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Impact of COVID-19 on services for students with visual impairment:

Experiences and lessons from the field

Article in British Journal of Visual Impairment · July 2022

DOI: 10.1177/02646196221109082

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JVI0010.1177/02646196221109082British Journal of Visual ImpairmentCorrea-Torres and Muthukumaran

BJVI
Research Article

British Journal of Visual Impairment

Impact of COVID-19 on services

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DOI: 10.1177/02646196221109082
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Experiences and lessons from journals.sagepub.com/home/jvi

the field

Silvia M Correa-Torres
and Anitha Muthukumaran
University of Northern Colorado, USA

Abstract
With schools under intense pressure to deliver high-quality instruction during the Coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic, education in the 2020–2021 school year was different than typical,
especially for students with disabilities including those who are visually impaired (VI). Schools all
over the world struggled to figure out the best ways to provide services for students and meet
their needs, from fully online learning to hybrid education and in-person school. The purpose of
this qualitative study was to understand the experiences of professionals who work with students
with VI during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifteen educators of students with VI
participated in this study. Participants were asked to share their experiences when providing
services to students who are VI during the first 9 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings
for this study identified four major themes as follows: (1) changes in delivery of services; (2)
challenges in teaching and learning; (3) opportunities for teaching and learning; and (4) learnings
to apply in the future. Recommendations for professionals working with students who are VI
highlighting the importance of professional development training on technologies and maintaining
strong connection with families will be discussed. Suggestions for personnel preparation programs
and school districts on how to support pre-service and in-service educators of students with VI
will also be addressed.

Keywords
Blindness, Coronavirus, COVID-19, hybrid education, orientation and mobility specialists,
remote education, teachers of the visually impaired, visual impairment

The onset of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted educational systems world-
wide, leading school districts, institutions of higher education, and educators to be in uncharted
territory (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, n.d.). The rapid shift from
in-person instruction to online learning has disproportionately impacted students with disabilities

Corresponding author:
Silvia M Correa-Torres, University of Northern Colorado, Campus Box 141, Greeley, CO 80639, USA.
Email: silvia.correa-torres@unco.edu
2 British Journal of Visual Impairment 00(0)

who were already experiencing social and educational inequalities (United Nations Educational
Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2020). COVID-19 also appears to have deepened disparities
in access and opportunity facing many students with and without disabilities, with nearly all stu-
dents reported to have experienced some challenges to their mental health during the pandemic
(Office of Civil Rights, 2021).
As the pandemic is deepening pre-existing inequalities, students with visual impairments (VIs)
must be guaranteed equitable access to content curricula irrespective of the shift in the learning
environment. Similarly, because access to services provided for students with disabilities had been
reduced or eliminated, these students are reported to be the most likely to regress during the
COVID-19 pandemic (Jones et al., 2020). According to Rosenblum et al. (2020), during the early
months of the COVID-19 pandemic, 13% of school-age students with VI did not receive educa-
tional services, 61% received services remotely, and 43% of those students experienced challenges
with access because of their vision loss.
The field of VI has a long history of including students with VI in general education settings.
According to Marder (2009), more than half of elementary and middle school-age children with VI
receive educational services in general education classrooms. The 42nd Annual Report to Congress on
the Implementation of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (U.S. Department of
Education, 2021) indicated that 68% of students with VI, ages 6–21 years in the school system from
July 2017 through December 2018, attended general education settings at least 80% of the time in the
United States. When students with VI are included in general education settings, one common means
of providing services is the use of itinerant teachers of the visually impaired (TVI). In addition to pro-
viding students with VI access to the general education curriculum, TVIs are responsible for ensuring
that their students have access to the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC). The ECC includes concepts
and skills that require specialized instructions for students with VI to compensate for decreased oppor-
tunities learned by observing others (Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, 2016).
The rapid onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant challenges for TVIs to
implement specially designed instructions in the ECC and to adapt the general education curricu-
lum in hybrid, remote, and in-person schooling models. In two recent surveys conducted nation-
wide, researchers examined the impact of COVID-19 on students with VI ages birth to 21 years,
their families, and professionals in the United States and Canada (Rosenblum et al., 2020, 2021).
Results of these surveys suggested that 85% of TVIs had students in online general or special edu-
cation classes and reported having at least one student with an accessibility issue (Rosenblum et
al., 2020, 2021). Orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists who participated in the survey also
reported that they were only working with 45% of their students and 95% of the Individualized
Education Program (IEP) goals related to O&M had to be modified due to COVID-19 (Rosenblum
et al., 2020). By November 2020, many of the TVIs reported that it was challenging to coordinate
with classroom and general education teachers to make lessons accessible to their students in an
equitable manner (Rosenblum et al., 2021).
The results of the surveys conducted by Rosenblum et al. (2020) and Rosenblum et al. (2021)
reflected the experiences of families of students with VI and professionals who work with these stu-
dents in the United States and Canada during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose
of this study was to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the education of students
with VI specifically in one Western state of the United States by investigating how educators pro-
vided services in different schooling models used during the first 9 months of the pandemic (e.g.,
remote, hybrid, and in-person). The research question that guided this study was as follows:

