Introduction
The Utah Schools for the Blind consider the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) as part of the studies for students with vision impairments. However they do not consider it to be an intensive need for the students, and, therefore, do not give adequate instruction to students. This prospectus establishes a response to a needs assessments that indicates students leaving the program are unable to get a job in their community. One reason for this is the student lacks the basic skills to seek, obtain and hold a job. Many students who have visual impairments lack skills because they need to learn without their vision and must learn with hands-on, concrete learning. The students need …show more content…
Samuel Gridley Howe established the first Residential School for the Blind in 1829. ( _). He was the first person to realize that students who are visually impaired or blind need more than the traditional curriculum. He declared that the students also needed to learn the nine areas of what is known today as the Expanded Core Curriculum. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004, states that the Individual Education Programs (IEP) must address functional performance. Also, it must meet all the student’s educational needs that result from their disability. The reauthorization does not mention the Expanded Core Curriculum explicitly. However, it does support the instruction of the ECC. In addition, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1990, p. 29, 1 a) states that every student has the right to an education that promote the development of the student’s personality, talents, and mental and physical abilities. Furthermore, the students cannot hear about their environment, but need hands-on experience to gain complete understanding. The approach of this research project was designed to meet the need for students with visual impairments to have a better life as they graduate into adulthood. The diversity of the students adds to the study. It also increases the willingness of the administration to create a special program for the students, and the results would lead to further future research. The researcher created and carried out a transition class that focuses on the Expanded Core Curriculum. It also measures (a) student success, (b) participation in natural application of learning and (c) the fundamentals of the Expanded Core