It is written that the DBVI is to establish with the local school board case load sizes for teachers of the visually impaired.  DBVI does not have the authority to be making these decisions and it is recommended that this be done through the Dept of Education.  It is recommended that the Department of Education set case load caps for teachers of the blind and visually impaired as they have done so for other areas of special education services.  In addition, it is recommended that the authority for distribution of the funds that support the teachers of the visually impaired, instead of being the decision of DBVI, be changed to the authority of Department of Education.

 

Lastly, I am not sure if this would be the appropriate place to discuss this or not, but would like to express my concern for the lack of Orientation and Mobility services that are being provided to the students with visual disabilities in the state of Virginia.  I often see students that I have provided this service to move to a school division who do not have an O&M instructor on staff and therefore the service is not given.  I even more often see students who have either moved into a school division in which I provide services who has desperately been in need of this related service but has not received it nor was even addressed in the students IEP or eligibilities.  I have spoken with my colleagues and they have even told me that they do not even bring the service up, due to the fact that they know that they would be unable to provide it due to lack of available O&M instructors in Virginia.  I realize that the need for O&M instructors is at a critical level in our state, but this cannot be a reason to exclude this needed service. Parents, other teachers in the meetings, and administration are VERY often not even aware of the related service of Orientation and Mobility and what it is, unless they have had the service provided in the past to a student, to even ask for an evaluation to determine if it is appropriate for the child.  Some teachers of the visually impaired, especially those who have only taken the few "add on endorsement" courses, are not sure of what orientation and mobility is and who would benefit.  It is, therefore, my recommendation that just as there is a clause in the IEP factor of consideration section of an IEP that addresses the justification for not teaching braille, that there also needs to be a clause in the IEP that addresses the consideration of Orientation and Mobility for a child who is blind or visually impaired or something that states that all children with an acuity or 20/100 or worse or field restriction that is limits vision to 20 degrees or less be evaluated by an orientation and mobility instructor to determine if orientation and mobility instruction is necessary.