RQ. What are the experiences of teachers of students with VIs in providing services to their
students during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Correa-Torres and Muthukumaran 3

Method
Sampling procedures
Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University. A
qualitative approach was used for this study. Using purposeful sampling (Patton, 2002), 15 profes-
sionals who work with students who are blind or VI in a Western state of the United States were
recruited. Merriam (1998, p. 61) suggested that “Purposeful sampling is based on the assumption
that the investigator wants to discover, understand, and gain insight and therefore, must select a
sample from which the most can be learned”. Participants were selected deliberately to offer valu-
able information that could not be gathered in as much detail from other sources. The selection of
the participants for this study was based on (1) their role when providing services to students with
VI, (2) the area where they provided services (rural, urban, and suburban areas), and (3) their will-
ingness to participate in the study.

Participants
A total of 15 itinerant TVIs participated in this study. The ages of the participants ranged from 26
to 65 years old. One participant identified as male while the other 14 identified as female.
Participants reported having a minimum of 3 years, a maximum of 22 years, and an average of
10 years of experience as a TVI. Thirteen participants were full-time TVIs, one participant had an
additional job responsibility of being a team leader and one other participant worked as a part-time
early intervention provider. One of the participants had her own business working in a regional
school program and two of the participants worked for rural school districts. Eleven of the partici-
pants were also Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialists (COMSs). The number of students
in the participants’ caseloads ranged from 10 to 27, with ages of students ranging from pre-school
to 21 years old. All 15 participants had at least one braille or tactile learner in their caseload.
Participants reported that most of their caseload consisted of students with additional disabilities
including those with cortical visual impairments (CVIs). Participants had a minimum of three stu-
dents and a maximum of 17 students with additional disabilities in their caseload. Table 1 presents
the participants’ caseload and demographic information.

Data collection procedures

After reviewing the literature, interview questions were developed specifically for this study.
Before data collection, two seasoned TVIs reviewed and “tested” the questions and provided feed-
back to the researchers. Before conducting the interviews, participants were given an opportunity
to read and sign the consent form, review the interview questions, and fill out a demographic ques-
tionnaire. During the interviews, questions were elaborated upon when the interviewer or inter-
viewee felt further clarification was necessary.
Participants were interviewed one time, and the average time for the interviews was 40 min.
Interviews were conducted by both researchers through Zoom, an online meeting platform. All
interviews were audio-recorded and followed a semi-structured protocol that included a set of
open-ended questions. The interview protocol related to experiences during the pandemic that
included questions about (1) caseload description; (2) services provided; (3) lessons learned; (4)
supports received; (5) the impact on collaboration with families, team members, and other TVI
colleagues; (6) role of technology; and (7) recommendations for future educators. Each recorded
interview was transcribed verbatim using the Zoom transcription feature and then reviewed by the
4 British Journal of Visual Impairment 00(0)

Table 1. Demographics of the participants and their caseload.

Participants Age Gender Years of O&M Number Number of Number of

(years) experience certified of braille/tactile students with
students learners additional
disabilities
1 46–55 F 13 Yes 27 4 16
2 26–35 M 5 Yes 11 2 9
3 46–55 F 13 No 13 6 7
4 36–45 F 4 Yes 14 6 12
5 46–55 F 14 No 10 2 3
6 26–35 F 12 Yes 12 2 8
7 56–65 F 22 Yes 21 3 11
8 36–45 F 10 Yes 13 1 9
9 26–35 F 12 Yes 11 4 6
10 36–45 F 13 Yes 16 5 *
11 26–35 F 3 Yes 20 1 17
12 26–45 F 7 Yes 20 4 11
13 36–45 F 11 Yes 13 7 11
14 36–45 F 8 No 19 1 15
15 26–35 F 6 No 10 3 6

O&M: orientation and mobility.

