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It is a well-established belief that students with visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) need specific instruction in a set of skills called the expanded core curriculum (ECC) (Hatlen, 1996) in addition to the core curriculum subjects needed by all students. These specialized skills are needed because of the effect of visual impairment on the ability of students with visual impairments to observe others and the world in general, the way many skills and concepts are learned incidentally by individuals with vision. ECC Essentials: Teaching the Expanded Core Curriculum to Students with Visual Impairments is the first comprehensive publication that specifically addresses all nine areas of the ECC: compensatory access, sensory efficiency, assistive technology, orientation and mobility (O&M), independent living, social interaction, recreation and leisure, career education, and self-determination.
This book is targeted for vision professionals, specifically teachers of students with visual impairments and O&M specialists, whose primary roles are to evaluate, instruct, and support the ECC with their students who are blind or visually impaired. It contains a wealth of information that will also be of value to the families of these children, other educators and related service professionals working with these students, and administrators who may not understand the significance of the ECC for students with visual impairments.
The key message reiterated multiple times throughout the book is that ECC skills are necessary to access the core curriculum while in school and to function as independently as possible at home, at school, in the community, and into adulthood. The other repeated concept in this book is how all nine areas of the ECC overlap with one another. In fact, the suggestion that educators need to consistently embed other ECC areas into instruction in each specific area is one of the most important concepts purported in this publication. Teachers of students with visual impairments often feel overwhelmed when trying...