Low Vision & Literacy Skills

Acquiring literacy skills proves especially challenging for students with low vision. Physical and psychological implications often decrease literacy skills, but dual learning and other reading strategies help reduce these difficulties.

Skill Trends

• Children with low vision often gain reading and spelling skills at a slower pace than fully sighted children, especially when word-decoding skills remain low. Visually impaired students do not typically have many abnormal problems with reading comprehension as long as they receive enough time to read at a relaxed pace.

Psychological Issues

• The psychological issues associated with low vision impact students' literacy levels. Students identified solely by their visual impairment struggle with illiteracy more than visually impaired students identified by other means.

Dual Learning

• Dual learning methods teach braille and print simultaneously. Teaching braille in addition to print can increase overall speed, decrease visual fatigue, and give students whose eyesight continues to decrease a start on learning braille.

Reading Strategies

• Reading strategies involve the use of media to help students complete literacy tasks. Paper strategies include large print text, hand-held magnification and paper Braille. E-Text strategies include plain or magnified text using a computer monitor, changing text fonts or colors and refreshable Braille. Auditory strategies include live readers and audio books.