As a fundamental component of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) for
Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired, assistive technology (AT) represents
a top priority for students with visual impairments (Sapp & Hatlen, 2010). Despite
its importance, this subject remains an area of difficulty and challenge for
practitioners. Because there are so many types of AT available for use with
students with visual impairment, and because these AT can be complicated and
challenging to learn and to teach, many teachers of students with visual impairment
(TSVIs) find themselves at a loss when attempting to teach AT to their students
with visual impairments. Many TSVIs may not feel prepared to teach assistive
technology or know where to find answers to the questions about AT they
encounter along the way. Current research shows that TSVIs do not rate
themselves as prepared or proficient at teaching AT (Zhou et al., 2012). Both
veteran and newly-trained TSVIs continue to struggle with evaluation, adaptation,
lesson planning, implementation, and consistent reflection and review of student in
the area of AT (Mulloy et al., 2014). The aim of this article is to illuminate the
landscape of assistive technology for people with visual impairments and the many
paths forward available for TSVIs navigating that landscape.
Finding Your Way
While the educational journey of each student with visual impairment is
unique, there is a proverbial map of the landscape of visual impairment education
