Pros and Cons Sensory Aids for Persons With Visual Impairments

Fundamental Approaches to Sensory Aids  

Multisensory techniques are frequently used for children with learning differences. Studies from the National Institute of Child Health and Human development (United States of America) have shown that for children with difficulties in learning to read, a multisensory teaching method is the most effective teaching method. Multisensory teaching techniques and strategies stimulate learning by engaging students on multiple levels. They encourage students to use some or all their senses to:

• Gather information about a task
• Link information to ideas they already know and understand
• Perceive the logic involved in solving problems
• Learn problem solving tasks
• Tap into nonverbal reasoning skills
• Understand relationships between concepts
• Store information and store it for later recall

Principles of Computer Adaptations for Visual Impairments

Adaptations to materials can help reduce the negative impact of visual impairments. Adaptations and the use of assistive technology can "help level the playing field" for students with visual impairments. Keep in my, however, that in order for materials to be least-restrictive, they should be adapted only to the extent necessary for efficient learning. Students should not arbitrarily be provided with adaptations that are appropriate for some students but unnecessary for their needs. The student's unique learning needs must be the basis for all adaptations. In determining the appropriate adaptations, the Teacher of Student's with Visual Impairments (TVI) will consider the adaptations necessary to meet current curricular needs, but will also want to consider how restrictive the materials are and ensure they are least restrictive and adequately prepare the student to use adaptations that will be available once they leave school and enter the workforce.

Reading Aids for Persons with Visual Impairments

The severity of sight problems vary widely for the visually impaired. Those who are mildly nearsighted or farsighted may need visual aids while reading or driving. Others have such severe sight problems that surgery may be the only way to prevent them from going completely blind. In most cases, though, people can choose from a variety of aids to correct their vision. Microsoft products include accessibility features that make it easier to see your computer if you have low vision or colorblindness. Or, if you are blind, Windows allows you to receive information through sound or touch rather than the display.

 Mobility and Orientation Aids For Persons with Visual Impairments

Orientation and mobility training is of crucial importance to many people with vision impairments. Mobility training helps to develop skills required to move around safely in the environment. Some people with vision impairments have enough residual vision to move around independently. Other people may require a mobility aid such as a long cane which will help the person to find a safe way in front of them. Training may involve advising a person with low vision on how to use their residual vision to move around more safely. It may also involve more in-depth training in how to use a mobility aid such as a white cane or a guide dog.

Types of mobility aids are described below. Two organizations in Ireland provide orientation and mobility training for people with vision impairments the National Council for the Blind in Ireland and Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Special- Purpose Visual Aids
Meet the Needs of Visual People

·         Many people grasp information visually more easily than they do verbally. A pie chart, for example, gives them a clear picture of information and they are able to keep that image in their minds long after the presentation is over. Graphs, charts, diagrams and maps are all tools that speak volumes to visually inclined people.

Clarity

·         Visual aids strengthen the clarity of a speaker’s message. Key points can be highlighted by visual aids as well as key vocabulary. An outline of the presentation helps listeners pick up the key points and to be prepared for what is coming. This helps the audience listen better, which, in turn, helps them retain the information longer.

Concepts

·         Visual aids should be more than words on an overhead projector, flip chart or a slide presentation. Visual aids should be used to portray concepts that are more easily understood visually than verbally. For example, a profit pattern displayed in a bar graph is much easier to understand than a list of detailed data. Tangible objects are a good example of visual aids that express concepts. New concepts can be easily understood via hands-on experience. So providing the audience with real life examples and simulations will serve the purpose of making the content easier to understand and remember.

Confidence

·         Visual aids not only serve a purpose to support the listeners of a presentation but they also serve to support the speaker as well. Presenters can use visual aids to prompt themselves to the next section in their speech or the next key concept they want to present. Presenters often use an outline to guide them through the overall plan of their presentation and visual aids throughout the presentation to move them from one point to the next.

Summary

·      The primary purpose of visual aids is to make any kind of information easy for an audience to understand. Visual aids offer variety, diversion, memorable images, examples and opportunities for audience participation and interaction with the information