VIDBE-Q Volume 65 Issue 4
Hatlen, the instructor of one of my courses, drew two large rectangles on the
blackboard and asked students in the class to identify the subject areas taught in
school. As we listed various subjects—reading/language arts, mathematics, social
studies, science, music, art—he filled the first rectangle. He then had us go through
the areas of instruction for which children with visual impairments might need
specific, targeted instruction, based on what we had learned in our coursework.
Social skills, independent living skills, orientation and mobility, career education,
concept development, sensory motor activities, and communication skills were
among our replies. The question asked, but left unanswered, was: how to "fit" all
of what children who are visually impaired need to learn into the 18 to 21 years of
pre-adult development?
Although that answer remains elusive, the field of services to students with
visual impairments has changed since the time of that exercise in a classroom so
long ago. There is now broad acceptance that students with visual impairments do
indeed have educational needs that cannot be met in general education classrooms
and that these students must be provided with individualized, targeted instruction
in key areas necessary for adult success: skills related to compensatory access,
assistive technology, sensory efficiency, orientation and mobility, independent
living, social interaction, recreation and leisure, career education, and self-
determination. First referred to as unique, or disability-specific, needs (Hatlen &
