Educational Support for Students with Vision Loss

Students who are blind or have low vision require specialized instruction and accommodations to fully access learning and develop the skills needed for independence and academic success. Through individualized support from The Carroll Center for the Blind’s experienced staff, students build compensatory skills, access curriculum more effectively, increase independence, and develop confidence to reach their full potential.

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Benefits of Education Services at the Carroll Center

We partner with school teams to support the educational, social-emotional, and developmental needs of students with visual impairments, including those with additional disabilities. Services are individualized and aligned with Department of Education guidelines and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The Carroll Center for the Blind’s experienced Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVIs), Rehabilitation Teachers (VRTs), and Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialists (COMS) provide assessment, consultation, and direct instruction for school-age students across a variety of educational settings.

Assessment

The Carroll Center’s vision professionals conduct many types of assessments to identify the most appropriate accommodations, modifications, services, strategies, and tools for each student’s educational program, including:

Functional Vision Assessment, including CVI Assessments

A Functional Vision Assessment is done to determine how a student with a visual impairment uses their vision in everyday activities of learning. It can help determine what supports, services, accommodations, and modifications may be needed to allow the student access to curriculum, learning, and social experiences of the school. For students with CVI (Cortical/Cerebral Visual Impairment), an additional CVI-specific tool may be used to ensure that the impact of this brain-based visual impairment is accurately assessed and that any needed supports meet the student’s unique needs.

Learning Media Assessment

Often done in conjunction with a Functional Vision Assessment, a Learning Media Assessment helps to identify how a student best receives and understands learning media in the classroom and other educational settings. Students may use vision (print and visual materials), touch (braille and tactual learning), or auditory (listening) to access information, and many students use a combination of these. Understanding how a student accesses information can help guide instruction and ensure access to all learning materials.

Orientation & Mobility Assessments

An Orientation & Mobility Assessment is important to ensure that a student with visual impairment can understand and safely move through their environments with independence. This assessment looks at how a student understands spatial relationships, how they navigate familiar and unfamiliar environments, including school and community locations, and what tools or techniques they may need to improve those skills. Students who are not yet independently mobile, those who use wheelchairs, and those with additional disabilities still benefit from this type of assessment in order to determine their need for any additional supports, strategies, tools, or services.

Assistive Technology Assessments

For a student who is blind or visually impaired, an Assistive Technology Assessment may be completed to determine what types of assistive technology, such as screen readers, magnification devices, or braille devices, would most effectively support the student’s access to learning. Such an assessment might look at both low and high-tech options for students.

Braille Assessments

Students who are braille learners may need a Braille Assessment to look at their tactual skills, how efficiently they are reading, and braille skills that have not yet been mastered. These assessments may be used for students who are emergent, academic, or functional braille learners.

Consultation

  • Effective, collaborative consultation is provided to educational teams to ensure that students can access the General Education curriculum and all parts of the “life of the school” through accommodations and supports
    • TVIs and COMS meet with the student’s team, which can include general education teachers, special education teachers, and related services providers such as PTs, OTs, SLPs, Educational Audiologists, and others, to develop strategies and supports that can be implemented during the student’s day to allow access to learning.
    • TVIs and COMS also provided ongoing education and training to the team members to understand the implications and impact of the student’s visual impairment on their access to school and community experiences. 

Individualized Instruction

  • We provide high-quality, individualized instruction in the Expanded Core Curriculum, a framework of nine components that ensures students with visual impairments have the necessary skills for success in school and beyond.
    • TVIs and COMS may work with students within their classroom or educational settings, or in individual or small group settings, to focus on goals and benchmarks for the student’s learning as determined by the IEP team.
    • TVIs and COMS frequently collaborate with general education and special education teachers, as well as related service providers, to help ensure that a student has the necessary tools and skills to access the curriculum materials, lessons, and activities. They may order adaptive supplies, modify existing materials, or adapt materials to meet the students’ visual or tactual needs.

Additional Services and Supports

Carroll Center TVIs and COMS work to support the student, family, and educational team in understanding the impact of visual impairment on learning while also providing opportunities for skill development. By engaging with other services, supports, and activities offered at the Carroll Center, students and families can build on the successes at school.

A young smiling student is holding his cane and is wearing glasses and a sweatshirt. He stands next to a wall of paintings and one of them is of a boy with glasses, holding a cane, and is wearing a yellow shirt with a red heart.
Two young women sitting at a table, one using a tablet device, both smiling at the camera in an educational setting
A TVI and student are smiling. The student has a brailler in front of them.
A Braille Challenge participant is smiling and holding there cane. They are standing in front of a Braille Challenge and Carroll Center banner.
A TVI and student are sitting at a table together. The TVI is giving instructions to student. There is a Brailler and markers on the table.
TVI is helping a student who is using a tablet device.
Braille Challenge participant is using a brailler and has headphones on.
Student is smiling and using a brailler. They are wearing a pink shirt and pink vest with rainbow hearts on it.
Young boy holding a braille craft project with their TVI.
Student is using a brailler at desk. They are wearing a blue Braille Challenge shirt.
A photo of three Carroll Center summer youth program students stand with a summer program staff smiling and wearing life jackets outside. There are canoes and trees in the background.
TVI and Student Volunteer are smiling to the camera. They are outside and are both wearing Carroll Center lanyards. The TVI has long curly brown hair with a white shirt, brown cardigan, and black pants. The Student Volunteer has a red cap, red jacket, and is holding their cane and is givng a thumbs up.

Get Started

If you are a school district looking for an assessment or services for your student, please use our Online Referral form to send your request.

Submit A Request For Services