Shore Educational Collaborative has an exciting immediate opening for a Teacher of the Visually Impaired and/or Orientation & Mobility. This position will provide TVI/O&M evaluation and consultation services to students with visual impairments and additional disabilities ages 3-22. The Teacher will have direct service and consultation to students as per the students IEP Provide goals, accommodations and program recommendations for students’ IEPs.

 

In addition, this role will be part of Massachusetts' Teacher Retirement System and will provide services to various school districts; position requires traveling within MA.

 

Responsibilities:

• Interpret medical eye reports as they relate to educational environments.
• Contribute to the development of the IEPs with recommendations for goals, modifications/ accommodations, and learning styles.
• Provide screening and referral procedures to appropriate personnel.
• Consult with diagnosticians, classroom teachers, students, and families concerning appropriate evaluations, modifications, and test administrations.
• Advise on and arrange for possible modifications/accommodations for classroom and statewide testing.
• Obtain modified standardized testing materials and administer or assist in the administration of the test as needed.
• Participate in team assessments for students with moderate to severe cognitive disabilities.
• Provide assessment, instruction, and consultation to other educational team members on issues related to assistive technology, especially computer-based assistive technology.
• Facilitate social integration and interaction with peers.
• Provide training and support to parents of students with visual impairments to enhance their children’s independence.
• Provide the teachers, staff, and family of students with visual impairment with information regarding their individual needs, methodology, and strategies.
• Participate with other school personnel and agencies to secure job-related experiences for students. 
• Participate in transition planning.

Assessment and Evaluation

• Perform orientation and mobility evaluations that focus on long- and short-term needs of the student for new referrals and at intervals as designated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
• Identify the needs and strengths of the student and an estimate of the length and frequency of service necessary to meet determined needs and include such information in the assessment report
• Contribute to other appropriate portions of the IEP, such as goals and recommendations
• Provide consultation and support services to parents, educators, other team members, and students’ sighted peers
• Confer regularly with parents, classroom teachers, physical education teachers, therapists, and other school personnel to assist in home and classroom modifications to ensure reinforcement of appropriate O&M skills that will encourage the visually impaired student to travel independently in these settings and in the future
• Conduct the functional vision assessment as it relates to independent travel
• Evaluate the student’s progress on an ongoing basis and keep progress notes on each student

 

Appropriate Learning Environments

• Instruct students with visual impairments in skills and knowledge that enable them to travel independently based on the IEP
• Teach students to travel with proficiency, safety, and confidence in familiar and unfamiliar environments
• Prepare sequential and meaningful instruction geared to the student’s assessed needs, IEP goals and objectives, functioning level, and motivation level
• Be responsible for the student’s safety during O&M instruction and in other environments while fostering maximum independence during O&M lessons
• Prepare and use equipment and materials, such as tactile maps, models, distance low-vision aids, pre- canes, and long canes for the development of O&M skills
• Provide orientation of new buildings and new class schedules to students with visual impairments as needed, including those community settings where students receive instruction
• Concept development:
• Gross motor skills
• Visual efficiency skills (with and without aids)
• Pre-cane skills
• Cane skills, including alternate canes
• Map skills
• Outdoor
• Residential
• Semi-business
• Business

 

Support Services

• Provide assistance to the students with visual impairments in understanding their attitudes and those of others concerning their visual impairments
• Emphasize social integration with peers and facilitate opportunities for interaction

Administrative/Record Keeping Duties

• Submit requests for instructional materials, conferences, and reference materials
• Be knowledgeable of community-based resources that may be available to and useful for students with visual impairments
• Provide in-service training to general and special education personnel, administrative personnel, sighted peers, and parents concerning the O&M needs of the student and appropriate methods for interacting with the VI person that will foster maximum independence and safety
• Participate in parent conferences and meetings as well as teacher staffing meetings related to students with visual impairments
• Maintain adequate records on all assessment, IEPs, and progress reports
• Provide progress reports to parents
• Arrange and prepare paperwork as appropriate and attend all staffing meetings on students with visual impairments as they relate to O&M
• Communicate with specialists in low vision, ophthalmologists, and optometrists concerning exams, and attend exams when appropriate.

Minimum Qualifications (required)

• Experience with school-aged children, including preschoolers
• Experience with children with multiple disabilities
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Willingness to travel to student homes, community sites, other schools & districts as assigned
• Master of Education specializing in students with visual impairments required; dual certification in TVI and O&M is preferred but not required