Students with visual impairments do not have the same opportunity to see the equipment, activity, field, court, or game play as their sighted peers. Therefore, pre-teaching--the exposure to the entire upcoming unit before it starts--is warranted in order better support their inclusion in every activity with their peers at the same pace.

This article describes practical lessons and experiences acquired as part of a journey in teaching a blind student at The University of Arizona to master the written and graphical language of first-semester organic chemistry and its associated concepts. These practical lessons include details on how to adapt an organic chemistry model set (with…

Students with blindness or visual impairment face learning barriers in the typical higher education classroom where a great deal of information is conveyed visually. Instructors can use a variety of strategies to accommodate such students and make visually presented information accessible. One common and inexpensive strategy is the use of tactile…

Visually-impaired students require tailored pedagogies to ensure their instruction is as high quality as for sighted students. They follow board work during class by referring to typed class notes provided ahead of time via a Braille reader, and in-class small groups solving problems create an inclusive "esprit de corps" and promote…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) stress the need for all students to receive excellent science instruction--including those with disabilities--based upon disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices (NGSS Lead States 2013). Further, the NGSS emphasize reducing disparities in student…

One of the key abilities that every student should learn is mastering math skills. It is particularly difficult for blind students who have problems with access to information that is usually presented graphically for common pupils. One of such information in the case of mathematics is the presentation of graphs of functions and geometric shapes.…

Because she had been blind since birth, we knew that our new student, Cricket, would be unable to make the necessary measurements needed to get any meaningful lab data while all of the other students would be able to use highly accurate commercial Vernier calipers. All we had on loan for Cricket was a Brailled plastic tactile meter stick with low…

This work discusses the construction and evaluation of a digital thermometer especially designed to be operated by people with visual disabilities. The accessibility thermometer can be used as an educational tool in practical activities in classes for sighted and visually impaired students, with the aim of helping those with special needs gain…

Creative and Tactile Astronomy is an educational project developed by English and Portuguese teachers. Isabel Borges and Lina Canas from Portugal and Alison Alexander and Ruth Wiltsher from the United Kingdom met for the first time at the 2013 Science on Stage Festival in Slubice-Oder, on the border between Germany and Poland. As a consequence of…

We taught 2 children with visual impairments to select a coin from an array using tactile cues after hearing its name and then to select a coin after hearing its value. Following the acquisition of these listener (receptive language) skills, we then observed the emergence of speaker (expressive language) skills without direct instruction.…

Gifted students with visual impairments are twice exceptional learners and may not evidence their advanced science aptitudes without appropriate accommodations for learning science. However, effective tactile science teaching materials may be easily made. Recent research has shown that when tactile materials are used with "all" students…

NCTM (2000) described geometry as "a means of describing, analyzing, and understanding the world and seeing beauty in its structures" (p. 309). Dossey et al. (2002) captured the essence of this aspect of visualization by stating that geometry fosters in students an ability to "visualize and mentally manipulate geometric objects." (p. 200).…

Electrospinning has been used to create nanofibers for filtration devices, tissue engineering, and protective clothing. Although electrospinning is now widely studied, because of the expensive equipment required and the advanced nature of this topic, it is not commonly found in high school science labs. Through grants from the Ohio State…

This paper describes two techniques for rendering visual concepts encountered in an organic chemistry course into tactile representations for students who have low vision. The techniques--which utilize commercially available products--facilitate communication of organic chemistry between student and instructor. (Contains 1 figure, 2 tables and 1…

Every year on or near October 15, the California School for Blind celebrates National White Cane Day. Over the years, all kinds of events have been planned to celebrate the day. About two years ago, the school decided to do something different. Early that fall, staff members in the Orientation and Mobility Department at the school started teaching…