Articles

I have met and talked with many people about STEM education for the blind and low-vision (BLV). These people could be science or math teachers, professionals in the visual impairment field, scientists, science education or special education researchers, or even my family, friends, and neighbors. Except for those who did not think learning STEM is important to the blind and low-vision, the most common perspective I have heard is that BLV persons' unique thinking strategies and problem-solving approaches can offer different scientific insights into the STEM fields and further benefit human society. In other words, they can be an asset to the STEM fields, which speaks to why their STEM education and career development matter, particularly to society. 

Because BLV children and youth have limited or no vision, they need more introduction to what the world around them looks like and more instruction on how things work in the world. In addition to the core curriculum, BLV students learn the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC), which is a set of concepts and skills that are taught to BLV students to support their learning that often occurs incidentally with vision. The ECC includes nine elements, which are: compensatory access, sensory efficiency, assistive technology, orientation and mobility, independent living, social interaction, recreation and leisure, career education, and self-determination. It is crucial for BLV children and youth to learn these concepts and skills to live in this world where almost everything is created from the sighted perspective. Mastering these concepts and skills will also support their adult lives. 

Learning STEM matters to BLV students because STEM uses well-established scientific methods that allow everyone to understand the world better. Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there are three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science, which are crosscutting concepts, science and engineering practices, and disciplinary core ideas. Crosscutting concepts help students explore connections across different domains of science. There are seven crosscutting concepts, which are: patterns; cause and effect; scale, proportion, and quantity; systems and system models; energy and matter; structure and function; and stability and change. These concepts can help students develop a coherent and scientifically-based view of the world around them. Through learning STEM, BLV students can develop a better understanding of the world around them based on evidence, which is particularly important for them because of their vision limitations. 

I believe in social justice and equal rights in education. Learning STEM matters to BLV students because everyone is born equal, and they deserve the same rights. In a science class, BLV students might need to approach learning STEM in a non-typical way. For instance, they might make observations in a non-visual way; they might need a tactile graphic or large print; and they might need some technology that sighted students do not need to do experiments. Many BLV students struggle to get the needed resources or their rights back to learn STEM. They are constantly asked to provide evidence to justify their needs and rights, so they are forced to have to advocate for themselves all the time. As a society that seeks to advance and become better, we must know that BLV students' rights in learning STEM should not account for justification. It is their right! We must also understand that individual needs are human needs. BLV students' rights in learning STEM are the same as their sighted counterparts. Their needs in learning STEM should be met without any justification. 

• An example to share (a Ted talk): How a Blind Astronomer Found a Way to Hear the Stars by Wanda Diaz Merced

• The Expanded Core Curriculum (12-page PDF) by Perkins School for the Blind (2021)

• Next Generation Science Standards