Science and visual impairment at P level 5

The visually impaired child will find exploring the environment challenging. The skill of matching objects for a child with no functional vision will depend on the object’s tactile qualities such as shape, texture, weight, temperature and smell.

Begin by reading about the main challenges for visually impaired children across subject areas and suggestions for inclusion.

You can:

• Create a mini-environment that the pupil can explore from a static position, or an environment to explore with their whole body by such as climbing under and over things. Think about safety issues and the level of support needed.
• Help with object matching by getting the child to refer back to the other things they have felt, and to find similarities. Do this through structured questioning, to encourage the pupil into this way of thinking.
• Use bright colours for the pupil with some vision. Make sure there is good lighting.
• Help them with showing and demonstrating but structure this support so the pupil has as much input as possible.