*Missing data.

researchers for accuracy. Interview transcripts were sent to each of the 15 participants to verify the
accuracy.

Data analysis
After the interview and transcription processes were completed, data were analyzed to deter-
mine systematic categories through coding. Data were coded independently by the two research-
ers using a constant comparison method. During this process, interview transcripts were
carefully reviewed for meaning units (Merriam, 1998). The meaning units for each interview
were grouped into categories based on how frequent they occurred, and then labeled with a
temporary category label. Each interview was then compared with the subsequent interview,
again in search of categories established through recurrence of meaning units. Only categories
that emerged across most participants were kept. Comparisons were made between meaning
units for different groupings to note any patterns. Finally, categories were grouped together into
themes based on likeness of content.

Results
Findings for this study investigating the experiences of TVIs during the first 9 months of the pan-
demic identified four major themes as follows: (1) changes in delivery of services; (2) challenges
in teaching and learning; (3) opportunities for teaching and learning; and (4) learnings to apply in
the future.
Correa-Torres and Muthukumaran 5

Changes in delivery of services

During the early months of the pandemic, most of the participants in this study provided services
to their students in a variety of models including remote, hybrid, in-person, combination of models,
or all the models within the same caseload. Participants expressed frustration for both, themselves
and for their students, when they had to go back and forth between remote and in-person learning
due to quarantining of students or themselves. One of the TVIs described her frustration as, “. . .
transitioning back and forth from in-person to remote . . . I think it’s hard on kids, it’s hard on fami-
lies, it’s hard on us. It makes me get pretty emotional because we all feel it.”
At the beginning of the school year 2020–2021, districts were more prepared than when the
pandemic first started in the spring of 2020. Some school districts used Learning Pods, where
groups of students who did not have Internet access or did not have adult support at home gathered
in school environments. These students were still doing remote learning, but they were supported
by educational assistants, itinerant teachers, therapists, and other professionals to access their
remote learning environments. TVIs reported that such Pods were easier to provide services for
younger students and tactile learners in their caseload as compared to being completely remote.
Participants also reported that remote or hybrid service delivery models caused changes in the
technology needs of students. One of the TVIs described how she and her students had to go
through a process of trial and error in the spring 2020 just to figure out how to turn on the audio
and video of the Zoom platform to access remote sessions.
Itinerant TVIs also raised concerns about providing services during the pandemic because of the
lack of communication from school buildings on COVID cases. One TVI described how she felt
unsafe when she was not informed about COVID cases in one of her student’s buildings. “I wasn’t
told about it until after I got to school. Because I wasn’t on a contact list . . . I didn’t get notifica-
tions about COVID things.” Some school districts also restricted itinerant TVIs to travel to only
one school a day to reduce the spread of the virus.
The caseload of TVIs working in rural districts has changed since the pandemic started, mostly
because of students withdrawing from public schools. According to one of the participants, who is
a rural TVI, two of her students with multiple disabilities withdrew from public school due to
health concerns and both of them were homeschooled. The pandemic has also changed the services
provided by early intervention TVIs who would normally provide home services. One of the par-
ticipants described how some of the parents withdrew from early intervention services, “. . . it was
a big shift then to be on Zoom, and for some families that meant that they weren’t that interested
in the services anymore.”

Challenges in teaching and learning

Teaching. Participants described several teaching challenges during the early months of the pan-
demic. Many of them reported that addressing the needs of students with additional disabilities in
virtual settings was difficult. One TVI shared, “I still don’t think these kids are being adequately
served. We’re doing the best we can . . . but in the end, it’s not being adequately addressed.” Keep-
ing 6 feet apart from tactile or braille learners and ensuring masks were worn by students took away
valuable service time. One participant reported, “. . . when you normally only have maybe 20 or
30 minutes and then it feels like I’m sure it’s not half but maybe a quarter of the time is taken with
those kinds of things.”
Teaching in a virtual setting means that TVIs need to be supporting unique family needs as
well. Heavy reliance on family support to teach students in remote settings was perceived by one
6 British Journal of Visual Impairment 00(0)

