Submitted by: Janelle Parker, NC Teacher
The ball rolled toward home plate.
He swung his foot and missed.
“Strike!” another student called.
He stamped both feet and walked to the back of the line.
During the next inning, a ground ball rolled toward him. He ran forward, passed it, and kept searching while the ball continued across the grass.
He had always played infield. Lately, his teammates had started placing him in the outfield.
Another ball rolled past. A classmate chased it down while he turned, looking from one side of the field to the other.
At his annual eye exam, his family learned that his vision had changed.
Soon, he stopped lining up for kickball at recess. He stayed near the adults while his classmates chose teams.
When someone asked if he wanted to play, he shrugged.
“Nah. I’m good.”
Then he changed the subject.
When Participation Changes, Look at Access
A student may never say, “This activity is no longer visually accessible to me.”
Instead, adults may see a change in participation.
A student who once joined a game may begin standing near the edge. A child may choose independent play every day during indoor recess. A student may become argumentative, upset, or withdrawn during a visually demanding activity.
Sometimes the student simply says, “I can’t.”
These behaviors can be easy to interpret as a lack of interest, poor sportsmanship, or a desire to be alone. They may also be signs of changing vision, visual fatigue, inaccessible materials, or an activity that has become too difficult to follow.
Students may not recognize the barrier themselves. A younger child may not know what classmates are doing across the room. An older student may assume that a skill has been lost.
Independent play can be a meaningful choice. It can also be the most accessible choice available.
School teams can begin by asking what changed. Is the lighting different? Has the student’s vision changed? Can the student locate the equipment, follow the action, and see who is participating? Does the activity require more visual effort than it once did?
A beeper ball, bases in colors the student can see more clearly, improved lighting, tactile markers, verbal information, or time to explore the space may change how a student accesses an activity.
Access can change participation. Participation can change relationships.
Being Nearby Is Different From Participating
A student can sit with classmates and still be outside the activity.
This may happen during a group project when accessible materials are unavailable at the start. Classmates begin reading, writing, and making decisions while the student waits for another format or works at a separate technology station.
It can happen during indoor recess when every available game depends on small print, pictures, matching colors, or pieces that are difficult to locate.
It can also happen when the student’s desk or table is placed away from peers to make room for equipment or an adult. The student has space for accessibility tools but fewer chances for quiet conversations, shared jokes, and quick interactions with classmates.
Service schedules matter too. Individual instruction from a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments or Orientation and Mobility Specialist can be essential. Thoughtful scheduling also considers what the student misses each time they leave the classroom.
Partner work, project planning, recess, clubs, electives, and the minutes before and after activities often create natural opportunities for friendships to grow.
Social access should be considered throughout the day, including the moments that may never appear in a lesson plan.
Teach Peers to Be Classmates
Children are often eager to help a classmate who is blind or has low vision.
Without guidance, helping can turn into taking over.
A peer may carry materials the student can carry independently, complete the visual parts of a project, choose the student’s role, or answer questions directed to the student. During play, classmates may guide every movement rather than giving the student time to learn the game.
The student becomes someone to help instead of someone to know.
Peers can learn to ask before helping, listen to the answer, and accept “No, thank you.” They can share useful visual information while leaving room for the student to make choices, solve problems, and complete a fair share of the activity.
Adults can model this naturally.
A teacher might say, “The ball rolled beside the blue bench,” or “Jada is holding up the card she chose.” Brief descriptions of relevant visual information help the student follow what is happening. They also show classmates how to include visual information in everyday conversation.
Over time, peers can begin doing the same without becoming assigned narrators or caretakers.
Students who are blind or have low vision also benefit from the ordinary parts of friendship. They should have opportunities to joke, disagree, compete, make mistakes, offer help, and lead.
Friendship is reciprocal. Every student should have opportunities to receive support and provide it.
Choice and Leadership Begin With Access
Asking students what they want is important.
Older students may be able to explain which activities interest them and what support would be useful. Younger students may need closer access before they understand the available choices.
A child cannot choose an activity they do not know exists.
Adults may need to bring a game closer, describe what classmates are doing, demonstrate how it works, or allow the child to explore the materials. Repeated exposure may help the student decide whether an activity is interesting.
Student choice also matters during group work.
When roles such as leader, secretary, recorder, materials manager, or presenter are assigned, each role and its materials should be accessible. A student cannot meaningfully choose to record the group’s ideas if the shared document is inaccessible. The same student should not automatically receive the quietest or most passive role because it appears easier.
Students who are blind or have low vision need chances to suggest activities, assign roles, make decisions, voice their preferences, and guide their peers.
One blind student wanted to join a school drumline and marching band. His harness was connected to another drummer’s harness with a steel bar. The drummers learned to march in a closer formation while both students played.
The student’s desired activity guided the planning. The group learned a new procedure, and access became part of how the drumline worked together.
Accessibility tools work best when they are part of normal procedures.
When a tool appears only at the last minute, it may become a novelty that draws attention away from the activity. Introducing the tool, allowing everyone to learn the procedure, and having it ready when the activity begins can make access feel like an ordinary part of participation.
During indoor recess, this might include accessible board games, tactile materials, audio-based activities, or multiport headphone splitters that allow students to listen to the same story, music, video, or game audio together.
A listening-based activity can also provide a visual break while preserving social interaction. The student can rest their vision and still laugh, talk, make choices, and spend time with classmates.
Safe Participation Is Taught Through Participation
Adults may hesitate to include a blind student or a student with low vision in an activity because they are concerned about safety.
Students build safety skills through instruction, practice, and experience.
A student may need time to explore the space, learn the equipment, practice before the full group arrives, or receive orientation and mobility instruction. The activity may need stronger contrast, sound cues, tactile boundaries, clearer verbal information, or a change in group procedures.
Peers may also need instruction.
With preparation, students can learn how to move, play, perform, and make decisions with greater confidence. Adult support can gradually change as the student develops skills.
The goal is active participation with the instruction and access needed to build independence.
Social Access Is Part of the Educational Program
Social interaction skills, recreation and leisure, assistive technology, self-determination, and orientation and mobility are all areas of the Expanded Core Curriculum.
These skills are connected.
A student needs access to an activity before they can practice joining it. They need opportunities to make choices before they can strengthen self-determination. They need meaningful roles before they can learn to lead within a group.
The IEP team can consider social participation across settings rather than focusing only on academic access.
Classroom teachers, Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, paraprofessionals, families, counselors, administrators, and students each see different parts of the school day. Together, they can notice patterns that may be missed when each setting is viewed alone.
Teams may want to consider:
- Which activities does the student choose, avoid, or leave?
- Can the student access games and recreational materials?
- Are accessibility tools available when the group begins?
- Does the student have opportunities to make choices and lead?
- Are peers asking before helping?
- Is adult support creating connection or distance?
- Does the student’s schedule protect opportunities for natural peer interaction?
- Has the student had enough access to understand the available choices?
- Could frustration, withdrawal, or “I can’t” signal visual fatigue or an access barrier?
Attendance alone gives an incomplete picture of inclusion.
Look at whether the student participates, contributes, makes choices, initiates interaction, leads, helps others, and has the tools needed to remain part of the group.
Then ask one more question:
Is the student truly included, or simply nearby?
How Equalize Sensory Services Can Help
If your district would like support strengthening social access, Expanded Core Curriculum instruction, or school-based services for students who are blind or have low vision, Equalize Sensory Services is here to help.