Since each student's accommodation needs are unique and the student is often most knowledgeable about effective accommodations, be sure to talk with the student about what accommodations he/she might need.
Some specific accommodations that might be useful to a student with low vision in a science lab include the following:
- Provide a lab partner.
- Use plastic instead of glassware.
- Allow extra time for set up and completion of lab work.
- Modify safety procedures.
- Give verbal descriptions of demonstrations and visual aids.
- Provide large-print instructions and illustrations.
- Use raised line drawings or tactile models for illustrations.
- Have large-print laboratory signs and equipment labels.
- Connect a video camera to a computer/TV monitor to enlarge microscope images.
- Make available a hand-held magnifier or binoculars.
- Provide a large print calculator.
This list is from the DO-IT publication Making Science Labs Accessible to Students with Disabilities [1].
For more examples of accommodations that can be made in science labs consult the DO-IT Knowledge Base article What are examples of accommodations in science laboratories? [2]
References
- [1] Making Science Labs Accessible to Students with Disabilities
http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Academics/science_lab.html - [2] What are examples of accommodations in science laboratories?
http://www.washington.edu/doit/Faculty/articles?155