participant as “. . . parents are doing our work for us.” The culture and language differences of
some families were also highlighted as challenges faced by TVIs in this study.
Many participants highlighted the importance of extensive planning before instructional les-
sons: “You definitely have to be more mindful and more proactive in that planning piece of it.”
Some participants also expressed frustration that they had to constantly plan for lessons that they
can teach students in-person, or remote, or for students to complete on their own. One TVI stated,
“I feel like I constantly have to have a plan for online, a plan for in-person, a plan for something
they can do totally independently that I can send them, and they can do on their own.”
Teaching problem-solving skills to students in general education settings, providing access to
devices that don’t cause eye fatigue, and assessing students in virtual settings were also reported as
challenges faced by TVIs during the early months of the pandemic. Related to the virtual assess-
ment, one TVI expressed,

That’s a challenge and you lean [on] a lot of the parents and information and they’ve shared some videos
and but twice now I had those assessments, and then, when the child actually came to school, it was like,
oh, they were more impacted than I may have thought.

IEP compliance. The majority of TVIs reported adding COVID statements to the prior written
notice (PWN) of IEPs. These COVID statements included changes in service hours, goals, accom-
modations, and other IEP-related changes that occurred because of the pandemic. Participants
shared that they wrote goals that can be taught remotely for new IEPs. TVIs also stated that some
of their re-evaluations were significantly delayed, progress monitoring of IEP goals was hard, and
that a few of their students’ IEP goals changed due to insufficient progress. Although some of the
TVIs reported that IEP accommodations and service hours did not change due to the pandemic, a
few others reported that they had to write how services would look like for each of the service
models, hybrid, in-person, and remote. When students do not log in during remote sessions, a TVI
expressed “I don’t know [if] that changes IEPs, but it certainly changes my ability to provide my
IEP service.”

O&M services. Participants who were also COMS expressed difficulties in providing O&M ser-
vices during the pandemic. Virtual O&M services were provided by the majority of participants,
and these services were based on the county-level and district-level COVID-related regulations. A
participant stated, “I feel like we offer virtual O&M to the best of our ability, but it’s not as good
as in person.” All the participants expressed that they had to replace the current O&M goals of their
students with something more creative. One participant said, “We were learning the layout of her
new high school last year . . . and so now we’ve completely changed her O&M, where she is plan-
ning a vacation and is going to need to like research online.” Despite being creative with O&M,
participants felt that virtual O&M services were not as meaningful for their students. Participants
also reported that some parents chose to opt out their children from O&M services due to safety
concerns. A few participants reported the use of gaming platforms such as ObjectiveEd as a huge
positive to teach O&M concepts like directionality to younger children with VI.

Technology. All the participants in the study recognized the huge role that technology has played
during the pandemic. TVIs reported troubleshooting technology issues virtually with students and
implementing workarounds for accessibility issues as the hardest tasks in remote learning environ-
ments. A participant stated,
Correa-Torres and Muthukumaran 7

We have to figure out a workaround. Last quarter our district used Edgenuity that was not accessible with
the BNT. We had to spend 3 hours per day on the phone with this student reading the material to her and
inputting her answers into the computer.

Many of the mainstream platforms used by school districts were not accessible to students who
are blind. Pop-ups, chats, and online quizzes that are easily accessed by sighted peers, TVIs had to
create workarounds for their students by collaborating with general education teachers. Most of the
accessibility issues faced by students with VI were dealt with themselves with the support from
other TVI colleagues or direct support from blindness technology companies such as Humanware.
A TVI expressed, “We’re pretty much the ones that have to figure that out and tell the teachers.”
Some TVIs embraced the idea of teaching mainstream accessibility features and troubleshooting
including Zooming, VoiceOver, and JAWS as primary goals for their students. Frustrations due to
inaccessible software were felt by both the TVIs and their students to a point that some students
gave up learning as one TVI reported,

Technology has definitely been a huge barrier like for my senior who’s deafblind . . . he has just pretty
much given up. He just looks at this technology and it’s like, “I can’t do this. I am too visually fatigued, I
get a headache. I don’t understand.”

Opportunities for teaching and learning: unexpected outcomes

Most participants stated that they found new ways of teaching and cited several unexpected and
encouraging learning outcomes for their students.

