Digital access is a fundamental step to curricular access in all 21st century schools. Blindness and low vision often directly impact access to the curriculum. It might help to think of accessing content as a chain linking the student to their curriculum:
Accessible materials – Technology – Learner technology skills.
The IEP is the educational team’s cohesive plan of a student’s goals and the services and accommodations the school will provide to reach them. The chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
Parents’ Rights During the IEP Process
- You can request a meeting at any time
- You can sign that you were “in attendance only” without agreeing to the contents right away. That way you can take the IEP home to review prior to signing your agreement.
Include Digital Access Throughout the IEP
The following suggestions are ways to include digital access in each of the different parts of the IEP:
- Present level of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP): Document what has worked well for access, what technology skills are mastered, and points of frequent frustration with digital inclusion.
- Annual goals: plan for technology and assistive technology instruction, state clearly what assistive technologies will be used while meeting other goals.
- Program modifications & supports: state who will train or support educators in preparing accessible materials. Document the time staff will be given to make necessary modifications.
- Accommodations: be clear about what formats are accessible, how long in advance they need to be provided to access them appropriately, what back up technology will be in place in case there is a disruption to the primary AT, etc.
- Align accommodations during instruction, during assessment, and across school environments so there is a consistent system. Include plans for access if teaching switches to virtual or hybrid learning.
- Accommodations may also be needed to access school engagement such as the check out in the lunch line, online grade portals, school email, activity schedules, etc. Blind and low vision students should have access to the same information as their sighted peers, at the same time.
Download the Families Toolkit (PDF)
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