others view their intelligence and personality first and their impairment second .”
Leaning into varied learning styles
Inside Ross ’ s classroom , a skeleton stands sentinel in the Wakanda Forever salute , and shelves of 3D models and braille readers line the walls . Her teaching style is fluid , upbeat , and engaging — and requires a lot of on-the-fly creativity . Ross has found her visionimpaired students learn best when she incorporates an array of learning styles and engages their other senses , from touch and sound to smell and taste .
To help understand and remember the component parts and processes of a plant , Ross ’ s students taste fruits like bananas and strawberries , root vegetables like potatoes and beets , and stems like celery and asparagus . When teaching geology , she has them grind up crayons to create a texture like sediment , then squeeze handfuls of the stuff to learn how sedimentary rock is formed . To learn about chemical reactions , they put antacid tablets and water into Ziploc bags so they can experience the change in temperature , hear the fizzing , and feel the bag expand with air .
Ross ’ s tool kit also includes tactile graphics students can “ see ” with their fingers , and an embosser ( braille printer ) that allows them to label those diagrams . Technologies like
ZoomText magnify words and images on a screen , and
JAWS provides speech and braille output for the text on a web page or document and for the commands required to navigate within an application .
These not only help students access the curriculum , but also assist them in developing critical digital and “ soft ” skills they ’ ll need to succeed in the future .
“ The ability to use technology is key to independence and learning for our students , because with it they have a world of current information at their fingertips ,” says Ross . “ The screen readers on their laptops and braille displays let them have access to the same written and audio information on the internet as others . They can correspond with the sighted world via email and messaging without others knowing they have an impairment , which often helps
LESSON PLAN Ross in her classroom , above . Among the technology she relies on to bring her curriculum to life is a braille typewriter , opposite .
The accessibility gap
While accessibility to personal devices like smartphones has come a long way in recent years , still some 60 % of visually impaired people reported that new technologies weren ’ t available to them , according to a small national survey by the
American Foundation for the Blind . Among the findings : 17 % didn ’ t have tablets , and 21 % lacked laptops .
In the US labor force , there ’ s a high unemployment rate among workers with visual impairment . According to 2018 data from the American Community Survey ( ACS ), more than half of working-age people who are blind or visually impaired are not in the labor market , meaning they are not working and not seeking work , compared with fewer than a quarter of people without disabilities . Only 44 % of people who are blind or visually impaired are employed , compared with 79 % of those without disabilities , the data showed . And when persons with visual impairments are employed , they
often face barriers to getting the tools and accommodations they need to be successful at their jobs .
Expanding access to technology for individuals from marginalized communities and people with disabilities is a key focus of
HP ’ s digital equity goals , which aim to accelerate digital equity for 150 million people by 2030 . Technology can be a critical stepping-stone to students ’ success for whatever comes next , either higher education or launching a career , says GMS principal Matt Mescall .
“ Technology is the great equalizer ,” he says . “ So much of what we do is digital and computerized . Our students have unique perspectives and ways of solving complex problems — they just need to be invited to the conversation .”
Learning to navigate
At Morehead , a leafy 67-acre campus with redbrick buildings that date from 1845 , students study not only academics , but also life skills . While a few students commute daily from their nearby homes , most have the unique experience of living on campus in cottages five days a week . They learn everything from how to navigate the world using a white cane to how to make lunch , practice table manners , and shop , along with traditional subjects like English , math , and biology .
Morehead ’ s Career and Technical Education program lays out pathways to different professional roles , with training in business , Adobe and Microsoft software , radio broadcasting , screen printing , and working with assistive technology .
“ Our students are being prepared to live an independent life , contribute to their communities , and participate as global citizens ,”
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