The school system itself can often be a good place to start. Every child who meets the criteria of visual impairment in his/her state is qualified to receive service from a certified teacher of students with visual impairment (TVI). The TVI is responsible for assessing a student’s use of vision and visual efficiency in daily life. Such evaluations clarify what kind of learning media (large print, braille or regular print) will be most effective in the case of a specific student. With such information, the TVI can then create an Individualized Education Plan or IEP, used to place a child in the most appropriate educational setting.
Outside of educational services, there are also many technical devices currently on the market to help students with reduced vision excel in school. Non-optical tools such as bold marker or book stands can be a good place to start. High-tech tool, such as CCTVs, can be a good option for the older students. Sight Enhancement of Canada makes the Sci-Plus which is the only “Talking, Large Key, Large Display Calculator in the world for those with Low Vision”. Along with hardware, there are now more assistive computer softwares out there than ever before. A May 2007 publication in Universal Access in the Information Society compared and contrasted various educational software programs from the viewpoint of low vision students. More recently, Note-Taker (a project that came out of Imagine Cup 2011), is helping low vision students learn better in the classroom.
