Through IESBVI Low Vision clinic, 182 devices were loaned or provided to students without charge during school year 2023 – 2024.
“I don’t want to walk into poles,” says freshman Jessica Edison from East Mills Middle/Senior High School.
Edison is attending a low vision clinic hosted by Iowa Educational Services for the Blind & Visually Impaired. Her teacher of the visually impaired recommended she attend to have her functional vision assessed. Edison can also try low- and high-tech equipment at the clinic which might help her access academic materials. Her primary complaint is glare.
“I know they are trying to make my eyes work,” she said of the clinic staff. “My eyes don’t work well, but now I know what will get them to work better.” Edison compliments her classroom teachers who try to help her with large print, “but the words aren’t big enough,” she said.
Low vision clinics are held throughout the school year in each area education agency (AEA) to determine if a student’s visual functioning can be improved through optical devices, non-optical devices or adaptive techniques. An example of each of these is a monocular telescope, a handheld magnifier, and changing the visual working distance or positioning.
Edison, whose school is served by Green Hills Area Education Agency, attends a clinic located on the IESBVI Council Bluffs campus. Her 45-minute appointment begins with a brief eye exam from Dr. Michael Ohlson, an optometrist with a specialty in children with eye conditions. Ohlson pauses his practice in Marshall, Minn. to travel with the IESBVI team during low vision clinic days. Parents can discuss any aspect of their child’s vision at a low vision clinic.
Others at the appointment are the IESBVI low vision clinic coordinator/consultant, assistive technology consultant, Edison’s IESBVI teacher of the visually impaired and Edison’s mom.
“A 45-minute appointment means the optometrist
Brandon Shellhorn, IESBVI low vision clinic Coordinator/Consultan
can talk with parents and not at them.”
Ohlson banters with Edison during her clinic appointment, finding out about her hobbies, family life and her vision challenges at school. He calls out results of measurements and tests to IESBVI staff, who record the findings, and start discussing with Edison what options might be best for her.
The IESBVI team has her try several hand-held magnification domes in different sizes. They have more than half a dozen boxes of devices in various sizes and visual strengths, set on eight-foot tables.
If a device might provide more functional vision for a student, the low vision clinic team has brought it along.
Eventually, she leaves the clinic with a dome magnifier to use on worksheets, and a lighted magnifier for reading books in her English class. Both are provided without charge. Devices which are more costly can often be loaned from the clinic to schools, allowing students to trial them before the school makes a purchase.
About a week later, her school will be contacted by Brandon Schellhorn, the IESBVI low vision clinic coordinator and consultant, to communicate recommendations made for Edison from her clinic visit.
The low vision clinic coordinator position became full-time in fall, 2023, enabling Schellhorn to visit more schools to provide suggestions about devices. Shellhorn notes he can assist with non-core classes, such as music, too.
Information about full-time low vision clinics coordinator
More information about music accessibility