Through Their Eyes: An Introduction to Low Vision; Moving through The World: Gross Motor Skills and Play; Successfully Adapting the Preschool Environment; Hands On Experience: Tactual Learning and Skills; Power at Your Fingertips: An Introductio
VIPS - Visually Impaired Preschool Services Inc.
Summary for - Through Their Eyes: An Introduction to Low Vision
This 13-minute videotape recording is sixth in a series of eleven videotapes developed to show parents and professionals some practical and sound ways to assist the young child who is blind or visually impaired to develop needed skills and to take off on the road to independence. It discusses several common causes of low vision, how they affect visual functioning, and adaptations that can be incorporated simply into home and classroom to meet the special needs of children who have low vision.
Summary for - Moving Through The World: Gross Motor Skills and Play
This 9-minute videotape recording is seventh in a series of eleven videotapes. It discusses key gross motor skills and demonstrates simple and fun play activities that parents and teachers can use to encourage a progression of skills from infancy through preschool age.
Summary for - Successfully Adapting the Preschool Environment
This 10-minute videotape recording is the ninth in a series of eleven videotapes. It demonstrates a variety of adaptations that can be introduced easily and effectively into the typical preschool classroom to accommodate the special needs of students with visual impairments.
Summary for - Hands On Experience: Tactual Learning and Skills
This 8-minute videotape recording is the eighth in a series of eleven videotapes. It discusses the importance of tactual learning, the progression of tactual skills from infancy through preschool needed for preparing children for Braille reading, and how parents and teachers can help.
Summary for - Power at Your Fingertips: An Introduction to Learning Braille
This 18-minute videotape recording is the tenth in a series of eleven videotapes. It features instruction in the Braille alphabet and numbers, an introduction to the use of contractions in Braille, and training in the use of the slate and stylus and Braille writer for writing Braille. Using high-quality graphics to demonstrate Braille symbols, it is designed as a tutorial for parents and teachers to get started in using Braille with their children who are blind and to pursue self-instruction at their own pace.
VIPS - Visually Impaired Preschool Services Inc.. Through Their Eyes: An Introduction to Low Vision; Moving through The World: Gross Motor Skills and Play; Successfully Adapting the Preschool Environment; Hands On Experience: Tactual Learning and Skills; Power at Your Fingertips: An Introductio (1996). VIPS - Visually Impaired Preschool Services, Inc.: Louisville, KY.
Sponsoring Agency: Various state agencies
Language: English
Reading Level: Average
Formats Available: Videotape
(Power at Your Fingertips cost $69.95 and comes with slate, stylus and handbook. Videos are available separately or as a set at reduced cost. No shipping and handling charge when five or fewer videos are ordered.)
VIPS - Visually Impaired Preschool Services, Inc.
1229 Gavin Place
Louisville, KY
40203
Phone: (888) 636-8477
Email: info@vips.org
URL: http://www.vips.org/
Languages Available: English
Intended User Audience:
Parents/family members and faculty/trainers in the areas of EI/ECSE and orientation and mobility can use this material. The videos are presented at an introductory level.
Product Development:
This material was developed by a group of parents/family members and faculty/trainers in the areas of ECE, EI/ECSE, and orientation and mobility.
Product Evaluation:
This material has not been formally evaluated and there are no plans at this time to do so.
Product Dissemination:
The videos have been disseminated throughout the United States and Canada. (The total number purchased is unknown.)
Review #1
About the reviewer:
The reviewer is currently a state early intervention consultant who
has extensive experience with children and families across multiple
settings in different states. The reviewer has been involved in
programs serving families of diverse backgrounds and has particular
interest in designing materials for parents for whom English is a
second language.
Audience:
This set of four nine-minute videotapes and the twenty-minute video on Braille are developed for families and trainers interested in early intervention and orientation and mobility. It is created for English-speaking viewers and while it does not target a specific cultural group or community, it demonstrates most concepts with young children in group settings.
Strengths of the Material:
The videos contain many contemporary clips of babies, toddlers and preschoolers with visual impairments and their families some of whom are culturally and linguistically diverse. The scenes and interviews explain introductory concepts for encouraging exploration of the environment within natural routines. The videos demonstrate collaboration between service providers and families. They specifically address the importance of early childhood and special educators working together to develop settings and atmospheres where children can use their sense of touch to discover and learn. Suggestions are given for adapting activities or the environment and responding to a child's sensory interests. These can be useful to diverse families and interdisciplinary teams. Through simple, frequent visual examples and brief auditory discussions viewers can gain an understanding of varied teaching techniques. Additional resources and contacts are listed where more information could be obtained.
Limitations of the Material:
Cultural and linguistic influences on learning are not specifically included in examples. Situations are not discussed where cultural beliefs may not encourage active touching or young children's independence. Different beliefs, practices, preferences, roles and environments of families are not addressed. Honoring first languages spoken by children with visual impairments and their families is not explored. The importance of auditory input, the challenges when service providers and families speak different languages, and issues related to teaching Braille based on the English alphabet could be key concerns when using a material with a linguistically diverse audience. These are not covered.
