Visual Impairment Information

What is a visual impairment?

Visual Impairment means a visual impairment that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes those children who are partially sighted or blind.

Purpose of Regional Programs

The children, birth-to-21, who as a result of their low-incidence disability require specialized services, are eligible for support from the Regional Programs. Regional Programs work in collaboration with Local School Districts, Early Intervention, Early Childhood Special Education (EI/ECSE) programs, Families, and Community Agencies to provide specialized educational support for children with a visual impairment.

Visual Impairment Regional Program Services

• Region 1 Eastern Oregon (Intermountain ESD)
  
• Region 2 Central Oregon (High Desert ESD)
• Region 3 Southern Oregon (Southern Oregon ESD)
  
• Region 4 Cascade (Linn Benton Lincoln ESD)
  
• Region 4 Cascade (South Coast ESD)
  
• Region 5 Willamette (Willamette ESD)
• Region 6 Columbia (Portland Public Schools)
• Region 7 Lane (Lane ESD)
• Region 8 Northwest (Northwest ESD)
  

Resources

• Visual Impairment Region Maps and Contacts 2020-2021 
  
• Thoughts from a Teacher of the Visually Impaired
• Oregon Blind & Visually Impaired Student Fund

  The Blind and Visually Impaired Student fund (BVIS) was created by the Oregon legislature when it closed the Oregon School for the Blind (OSB) September 1, 2009. It provides services for those former OSB students and continues the mission to service students who are visually impaired in the state.

• Accessible Instructional Materials

  Program Information and Resources.

• America Foundation for the Blind

  The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is a national nonprofit that expands possibilities for the more than 25 million people with vision loss in the U.S.

• American Printing House for the Blind

  The American Printing House for the Blind promotes independence of blind and visually impaired persons by providing specialized materials, products, and services needed for education and life.

• Expanded Core Curriculum for Blind and Visually Impaired Students, Including Those with Additional Disabilities

  The Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) is the body of knowledge and skills that are needed by students with visual impairments due to their unique disability-specific needs.

• Oregon Commission for the Blind

  For over 50 years, the Oregon Commission for the Blind has been an important resource for Oregonians who are blind or visually impaired, as well as their families, friends, and employers.

For more information contact Linda Brown 503-947-5825.