Pediatric Vision Services

Nassau County & Suffolk County - Long Island

What is a Visual Disability?

A visual disability is a physical disability that manifests itself in reduced visual efficiency due to disorders pertaining to the organ of the eye, and/or the cortex of the brain.

Categories of Visual Disabilities

Partially Sighted: Visual impairment that adversely affects a student’s educational performance even when corrected to the best extent possible.

Low Vision: A visual acuity that is between 20/70 to 20/160 and cannot be corrected.

Legal Blindness: A visual acuity that is 20/200 to 20/400, or visual fields of 20 degrees or less.

Blindness: Lack of perceivable light perception.

The Teacher for the Blind and Visually Impaired focuses on the educational impact of visual disabilities on a student’s processing of their surroundings, and on tasks appropriate to their age and development.

Services include

Functional vision evaluations
Learning media adaptations
Provision of additional resources
Consultation services for parents, classroom teachers, and therapeutic team members.

What Type of Instruction does the Teacher for the Blind and Visually Impaired Offer?

The Teacher for the Blind and Visually Impaired offers specialized instruction to strengthen a child’s visual efficiency, compensatory skill practice, and communication skill practice, which may involve the use of modified materials and equipment such as large print or Braille, slant boards or light boxes.

What is the difference between a Vision Therapist and a Teacher for the Blind and Visually Impaired?

A vision therapist is an optometrist who specializes in the resolution of visual disorders through the use of vision exercises and therapeutic lenses, prisms or other devises to promote binocular vision. A Teacher for the Blind and Visually Impaired is a licensed/certified educator who utilizes diagnostic information to develop appropriate educational plans to best facilitate and encourage the development of a child’s functional vision.