Outreach Services for the Blind

To make a referral for a teacher of the visually impaired (TVI) or orientation and mobility services (O&M) please use the link below. Please note that the referral must also include consent for evaluation as well as a copy of the most recent eye report

Mission

USDB Outreach Vision Services provides students with blindness and low vision, including those with additional disabilities, who are attending their neighborhood schools, with the skills to lead successful and fulfilling lives. We collaborate with communities, schools, and families, using research based assessments, curriculum, the expanded core, and innovative teaching strategies to achieve the highest level of independence in the home, school, and community.

Services

Outreach Vision Services serves students in Utah with visual impairments or blindness attending their neighborhood school districts or charter schools. Our USB outreach Teachers of Students with Vision Impairments (TSVI’s) provide one-on-one vision support based on a student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or 504 Plan. We specialize in the delivery of instruction in the expanded core curriculum – the skills visually impaired individuals require to succeed in the home, school, and community. This may include Braille (we teach braille across the entire State of Utah), technology, and social skills instruction, career education, self-advocacy skills (to name a few); we assist in providing large print, braille, digital texts, learning materials, or other appropriate equipment so students can access their school curriculums. TSVI’s  collaborate with the regular education teacher, special education team, and parents in the IEP or 504 process.

Outreach Vision Services also includes Orientation and Mobility (O&M) support to students who are blind and visually impaired that need specialized instruction in traveling safely in their environments. The O&M instructors provide teaching and consultation in school districts across the state on the proper cane techniques as well as safe low vision travel skills. This is done with students ages 3-21 but consultation also takes place for children from birth to 3 years old in our Parent Infant Program. Assessments and strategies are implemented on an individual basis to ensure each student has the skills required for safe cane travel in a variety of educational settings. 

Everything we do, the focus at the Utah School for the Blind is to provide personalized education to meet the individual needs of each student and promote their development into educated, capable, and confident adults.