Children with Developmental Challenges

Children With Developmental Challenges 3(2+1)

Lesson 12 : Educatioal Programmes for Visually Impaired- Partially Sighted

Equipment and Materials

Classes for partially sighted children require special equipments and special materials designed to facilitate instruction and learning, These include the following,

• Movable and adjustable desk:
• Movable desk should be adjustable for the height, angle and position. It is preferable to raise the top of the desk for a near sighted child rather than the child to lean over.
• The desk should be placed at a 30 degree angle to the windows to avoid glare and to preclude facing the window directly.
• The child should be seated in such a position that the light falls evenly on his desk.
• Desks seats and tables should be of light neutral colour with some what dull finish.
• Chalkboard: black chalkboard is not recommended for partially seeing children. Instead a gray or gray-green chalkboard is generally used. It reflects more light and still gives adequate contrast to white chalk.
• Pencils and paper: special care in selecting paper and pencil is desirable. The paper of cream colour, unglazed, and slightly rough. The pencils are of heavy lead (thicker than the ordinary pencil lead) and soft.
• Typewriter: children in resource rooms can use primary type writers equipped with large type than the usual typewriter.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Dictaphones and record players: partially seeing children learn a great deal aurally (auditorily) instead of relying only on reading for information. Special classes and resource rooms include Dictaphones and phonographs for presenting lessons and stories and data of many kinds.
• Books and reading materials: classes for partially seeing children contain books with large type usually 18 to 24 points instead of the usual 12 to 14 points. Other materials such as large maps, enlarged graphs and special globes with raises, rough surface are included in the equipments for special class.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Projection and Magnifying equipments: projection equipments which will enlarge charts maps and reading materials is needed.