What is the ECC?
Students who are blind or visually impaired may not have the same capability to learn incidentally as other students. For example, a four year old child with sight may sit at the counter watching as her father cooks dinner. During this experience she learns what various kitchen utensils are and what they are used for. A four-year old child without sight needs her father to give her play by play instruction to gain the same understanding. Many parents or caregivers don’t realize they need to do this, or don’t have the time to explain every step of everything they are doing!
Therefore, the expanded core curriculum (ECC) was created to provide students with visual impairment with the explicit instruction they need to develop independence in the areas of compensatory access, assistive technology, independent living skills, social interaction skills, recreation and leisure, orientation and mobility, career development, self-determination, and sensory efficiency. The ECC should be presented to all students with a visual impairment at the same time as the regular academic curriculum. However, oftentimes it is not. We, as occupational therapy practitioners can help support this! Check out the following resources to further your understanding of how to integrate the ECC into your daily practice.
Elementary Age Case Study Example
Assistive Technology Tutorial: How to access printed materials
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