Teaching. TVIs reported finding creative ways to teach and engage their students with VIs in
remote learning environments. A participant stated, “I have to be more creative. I think it’s hard to
engage over a computer for students. We have to be really creative in how we approach our lessons
and what we’re providing for kids to keep them engaged.” For students with multiple disabilities,
many TVIs co-taught with other service providers and homebound teachers due to limited teaching
time for students who cannot be engaged in virtual settings for a longer period.

Collaboration and supports. All TVIs reported that they improved communication and relationships
with some families. An increased involvement of parents and family members in the child’s educa-
tion was seen by many participants in the study as a huge positive outcome. One TVI stated,

I think it’s been exciting in some ways for parents to see more of what we do . . . her mom was very
involved and ended up signing up for some of the Hadley braille courses and things. And so I felt like that
was a big success.

Most participants also expressed that COVID has opened doors to more teaming with other TVI
colleagues. A participant noted how the “Zoom” platform helped in more teaming by:

What’s nice is the Western Slope we’ve started to do monthly zooms check ins . . . But we had never done
that in the past. I think we had met maybe two or three times in the last like five, six years.

A plethora of resources. All participants expressed their appreciation for the state-level initiative of
biweekly virtual office hours provided by the State’s Department of Education for educators of
students with VI. A TVI expressed her appreciation of having virtual office hour as, “It has been
8 British Journal of Visual Impairment 00(0)

very helpful to have the opportunity to meet regularly with other TVIs and COMS from around the
state to share how we are all managing teaching remotely.” Many participants shared that the dis-
trict-level support they received was mostly in the context of flexibility of work timings and fund-
ing that was provided to meet the technology needs of their students. Online webinars and resources
from several blindness organizations including Perkins School for the Blind, American Printing
House (APH), National Federation of the Blind (NFB), and the state’s Instructional Materials
Center among others were reported as extremely useful and applicable professional development
opportunities for participants in the study. In addition, TVIs also found connecting with other TVIs
in the nation through social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram beneficial during the
first 9 months of the pandemic. The community of practice (CoP) with other TVI was stated by a
participant as:

There’s constantly conversations going back and forth . . . my district is using this and it’s not accessible.
Do you have alternatives? We are able to have those professional conversations, which [are] all over the
country, if not the world.

Learnings to apply in the future

All participants in the study addressed the need for educators to be flexible in how they approach
their teaching in the future. Building good relationships with families was also highlighted by one
participant as “Going back to that, it’s worth spending your time building those relationships.
Because when things get tough, that’s going to be here to fall back on.” Building good teams and
continuing the CoP with other TVIs was reported by some TVIs as a way of not having to reinvent
the wheel on instructional practices. A TVI stated,

Find yourself a think box team and don’t be afraid to talk about what’s not working . . . The more minds
we can get involved in coming up with ways to make the curriculum accessible or even the lessons, we
truly are a team, even if we are not like working in the same school, same district.

TVIs also highlighted the importance of being proficient in technology, as one participant
stated, “Learn how to use JAWS, learn how to use the Braillenote, like know these technologies.
Because it’s really hard to teach them virtually when you’re not proficient at yourself.” Thinking
out of the box and teaching students multiple ways to access content was also recommended by
some participants in the study. Finally, showing grace to others and practicing self-care were
reported as extremely helpful to get through the school year during the pandemic.

Discussion
Challenges identified by Murgatrotd (2020) related to e-learning in general education including
accessibility, affordability, flexibility, learning pedagogy, lifelong learning, and educational policy
were discussed by participants in this study. The lack of resources such as family support, technol-
ogy, and tools used for learning activities was reported as some of the biggest challenges faced by
general educators during the pandemic by Midcalf and Boatwright (2020) also supported the find-
ings of this study. However, the unique role and responsibilities of educators who work with stu-
dents who are VI make some of the findings of this study very distinctive.
The participants in this study reported several challenging aspects of being an itinerant during
the pandemic. They echoed similar concerns described in the study by Miyauchi and Gewinn
(2021) that aimed to clarify the practices and perceptions of TVIs. Time management, flexibility,
Correa-Torres and Muthukumaran 9

