17/2: Reflection - BLENNZ Meeting

Reflection: BLENNZ Meeting

17th February 2017

Today at lunch we were lucky enough to have a member of the Blind and Low Vision Education Network NZ (BLENNZ) come in and talk to us. This year we have a student in Year 9 with Oculocutaneous Albinism. The school and BLENNZ meet his teachers to discuss what this meant, learning challenges and how we can help him to overcome them.

Oculocutaneous Albinism means that this student has a lack of pigmentation in his hair and skin and it effects his eyes. The fovea (pit at the back of the retina responsible for sharp vision) is affected and this particular student has a vision ranging from 6/36 - 6/60 (the "normal/average" vision is 6/6. We were told that he can fluctuate depending on the level of tiredness, stress of hunger he is experiencing.

As his vision is impaired it can challenge his learning. Examples could be; struggling to navigate school especially when busy, not being able to see written work well without the use of technology, could struggle in situations such as sports/ games when a ball could be moving fast.

So as his teachers what can we do to help?

• use digital format so he is able to enlarge the screen/text
• may need extra verbalization of tasks e.g. not practical/visual demonstrations of work
• be conscious of glare on whiteboards/desktops
• use blue or black markers on whiteboards rather than red or green
• use black and white or blue and yellow on data projection
• consider everyday language of over there etc and try and give directions in more detail
• if watching video clips in class send the link to him prior to the class or after so he can review it

Personally I think a meeting like this proved valuable. I can now actually understand his condition and what his vision is like. I can now take this information into consideration when planning lessons for the class. I can consider if I need to modify lessons to better suit his needs and ensure that he is still included in all activities. 

A handout from today's session with more information on Hugo's condition can be found here.