One of the biggest challenges in supporting a blind or vision impaired student in a mainstream setting, whether primary or secondary, is getting the timetable balance right.
Alongside the National Curriculum, which is a full timetable already, the student also needs to have time to work on their specialist curriculum. In the UK, we work with the Curriculum Framework for Children and Young with Vision Impairment (CFVI) which contains 11 areas of learning ranging from technology to orientation and mobility. So, to squeeze this huge specialist curriculum into an already packed week is nearly impossible – something has to give.
It is our job to work with the setting to help develop a bespoke timetable to cover the important and enjoyable areas of the National Curriculum and find times within each day to cover areas of the CFVI. This can be a challenge within itself, some settings find it difficult to get their head around the fact that the student just cannot participate in all subjects, however, when we get it right, it really works.
For example, one blind student may still be learning the braille code for English, maths, a foreign language and music. They may also be learning to use braille technology, as well as a standard laptop for touch typing and ongoing long cane training. And this doesn’t include independent living skills or filling the gaps from subjects lessons that they may have missed because the pace is so fast, particularly at High School. And at the end of the day, quite often, the student is exhausted because being a tactile learner is mentally and physically demanding.
My advice is do less and do it better rather than try to cram too much into the school week. Be kind to yourselves as specialist and mainstream professionals because the provision you make will never be perfect, but it will be the best that you can offer with the time you have. And the engagement and progress from the student will speak for itself. Finally, don’t be afraid to change the timetable if it is not working, nothing has to be set in stone, observe and listen to the student they will give you all the clues you need to get it right. But the bottom line is something definitely has to give.
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