open-mindedness, and interpersonal skills that were identified by Miyauchi and Gewinn (2021) as
important training needs for TVIs before the pandemic were reportedly described as essential dur-
ing the pandemic by the participants in this study. Moreover, the findings of this study suggest that
the significance of being affiliated with other educators in the state gave itinerant TVIs and COMS
not only a sense of security and safety but also reaffirmed that they were not working alone during
the uncertain and rapidly changing times of the pandemic.
Overwhelmingly, all COMS in this study reported difficulties in providing O&M services and
modifying the IEP goals for their students. This finding aligns with the results of the surveys con-
ducted by Rosenblum et al. (2020) and Rosenblum et al. (2021) who examined the impact of
COVID-19 on students with VI in the United States and Canada. Participants in this study expressed
how virtual O&M lessons were not as meaningful despite COMS being creative with their O&M
goals and use of gaming platforms like ObjectiveEd. Furthermore, COMS in this study reported
how they had to balance between the safety, county guidelines, and support the families’ and stu-
dents’ unique needs while delivering O&M services during the pandemic.
Several participants in this study found it hard to teach braille and help support the use of braille
technology devices such as braille notetakers in remote learning environments. Contrary to the
claims of Martiniello et al. (2018) that TVIs perceived the use of technology in braille instruction
as a motivator and as a tool that can generate more positive learning outcomes, participants in this
study reported frustrations of students around using devices for access and instructions of braille.
This finding highlights the importance of professional development training on blindness tech-
nologies as it may be difficult to teach braille virtually without TVIs being proficient in such tech-
nologies themselves.
Similar to the findings by Rosenblum et al. (2020) and Rosenblum et al. (2021), all the partici-
pants in this study acknowledged that with the support of mainstream and assistive technology,
students with VI were better able to access the general education curriculum. Implementing worka-
rounds for accessibility issues in virtual environments, frustrations around inaccessible mainstream
platforms, and keeping up with constant changes in technology were reported by the participants
in the study as the hardest during the pandemic. Siu (2015) found that TVIs who participated in a
virtual CoP were better able to translate device-specific knowledge gained from training to imple-
mentation of technology with students and that a virtual CoP was an adequate substitution for a
physically situated professional learning community. In alignment with the results of Siu (2015),
all the participants in this study reported that the pandemic had opened doors to more online webi-
nars and resources from all over the country providing them on-time professional development
opportunities and access to virtual CoPs.
Despite the uncertainty and challenges faced by TVIs during the pandemic, the participants saw
several opportunities for teaching and learning that can be applied in their instructional practice in
the future. Most of the participants in this study expressed that the pandemic has caused them not
only to have a strong connection with families but also led families to be more involved in their
child’s education. This finding is similar to the literature reviewed by Pokhrel and Chhetri (2021)
that the pandemic required parents and teachers to collaborate to improve online teaching methods
for all children and especially those with disabilities.

Limitations and future research

While the results of this study contribute to the limited research on the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on the education of students with VI, some limitations should be addressed. First, the
selection of participants was not random. This study utilized a convenience sample, and it com-
prised individuals who reported an interest in the study. There is no way of knowing how
10 British Journal of Visual Impairment 00(0)

the perspective of other professionals who did not participate in the study may have altered the
findings. Second, this study was conducted with participants from only one state of the United
States. Suggestions for practitioners cannot be assumed to apply across other states or countries. In
addition, since the collection of data for this study, professionals working with students with VI
may have developed new strategies for mitigating the challenges around remote and/or hybrid
learning or improved their approaches that support students with VI. An extension of this study to
investigate the perspectives of students with VI and their families might incorporate some of the
insights about the findings that emerged from this study. Future studies in understanding the per-
spectives of general education teachers on accessibility will help to meaningfully include students
with VI in general education classrooms.

Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the education of children all around the world, including
students with VI. The results of this study provide information on the experiences of professionals
working with students with VI during the first 9 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in one state of
the United States. The TVIs and COMSs who participated in this study perceived some positive
outcomes and challenges when providing services to their students in ways that they have not done
so before (e.g., remotely and/or hybrid). University training programs for teachers of students who
are VI should provide more opportunities for pre-service teachers on how to incorporate technol-
ogy in their teaching, including how to teach online and how to use different technology platforms.
In addition, school districts and state departments should provide support, in the form of profes-
sional development and/or virtual “office hours” to in-service teachers on how to support the needs
of students with VI, including those with additional disabilities, remotely. Future research on the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students with VI and their families should be conducted to
gain a better understanding of their needs, from their personal experiences and perspectives.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD
Silvia M. Correa-Torres https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0961-0556

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