VIDBE-Q Volume 68 Issue 1
have "a meaningful opportunity to participate in public education programs," yet
the implementation of such programs varies by state (Li et al., 2010; Zacarian,
2011). Therefore, we have students who are not getting adequate support to learn
English, but still, we expect them to perform on grade level or to make measurable
progress in their special education programs. What if they also have visual
disabilities?
Imagine your student who is five years old, typically developing, visually
impaired, and has never seen or met a cow. The student learned from typical
children's books that the cow makes the "Moo" sound, and that milk comes from
cows. The child needs to have the complex concept of what a cow "is" to have a
foundation on which they will build future learning. Dr. Dutton, during one of his
webinars, shared that we need to teach all children the "banananess of a banana." I
use his analogy frequently when I try to explain concept development of students
with visual impairments. Students form complex conceptual mental models or gain
a clear understanding when they have full sensory experiences with the subject of
learning. In the case of the banana, they may have had a chance to engage with the
tree (i.e., in southern states or zoos) and experience the color, smell, texture, and
taste of a banana (i.e., part-to-whole learning; Allman & Lewis, 2014). If the child
with a visual impairment has no word for a new concept, they will need complex,
multisensory, multimodal, and repeated exposures to learn. Children learning
academics in English will need similar support to bridge the languages and
concepts they are attempting to learn simultaneously.
As vision professionals, we may experience challenges when we make
recommendations or face obstacles when we attempt to role-release
implementation of strategies. In short, colleagues do not follow our requests or
guidance when we are not with our students. In the instruction of multilingual
