According to John’s visiting teacher this type of model of provision is an inherently inappropriate educational provision for blind and visually impaired students, as it translates as: supports initially, tapering off to absolutely nothing and that is a one size fits “High all for everyone, but that definitely does not suit our Plus, they have taken our blind and put our blind in with the generic disabled, if you want to put it that way and have made it so, they will not get the supports that they require.” John’s visiting teacher specifically highlights the issue of reducing support as the child progresses from 3rd class to 4th class: that circular it states that the model of provision is that you will get your supports “In up to about 3rd/4th class primary, after which the decision will be taken whether to continue with the supports, with a recommendation in the circular that from 4th class primary the students should not have support. So you can imagine how well a blind student is going to fare in that...it is going to destroy the education of the blind in Ireland.” More time required to access exam materials A key access area for senior blind and visually impaired students, is ensuring exam materials both preparatory (e.g. mock papers) and official exam papers are accessible and that adequate accommodations are made for taking exams e.g. extra time, scribe, and technology supports. The visiting teacher service is in place to support students securing accessible materials and exam accommodations. All of the students in this study are/were connected to the visiting teacher service for this support. A common challenge for blind and visually impaired students during exams is time management. Aoife describes her struggle with time management and the lack of understanding about the extra time she required for exams, as she explains: was very hard especially for me for time management, there wasn’t much “It understanding there with regards to me writing four essays. It was only ten minutes per hour at Leaving Cert, I was lucky to even get the ten minutes per hour because at one stage that the department were only on about giving me ten minutes in … total extra because entitled to rest periods as well during the Leaving Cert, …we’re so I'd say, after probably the first two essays, take a rest period because you're allowed fifteen to twenty minutes’ rest, and then I thought thank God for the visiting
According to John’s visiting teacher this type of model of provision is an inherently inappropriate educational provision for blind and visually impaired students, as it translates as: “High supports initially, tapering off to absolutely nothing and that is a one size fits all for everyone, but that definitely does not suit our Plus, they have taken our blind and put our blind in with the generic disabled, if you want to put it that way and have made it so, they will not get the supports that they require.” John’s visiting teacher specifically highlights the issue of reducing support as the child progresses from 3rd class to 4th class: “In that circular it states that the model of provision is that you will get your supports up to about 3rd/4th class primary, after which the decision will be taken whether to continue with the supports, with a recommendation in the circular that from 4th class primary the students should not have support. So you can imagine how well a blind student is going to fare in that...it is going to destroy the education of the blind in Ireland.” More time required to access exam materials A key access area for senior blind and visually impaired students, is ensuring exam materials both preparatory (e.g. mock papers) and official exam papers are accessible and that adequate accommodations are made for taking exams e.g. extra time, scribe, and technology supports. The visiting teacher service is in place to support students securing accessible materials and exam accommodations. All of the students in this study are/were connected to the visiting teacher service for this support. A common challenge for blind and visually impaired students during exams is time management. Aoife describes her struggle with time management and the lack of understanding about the extra time she required for exams, as she explains: “It was very hard especially for me for time management, there wasn’t much understanding there with regards to me writing four essays. It was only ten minutes per hour at Leaving Cert, I was lucky to even get the ten minutes per hour because … at one stage that the department were only on about giving me ten minutes in total extra because …we’re entitled to rest periods as well during the Leaving Cert, so I'd say, after probably the first two essays, take a rest period because you're allowed fifteen to twenty minutes’ rest, and then I thought thank God for the visiting
Visual%20Impairment%20Research%20-%20Tagged%20Word%20Version.docx