A Review of Research on the Literacy of Students with Visual Impairments and Additional Disabilities

Abstract

Research on the development of literacy in children with visual impairments and additional disabilities is minimal even though these children make up approximately 65% of the population of children with visual impairments. This article reports on emerging themes that were explored after a review of the literature revealed nine literacy studies that included students with visual impairments and additional disabilities.

Children Who Are Deaf/Hard of Hearing with Disabilities: Paths to Language and Literacy

“…The field of deafblindness has adopted an expansive definition of literacy to include communication and the application of low and high technologies to support interactions and conversation [46]. "A new, more inclusive view of literacy includes all learners [141,142], begins at birth [143], and recognizes that the materials and media of literacy differ across learners" [130] (Evidence-based practices, p. 76). Emerson and Bishop [144] referred to literacy that is experienced though technology as the new literacy.…”

A Summary of the Communication and Literacy Evidence-Based Practices for Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Visually Impaired, and Deafblind

“…Instruction follows the evidence-based principles identified by the National Reading Panel (2000) and the National Early Literacy Panel (2008). However, there has been general agreement that the quality and quantity of literacy experiences in both print and Braille need to improve (Erickson & Hatton, 2007a, 2007b; McCall, McLinden, & Douglas, 2011; Murphy, Hatton, & Erickson, 2008; Parker & Pogrund, 2009; Wormsley & D’Andrea, 2000). Recommended practices for students of school age have included repeated readings, direct instruction in phonics, decoding morphemes, and exposure to a wide variety of reading genres (Erickson & Hatton, 2007a, 2007b; Legge, Madison, & Mansfield, 1999; McCall et al, 2011).…”

“…The traditional view of literacy as reading and writing has been challenged in recent years because it excludes learners who are prelinguistic. A new more inclusive view of literacy includes all learners (McKenzie & Davidson, 2007; Miles, 2005), begins at birth (Parker & Pogrund, 2009), and recognizes that the materials and media of literacy differ across learners. Literacy that is experienced through technology, such as speech-generating devices, is often called the new literacy (Emerson & Bishop, 2012).…”

Functional Literacy for Students With Visual Impairments and Significant Cognitive Disabilities

“…For students with SCDs who also have a visual impairment (VI), an additional level of complexity is added to the task of assessing the student's literacy medium and designing accessible instruction including emergent literacy opportunities (McKenzie, 2009a(McKenzie, , 2009bMims, Browder, Baker, Lee, & Spooner, 2009). Research evidence for students with VIs is substantially more limited than that which exists for students with SCDs in general, without enough studies or systematic replication of them to confirm any specific intervention practices (Parker & Pogrund, 2009). In the few studies available for review, Mims et al (2009) were able to demonstrate that two students with VIs and SCDs could increase their independent response (through object selection) to comprehension questions using shared stories read aloud and a least-to-most prompting system.…”