Visual Impairment Support Services
The philosophy of the Intermediate Unit 1 vision support program is that all students who are visually impaired are valuable and important individuals, much more like other children than different from them. The ultimate goal of the vision support program is to prepare students with varying degrees of visual impairment to function as productive members of society.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines "visual impairment including blindness" as an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.
Vision support services may be direct or indirect in the areas of:
- Concept Skills
- Academic Skills
- Auditory Skills
- Sensory/Motor Skills
- Orientation and Mobility Skills
- Career/Vocational Skills
- Organizational/Productivity Skills
- Braille Skills
- Recreation/Leisure Skills
- Assistive Technology Skills
- Social Skills
- Independent Daily Living Skills
- Utilization of Low Vision Skills
Contact Us
Assistive Technology Consultant — Vision
Trisha Kress
IU1 Educational Campus at Laboratory
724-222-1040
kresst@iu1.k12.pa.us
Itinerant Teachers of the Visually Impaired
Jenny Barney
McMurray Elementary
724-941-5020 ext. 3602
barneyj@iu1.k12.pa.us
Karen Derrick
IU1 Educational Campus at Laboratory
724-222-1040 ext. 139
derrickk@iu1.k12.pa.us
Terri Fernandes
Burgettstown Jr./Sr. High School
724-947-8120
fernandest@iu1.k12.pa.us
Louise Grace
IU1 Third Street Office
724-938-7396 ext. 13
gracel@iu1.k12.pa.us
Pam Neill
D. Ferd Swaney Elementary
724-583-1091
neillp@iu1.k12.pa.us
Sally Nurminen
Connellsville High School
724-628-1350
nurminens@iu1.k12.pa.us
Tina McMullen
Connellsville High School
724-628-1350
mcmullent@iu1.k12.pa.us
Janet Smithnosky
IU1 Educational Campus at Laboratory
724-222-1040 ext. 140
smithnoskyj@iu1.k12.pa.us
