Study Guide

Field 045: Special Education Specialist: Visually Impaired
Sample Multiple-Choice Questions

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Competency 0001
Understand typical processes of human growth and development and the developmental significance of disabilities.

Which of the following cognitive abilities is typically expected to be exhibited by a four-year-old child?

  1. recognizing basic relationships among numbers from 1 to 20
  2. sorting common objects according to size and color
  3. identifying another person's point of view
  4. distinguishing between fantasy and reality
Answer
Correct Response: B.
This question requires the examinee to understand typical characteristics and progressions relating to children's cognitive development. Young children's cognitive development is characterized by the growing ability to perform increasingly complex tasks. Very young children's first behaviors related to sorting involve attending to or gathering objects they find interesting, while ignoring objects they do not. By the time children reach the age of four, they are typically able to engage in more complex sorting activities, such as sorting common objects according to size and color.
Competency 0003
Understand the visual system and characteristics of all types and degrees of visual impairments.

Which of the following occurs first in the development of visual perception?

  1. response to light
  2. perception of form
  3. ability to fixate
  4. ability to focus
Answer
Correct Response: A.
This question requires the examinee to understand sequences in the normal development of vision and visual perception. In newborn infants with normal vision, the pupil contracts when the retina is exposed to light, and even in the first few months of life children will turn to look at a light source. More complex or advanced visual skills are acquired over time throughout the childhood years and into the early teens.
Competency 0005
Understand the implications of visual impairments for social/emotional and physical/motor functioning and for the development of daily living and functional life skills.

During adolescence, a severe visual impairment is likely to cause the greatest difficulty in:

  1. maintaining close relationships with parents.
  2. completing assigned work independently.
  3. developing preferences for specific pursuits or pastimes.
  4. participating in recreational and social activities with peers.
Answer
Correct Response: D.
This question requires the examinee to understand ways in which visual impairments may influence children's social/emotional development. In the adolescent years, students become increasingly focused on social relationships and on participating in activities with peers. Having a severe visual impairment is likely to make it difficult for a student to take part in peers' activities for various reasons. For example, the student may have trouble participating socially because he or she is unable to interpret facial expressions, gestures, and body language; or he or she may start avoiding social gatherings because of increasing self-consciousness about being different.
Competency 0007
Understand assessment procedures for evaluating individual differences and making placement and programming decisions for students with disabilities.

A teacher would like to gather assessment data that will both identify the prevalence of a student's stereotypic behavior and be valuable later in developing and monitoring the success of a behavioral intervention strategy. Which of the following observational strategies is likely to be most effective in this situation?

  1. recording the number of times the target behavior occurs during a two-hour time period and calculating the percentage of time the student exhibits the behavior
  2. systematically charting the frequency and duration of the target behavior in different settings and noting any antecedent and/or consequent behaviors
  3. asking the student to self-report on when and why the target behavior occurs and then observing the student to determine the accuracy of the student's perceptions
  4. recording the frequency and duration of the target behavior over a day's time and comparing it to data gathered for students who exhibit similar behaviors
Answer
Correct Response: B.
This question requires the examinee to understand the use of assessment information to identify and understand students with special needs and to monitor progress. The setting or settings in which a target behavior occurs are key to understanding and addressing the behavior. Equally important are accurate information about the behavior itself (e.g., how it is manifested, how often it occurs, how long it lasts) and about events that immediately precede or follow it. Charting the frequency and duration of the behavior in various settings will help the teacher gather the required information, while noting antecedent and consequent behaviors will be particularly useful for understanding what is prompting the behavior and what purpose the behavior is serving for the student. Once the teacher has all the required information in hand, he or she will be in a position to plan and monitor a behavior intervention strategy that is likely to be effective for the student.
Competency 0008
Apply procedures for assessing students' functional vision.

As part of a student's functional vision assessment, a light is held within the student's range of vision and moved slowly to the right and left, up and down, and in a circle. This procedure would be most effective for assessing the student's visual:

  1. scanning.
  2. acuity.
  3. tracking.
  4. convergence.
Answer
Correct Response: C.
This question requires the examinee to apply procedures for assessing students' functional vision. Visual tracking skills include the ability of the eye to fixate on an object quickly and accurately, to visually follow a moving object, and to move the eyes efficiently to fixate on objects from point to point (e.g., as in reading printed text). One common method of assessing a student's visual tracking ability is to hold a fixation target (e.g., a light) 8–10 inches in front of the student's eyes and observe the student's eye movements while the examiner moves the target horizontally, vertically, and in a circle.
Competency 0011
Apply procedures for developing and implementing an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for students with visual impairments.

An IEP is being developed for a student with visual and multiple impairments who attends a general educaation fourth-grade class. Which of the following provisions in the student's IEP is an example of a modification as opposed to an accommodation?

  1. providing curricular materials to the specialist in advance to be electronically formatted for the student
  2. providing the student with extended time to complete assignments or with shortened assessments
  3. including the student in the same activities as classmates but with individualized learning objectives
  4. sending materials home with the student before a lesson to facilitate pre-teaching by family members
Answer
Correct Response: C.
This question requires the examinee to understand factors and procedures in developing IEPs for students with visual impairments, including components of an IEP. This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of types of supports needed to facilitate students' inclusion in various settings. Accommodations are changes to the environment, instruction, or assessment that facilitate the student's access to the general curriculum. Modifications are changes to the actual curriculum. Modifications might include changes in learning objectives, adjustments to scoring rubrics, or reductions in the complexity of learning activities. Establishing individualized learning objectives would therefore be considered a modification as opposed to an accommodation.
Competency 0013
Understand how to foster the orientation and mobility skills of students with visual impairments.