Adaptations:
The users of these videos could arrange small group viewings and supplement them by discussing with families how they might suggest altering approaches and activities to be acceptable in their cultural practices. Portions of the tapes could be shown with assistance of an interpreter, to facilitate discussion with viewers speaking languages other than English. Written materials and community meetings could be structured to explore the roles, choices, rights and resources available to families. Braille instruction could be revised to include language preferences of families.
Generalizability:
Visual impairment is often not well understood by people not trained in that field. The use of these videos could be expanded to introduce tactual exploration to English- speaking extended family members, paraprofessionals in early childhood settings, related service personnel, and those interested in services for young children with visual impairment. A trainer sensitive to cultural and linguistic concerns could infuse additional perspectives and information to broaden the impact and implementation of this information.
Recommendations:
This material is recommended with adaptations. It has basic relevant developmental and family centered information for parents and early childhood personnel involved with children with visual impairments. Viewing the videos with culturally and linguistically diverse representatives and providing opportunities to read, discuss and explore the implications of values, routines and languages for early learning would enrich the videos.
Producer's Response:
Not available at this time.
Review #2
About the reviewer:
The reviewer is an associate professor in the department of special
education and communication disorders at Valdosta State University.
She has taught in the area of speech language pathology for 21 years.
For 16 of those years she has worked with clients and students from
culturally diverse and underserved populations. Her work for the
past ten years has involved research on infants and toddlers in
at-risk environments, effective assessment and treatment procedures
for families in rural areas, and cultural considerations in testing
and treatment procedures. She holds the certificate of clinical
competence from the American Speech Language Hearing Association,
licensed from the state of Georgia; and she is a state trainer of
personnel seeking credentials in early intervention.
Audience:
This series of videos is intended for parents, family members, faculty and trainers in the areas of early childhood education, early intervention, early childhood special education, orientation, and mobility. The videos are presented at an introductory level to demonstrate a progression of skills in crucial areas of development for the child who is visually impaired. These videos were developed by a group of parents, family members, faculty, and trainers in early childhood education, early intervention, early childhood special education, orientation and mobility. The videos are not written with a specific geographic region, cultural or linguistic group in mind. Copies of the videos have been disseminated across the United States and Canada.
Strengths of the Material:
The videos are sequenced in an organized manner with a format that is easy to follow. There are five videos starting with an introduction on low vision and progressing to an introduction to learning Braille. Low vision conditions are defined and demonstrated. Examples of various visual levels are shown to the audience, to give a better understanding of what the environment looks like at particular visual levels. The videos include an effective explanation of technical terms and symptoms of the various problems are explained for identification purposes.
A variety of groups are used on the videos (e.g., disabilities, gender, race, and generations). Information is included on the progression of the child's current level of development and the type and degree of visual impairment. Suggestions for adapting activities, materials, and the environment are presented to accommodate the abilities and sensory needs of individual children. The videos promote collaboration among providers, teachers, and visual specialists, with suggestions for families.
The comprehension level is easy, mainly using simple sentences with minimal technical jargon. An understanding is emphasized of the importance of the development of gross motor skills and tactile awareness to promote Braille readiness. The importance is thoroughly outlined of teaching Braille to parents and teachers and making them aware of the equipment that is involved.
Limitations of the Material:
Although a variety of groups are used throughout on the videos (e.g., disabilities, gender, race, and generations), the individuals represented appear to be predominantly from Euro-American families. There are a couple of instances where African Americans are represented. The videos assume that the viewers are highly exposed to the complexity of cultural and linguistic issues in providing services to visually impaired individuals. Cultural and linguistic sensitivity to families is not addressed. Although the videos incorporate practices recommended for teaching children as well as adult learners, no culturally and linguistically diverse presenters provide instruction.
Adaptations:
The information and strategies provided offer basic knowledge and guidelines for individuals working with children with visual impairments. Because culturally and linguistically diverse population were not merged into the topics discussed throughout the videos, several changes would need to be made before the videos could be used with diverse populations. The following recommendations are made: 1) Case studies of various culturally and linguistically diverse populations may be used with each video to look at how various cultural groups might respond to the activities included on each video. 2) When using the videos for instructional purposes, users could include small group discussions about gross motor development, home environments, preschool environments, child rearing practices, and working with adults who are culturally and linguistically diverse. 3) Translation of the videos in different languages would be necessary for non-English-speaking individuals.
Generalizability:
The videos strongly emphasize valuable information and strategies with children who are visually impaired. They are not designed for the purpose of increasing cross-cultural competence. The information on infant-toddlers and preschoolers who are visually impaired provides a common core of knowledge for all practitioners, teachers, and parents.
Recommendations:
Overall, the videos have no reference to cultural and linguistic diversity. However, the videos have many strengths and may be easily adaptable by potential users. Therefore, the reviewer recommends these videos with the above noted adaptations.
Producer's Response:
Not available at this time.
If you have used this item and would like to comment on it, please send a message With your comments to the
CLAS Webmaster. In your message, please indicate the title,
author, and CLAS Accession Number (see Bibliographic Information above) for the document.