Blindness and Visual Impairment Resources

This text focuses on observations of children with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia (ONH) and related therapies.

Designed especially for the young braille reader, this tactile reference book features over 30 pages of entries on a fascinating selection of creatures, from bears and big cats to birds and bugs. DK Braille Animals is a wonderful way for curious readers to discover the animal kingdom.

This paperback book was written by children 9-15 years of age who have brothers and sisters who are blind or visually impaired.  It chronicles their stories and covers a broad array of topics including finding out, jealousy, guilt, pride, reactions of others, and lessons learned.

This bilingual (English/Spanish) book comprises six chapters each of Part I & II on Early Learning and Blind and Visually Impaired Children and on Activities for Blind and Visually Impaired Preschoolers.

This easy-to-use reference guide includes common braille to print and print to braille conversions, as well as punctuation, new UEB contractions, and general rules and terminology.

This book uses print and braille to teach young readers to count.

This manual describes what is known about the development of infants with visual impairments and contains information based on recent research and empirically-based observations. This guidebook is helpful to professionals who work with infants with visual impairments. Professionals and caregivers will learn the sequence in which many skills develop.

Offers personal and insightful answers to children’s most commonly asked questions about blindness from a woman who lost her sight at the age of 26.

This book provides comprehensive information for professionals in such areas as vision, cognitive development, literacy, social development, motor development, and mobility. Early Focus offers tested strategies and recommended approaches to working with young children who are visually impaired or have multiple disabilities and their families, including those that are culturally diverse.

This book offers guiding principles for early intervention with very young children who are visually impaired and who may also have additional disabilities and provides simple activities that can be incorporated easily by families and service providers into the everyday routines of a baby or child to facilitate early visual development and use of functional vision.

This book uses print and braille to teach young readers about farms and farm animals.

This resource for engaging individuals with sensory impairments in physical games, building fundamental movement skills, and having fun, includes descriptions of a number of appropriate games for people with sensory impairments. It also provides detailed information on sensory impairments and descriptions of diversified instruction techniques. Appropriate for both children and adults, the book offers strategies on how to help students of all ages to develop basic physical skills and to encourage them to be active for their entire lives. 

An easy step by step braille tutorial for beginners. Learn how to write the 26 letters in the Braille alphabet, recognize each letter and number, and know how to write them.

This book informs parents of blind or visually impaired children about the ways this group of children learns and offers specific ideas on how to nuture a child’s early development.

Packed with mind-blowing records and facts from around the world described in both large print and braille, DK Braille: It Can’t be True! also features tactile images for readers to feel what they are reading, from the largest eyeball to the biggest spider. 

Davey, a blind student, refuses all help from his new classmates, even while playing kickball at recess, until they find a way to help without doing everything for him.

A comprehensive book that addresses the systematic development of skills in listening for and interpreting auditory information. Listening skills are a crucial but often-overlooked area of instruction for children who are visually impaired and may have multiple disabilities; they relate to the expanded core curriculum for students and are essential to literacy, independent travel, and sensory and cognitive development.

This guide is based on experiences of the PAVII Project, a model demonstration project of the Handicapped Children’s Early Education Program. From 1985 to 1988 the San Francisco-based project served 27 families and their infants who were visually impaired. Learning Together contains activities which were identified as priorities by parents and accompanying strategies which were developed and used by parents and staff

Containing tactile features, Braille-style numbering, play elements, high-contrast images and a rhythmic rhyming text, this book is designed to create as sensory and involved experience as possible.

Introduces different ways of getting to places, using braille as well as simple text and illustrations.

This handbook brings together material from a variety of sources to guide teachers and parents in supporting a young child with a visual impairment in his/her first steps toward literacy.

This text focuses on learning at developmental stages, expanded strategies to promote children’s skills, and preparation for early intervention, preschool, kindergarten, and beyond.

This text uses print and braille to teach young readers about shapes.

A picture book biography of Louis Braille that includes the Braille alphabet.

Some people are blind. What does that mean? Using simple, engaging text and full-color photos, readers learn what blindness is, how it can be caused, and what daily life is like for someone who can’t see.

Lisa, who is visually impaired, explains how she finds her way around school, knows where her clothes are in her closet, and even plays baseball!

This book describes the relationships between assessments, placements, and programming are described in detail, and provide rationale for best educational practice for visually impaired learners. The text also contains a set of listening games, touch typing lessons, a list of indicators for evaluating gifted programs, lists of assessment instruments and resources, and an updated timeline of major events in the history of education for visually impaired students. 

Wee Play, Wee Learn is full of fun activities and useful information that will teach you how to effectively work with visually impaired infants and toddlers. 

Offers a list of tips for parents and families of children who are blind or visually impaired  

An article that includes advice for parents of partially sighted children that emphasizes fostering positive attitudes about blindness. 

This article is written from a parent’s point of view. It talks about blindness and what it means in the mind of a blind child.  This is insightful and can help parents to understand a different perspective on blindness.

A series of development charts for babies who are blind or visually impaired that tell parents what skills your blind or visually impaired child should have at certain age groups.

A list of play-based activities for children with visual impairment to help promote sensory and motor development.

Parents can provide interesting situations and objects to encourage a blind baby’s exploration and play.

Provides insights into the importance of explaining visually impaired children about their own body through clear language and activities to promote healthy socio-emotional development. 

This article from the Blind Children’s Resource Center suggests creative and safe use of everyday objects to encourage a child with disabilities to play.

This resource provides guidance for preschool programs on how to support and include children with vision disabilities, ensuring they learn alongside their peers. 

This comprehensive website provides information on vision development for providers and families, including milestones, screening tools, and a tool kit for providers and families. Many resources are available in Spanish.

This website provides information to assist educators and families in the quest to provide literacy experiences for children who are blind or visually impaired.

A collection of materials and resources to help educators and families in supporting children with vision impairments.

The Blind Children’s Resource Center is dedicated to providing ideas, assistance, and information that will help blind/VI children with developmental delays and additional disabilities reach their potential.

The Early Intervention Training Program (EITP) website offers a variety of national and regional resources related to hearing and vision.

Family Connect is all about getting families who have children that are blind connected to many different resources. This is a big resource website that gives parents of blind children a place to support each other.

A comprehensive guide for parents of blind and low-vision children that includes organizations, reading materials, and educational resources. 

A guide for parent who have children diagnosed with vision loss, which includes strategies for early intervention and adapting daily routines. 

A comprehensive collection of state and national resources for blind individuals including educational programs and organizations.

Offers key tips and resources to help parents support the learning and development of children with visual impairments. 

A guide to understanding DTVs as part of the Early Intervention Team for families of children with vision loss.