picture of an eye
VISION
A WebQuest for teachers who work with visually impaired students

By MM Guthrie/ Genesee Valley BOCES
In conjunction with EduTech and help from Kay Mapstone and Mary Kirsch

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This Website is dedicated to teachers who deal with day-to-day contact in their classrooms with visually impaired students. It will introduce some information as to the most commonly found impairments.
This site is for general information ONLY, and does not intend to replace a professional eye examination.
  Mark Gordon, an exceptional Behavioral optometrist, describes vision as "...much much more than seeing 20/20. Vision is the dominant sense. It is this sense we use to interact with our environment; it is the sense we use to guide our body through space and make judgments about the world around us. If you catch a ball you may have good visual acuity to 'see' the ball held by the person throwing it. .But, we use our vision to tell when the ball is being released, how high it is in the air, where it will be as it comes closer to us, where and when our hand has to be in the correct spot to catch the ball and when to close the hand to catch it.
  Vision is learned and develops as a highly regular sequence of events. At birth we 'see'. Then, as we have more visual experiences upon which to build we begin to develop our visual abilities, eye tracking skills, focusing skills, visual perceptual skills, etc. As visual experiences become more familiar the visual system becomes better."

Facts
Approximately 90% of learning in the first few years of life occurs as a result of visual information. To compensate in some measure for any loss of  vision, which is our primary method of obtaining information, extra sensory stimulation steps in attempting to avoid developmental delays. These compensatory skills may make the difference in that child's success  .Cross-sensory perceptions can support ocular perceptions in the following manners:

  • Light directly by touch (heat sensors)
    Field can be directly detected by auditory, kinesthesis (manipulative and perceptive) and touch
    Depth directly detected by auditory (direct sound for identity, direction, distance)
    Kinesthesis (manipulative, and perceptive), imagery can be directly assessed by kinesthesis,and touch,but only indirectly through auditory sense
    Form is detected directly through kinesthesis, and indirectly through hearing and touch
  • Motion is detected directly through hearing, kinesthesis, and touch
  • Color cannot be detected through any other sensory perception
Phone (585) 344-7900 x7535 Home page | Symptoms of Visual Problems | How To Get Help Muscle Imbalances | Refractive Errors | Other Impairments | Visuals | Classroom tips | The Vision Teacher's Job | Resources

 

 

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Genesee Valley BOCES - Last Revised: 16-Sep-2004