After a five-year-old child with a visual impairment has explored a room and become familiar with the objects in it, the next useful orientation skill to teach the child would most likely be to have him or her:

  1. make a model of the room that indicates where furniture is located.
  2. estimate distance traveled in a given time.
  3. count the number of footsteps it takes to get to the corners of the room from a given point.
  4. point to the location of objects in the room.
Answer
Correct Response: D.
This question requires the examinee to understand instructional methods for fostering the orientation skills of students with visual impairments. By asking the child to point to the locations of different objects in the room, the teacher would be reinforcing the child's understanding of where he is in the room. This practice will help him make use of landmarks and plan his route to specific locations where he wants to go.
Competency 0014
Understand sensory training techniques used with students with visual impairments.

Which of the following auditory training activities would be most appropriate for helping a student with a severe visual impairment improve his or her skills in figure-ground discrimination?

  1. focusing on a unique sound in the presence of other sounds
  2. indicating the location of a fixed auditory signal in an otherwise silent environment
  3. following the path of a moving sound source
  4. identifying the agent that has made a particular isolated sound
Answer
Correct Response: A.
This question requires the examinee to understand strategies and activities for providing students with sensory training. Figure-ground discrimination refers to the ability to distinguish a targeted stimulus or piece of information from its background. For example, discriminating the sound of a particular musical instrument in an orchestra or the image of a particular shape on a decorated background requires figure-ground discrimination. Providing a student with training in focusing on a unique sound in the presence of other sounds would therefore be an appropriate activity for promoting the student's development of figure-ground discrimination.
Competency 0015
Understand strategies for fostering communicative skills development in students with visual impairments.

Read the sentence below; then answer the question that follows.

"Al, will you go with me?"

Which of the following is the correct braille transcription of this quotation?

Answer
Correct Response: C.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of braille. One key skill in reading braille is the ability to recognize the myriad contractions that are used both to facilitate reading quickly and to reduce the bulk of embossed transcriptions. In this question, the third response (Response C) is the only braille transcription of the target sentence in which all contractions are used appropriately.
Competency 0016
Understand how to foster academic achievement in students with visual impairments.

An effective technique for teaching the concept of distance to a student with a severe visual impairment would be to have the student:

  1. listen as the teacher describes the concept of distance in relation to landmarks in the school.
  2. use a yardstick to measure the length of a familiar hallway in the school.
  3. explore a tactual map that includes familiar streets, buildings, and landmarks around the school.
  4. follow several routes to key locations in the school and compare the amount of time it takes to travel each route.
Answer
Correct Response: D.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of strategies for teaching academic skills and content to students with visual impairments. Having the student follow various routes to key locations in the school and compare the amount of time required would be an effective strategy for teaching the concept of distance because it would make the concept relevant to the student's everyday needs. Following different routes to the same location would help the student recognize that some routes are longer than others and take more time. This strategy, by making the abstract concept of distance concrete for the student, would provide a purpose for learning that would motivate the student to apply what he or she had learned.
Competency 0020
Understand how to foster strong school-home relationships.

Which of the following would be the most appropriate way to educate parents or guardians about family dynamics that may be experienced as a result of a child's visual impairment?

  1. Hold individual conferences with parents or guardians and tell them what other families in the school have experienced.
  2. Suggest that the parents or guardians consult with the family ophthalmologist or optometrist.
  3. Send the parents or guardians printed materials about the social and emotional effects of visual impairments on children.
  4. Invite the parents or guardians to attend a group meeting with other parents or guardians of children with visual impairments to share their experiences.
Answer
Correct Response: D.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of how to provide information, training, support, counseling, and referrals to families whose children have visual impairments. Parents or guardians of children with visual impairments often find it uniquely beneficial to talk with other families who share their experiences. Group meetings for families can serve as forums for the free exchange of ideas and concerns and can help create a sense of community. Such meetings often lead to the creation of formal or informal support groups whose members can offer mutually needed information and emotional support. Families greatly appreciate being able to engage with other families who have a personal understanding of the issues they face every day.
Competency 0022
Understand requirements, responsibilities, and constraints associated with teaching special needs populations.

Federal laws guarantee that students who are eligible for special education services will be provided with:

  1. appropriate placements during a 12-month year.
  2. a special needs evaluation conducted in their primary language.
  3. vocational placement following graduation.
  4. a review of their IEP conducted by a multidisciplinary team once each semester.
Answer
Correct Response: B.
This question requires the examinee to understand special education-related regulations and guidelines (e.g., involving referral, evaluation, eligibility, equity, program development, due process). Nondiscriminatory assessment is a fundamental principle of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004). This principle requires that evaluations of a student’s eligibility for special education services must not be biased in any way. One key approach for helping to ensure equity in evaluation for students whose primary language is not English is to provide the student with evaluations in his or her primary language.