VIDBE-Q Volume 65 Issue 4
Sandra Lewis, Ed.D.
Florida State University
slewis@fsu.edu
The Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) first originated in the mind of Dr.
Philip Hatlen, one of the keenest—and most articulate—observers of the impact of
visual impairment on learning who ever lived. Early in his career, Dr. Hatlen was
an enthusiastic advocate for the inclusion of children with significant visual
impairment in local school programs. He often spoke with pride of his role during
this exciting time, when he and other pioneers of inclusion believed that the
educational needs of children who were blind were no different than those of their
sighted peers. They supported the notion that the primary roles of teachers of
students with visual impairments (TVIs) were to teach braille to students who
needed it, provide materials, and support students' acquisition of knowledge
through tutoring (Hatlen, 1990).
That passion for inclusion was tested by an unanticipated phenomenon that
occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. The children whose education Dr. Hatlen had
100 Years in the Making: Appropriate Services to
Students with Visual Impairments
