A a photo collage of Primary Education Students: a young boy gardening, girls working with paper crafts, a girl smelling a flower and a toddler working on mobility while stepping out of one of the Laura Dozer Village play houses.

Primary Education

The Foundation for Blind Children is a place of transformation. Our goal is to get our students back to their regular classroom at their local elementary school.

For those students that can transition to their public school option, the FBC provides Itinerant Vision Services to continue in the child’s development. These are the services that children with visual impairments receive in school to access their curriculum.  It’s called “Itinerant” because a teacher drives from school to school and works with each student individually.  The people who provide these services are called “Teachers of the Visually Impaired” or TVIs. To learn more about our Itinerant Vision Services, please click [here]. (links to service link)

We also have a Primary Education Program (or PEP program) created for those students who are not quite ready for public school options. This specialized center-based placement option will allow the student the opportunity to gain skills and have a more successful transition into public school.

PEP is just one option in the continuum of educational placement options offered through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the governing law that determines all special education services.  The option to place a child in PEP is determined by the needs of the child and the appropriate available programs within the child’s district.  Some PEP students come for only a year.  Others may spend two or more years getting ready to join their public school peers.

Our mission for the PEP program is to provide specialized instruction that allows children with visual disabilities, including those with additional disabilities, to develop pre-academic and academic skills that will facilitate a transition to a more competitive environment with participation to the fullest extent possible.

 

Philosophy of Instruction

This program ...

provides an atmosphere that will give access to learning in a manner equal to that of sighted peers.

provides classroom instruction by a certified teacher of children with visual impairment designed to maximize the use of visual and/or compensatory skills across all academic areas.

provides skill instruction at each individual child’s demonstrated potential in pre-academic and academic areas.

provides instruction from specialists in occupational therapy, physical therapy, communication, augmentative communication, orientation and mobility, and technology experienced in the unique aspects of and impact of visual impairment compounded by other disabilities on the learning process.

provides an intensive sensory curriculum to integrate remaining senses to better receive, process and use information.

 

Who is a potential PEP student?

PEP is an educationally and sensory based program.  Students must have a severe visual impairment that impacts access to educational materials.  Students are of primary school age (6-10) and show a readiness for academic work.  Some of these things include the ability to make choices, beginning letter sound and recognition, beginning number recognition, beginning name recognition, and an ability to follow simple directions.  PEP students require intensive/daily support from a teacher of students with visual impairment and significant modifications to the educational environment in order to access the curriculum.

 

For more information on our PEP program, please call 602-331-1470. To donate, please call 602-331-7901.