Common Causes of V.I.

So, I've started doing a bit of research about different types of Visual Impairment and quite honestly am just a little heartbroken at how many different causes of vision impairment and loss there are. I always knew there were a great deal of causes of blindness or visual impairment but actually seeing how many there are and reading a little bit about each one and how few can actually be stopped, corrected or cured it is making me a little sad. But I am not here to talk about how helpless I feel about not being able to change that, rather I am here to educate myself and others about educating students who are visually impaired.

I think it is important though to explore some of the different types of visual impairment in order to understand exactly how to teach and what tools or services needed for students with little or no sight. I have compiled a list of some of the common causes of visual impairment and/or blindness. Refractive errors, usually corrected with glasses:

• Myopia (Nearsightedness)
• Hyperopia (Farsightedness)
• Astigmatism

Eye Conditions

• Albinism: Inherited condition resulting in decreased pigment which causes abnormal optic nerve development.

• Amblyopia (“lazy eye”): The suppression of the image of one eye usually due to that eye having a significantly poorer acuity or being turned in/out.

• Cataracts: Opacity or cloudiness of the lens. Some types of cataracts progressively worsen, while others remain unchanged. Children with cataracts may have reduced visual acuity, blurred vision, poor color vision, light sensitivity, or nystagmus.

• Coloboma: A birth defect which causes a cleft in the pupil, iris, lens, retina, choroid, or optic nerve. It can result in reduced acuity and field loss if the damage extends to the retina.

• Glaucoma: Increased pressure in the eye due to blockage of normal flow of fluid in the eye. The vision of children with glaucoma can fluctuate based on changes in pressure.

• Nystagmus: Involuntary movement of the eye. This can be horizontal, vertical, circular or mixed. A child with nystagmus has difficulty maintaining fixation on objects resulting in reduced visual acuity and fatigue. Nystagmus can be minimized by turning the head or eyes in a certain position, called the “null point.” The null point differs from person to person, but is often discovered by the child.

• Optic Nerve Atrophy: Damage or degeneration to the optic nerve which carries visual signals to the brain.

• Optic Nerve Hypoplasia: Underdevelopment of the optic nerve in utero, resulting in a small optic nerve and visual impairment. Optic nerve hypoplasia may be associated with other conditions.

• Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP): a hereditary, degenerative condition of the retina which results in loss of peripheral vision or “tunnel vision”. Initially starts with difficulty in seeing in dimly lit settings and progresses to a significant visual impairment.

• Retinoblastoma: A cancerous tumor of the retina which requires vigorous treatment of all tumors through laser, radiation, and/or chemotherapy. Progression of retinoblastoma may result in enucleation (removal) of the eye. If one eye is removed, the child will not have depth perception.

• Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP): Disruption in the normal development of blood vessels of the retina in premature infants which can result in scarring and detachment of the retina.

• Strabismus: A muscle imbalance resulting in the inability of both eyes to look directly at an object at the same time. Types of strabismus include: esotropia (an inward turn), exotropia (an outward turn), hypertropia (an upward turn), and hypotropia (a downward turn).

Cortical Visual Impairment

Unlike refractive errors and structural impairments, cortical visual impairment is due to damage to the visual cortex of the brain or the visual pathways which results in the brain not adequately receiving or interpreting visual information. Children who suffer from Cortical Visual Impairment may also suffer from cerebral palsy, seizure disorder, and developmental delays as a result of the damage to the brain. Reading these descriptions and some of the effects on someones eyesight is helpful as it gives a good idea of what a student may or may not be able to see and may even help with ideas of alternative methods of presenting information to students.

The Overall Goal

So if you have actually come to my blog and have stuck around to read this you're probably wondering why we need to Educate Heather...well I'll tell you. I am a 30yr old mother of two, wife and full-time student. I started back to school just over a year ago and am pursuing a degree in Elementary Education. As you would guess my degree requirements include a great deal of education specific courses to include Introduction to the Exceptional Learner which I am currently taking (and loving by the way) and for which I am starting this blog as part of an honors project for the Honors Program. Beyond that though I am very excited about creating this blog because the more education classes I take the more I realize how little I actually know about being an effective teacher though it has been what I've wanted to do since I was about 4 or 5 years old. Let me back up about a year and maybe you'll understand a little more about how all of this ties together... So, in the fall of 2008 I started back to school at my local community college where I had an amazing class about cultural diversity in education that addressed so many different aspects of diversity, everything from different ethnic backgrounds, to social classes and even disabilities; it was an awesome class that taught me a great deal. In addition to all the wonderful activities, resources and strategies our instructor gave us we as a class were fortunate to have some first hand experience that semester as their was a blind woman in our class. It was very interesting to get her perspective on many different issues. After the semester was over while having a conversation with the instructor I was really surprised to find out how difficult it was at times for her, getting the woman the assignments in enough time to get them printed in Braille, getting books for activities in Braille, things that those of us with sight often take for granted. Then a few months later I found out that one of my friends who is a teacher had a girl who was blind in her 5th grade class and ran into some of the same issues that my instructor had run into. So when the opportunity arose to chose a project for a class that is all about students with special needs and Special Education teachers I really wanted to explore something very specific that I had a little bit of personal experience with. The experience I had with the woman in my class that was blind was very different however then that of a teacher as I was her peer, but I was and am still very interested in researching and discussing effective strategies and methods of instruction for the visually impaired. So, my overall goal here is to share any information I may find through my research about effective ways to educate visually impaired students as well as learn from anyone who wishes to share their experiences. I would love for this to become a forum and resource page where educators, parents or caregivers with lots of experience can share their ideas and methods with not just me but other students or new teachers, parents or caregivers with little or no experience with someone who is visually impaired. I look forward to hearing any experiences or ideas from anyone out there willing to share on the subject. Because as Helen Keller said, "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."