Vision Rehabilitation Therapy Certificate
Plan of Study
Individuals who would like to pursue certification only in Vision Rehabilitation Therapy must have a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree and complete a total of 25 credits.
Summer 1
- SPEG 615 Braille I
- 3 credits
Prepracticum: 2-3 hours
Course Description: This course provides basic skills in Braille transcription and codes, with an emphasis on literary Braille. Students acquire competency in reading and writing Braille using the Perkins Braille writer, and slate and stylus. This course includes methodology for teaching Braille reading to school-aged students as well as special populations such as non-literary readers. The mathematical Nemeth code is also introduced.
Program note: SPEG 615, Braille I, teaches the Braille Literary Code as well as strategies for teaching braille literacy skills to students. UMass students must be able to read unaltered, embossed Braille (visually or tactually) to complete the course. - SPEG 640 O&M and Independent Living Skills
- 4 credits
Prepracticum: 10 hours
Course Description: This course examines the functional implications of vision loss on primary activities of daily living, with emphasis in basic methodologies of Orientation and Mobility and Rehabilitation Teaching. Exploration of life skills essential to independence will be addressed, with attention to a diverse population of children with a variety of visual capabilities. Weekly lecture content will be enhanced by functional lab activities designed to give the student the opportunity to experience and critically assess the effectiveness of current methodology.
Fall
- SPEG 614 Visual Functioning
- 3 credits
Course Description: This course introduces the student to the anatomy and physiology of the eye and examines refraction, clinical testing procedures, and major visual disorders. The medical component of this course provides the foundation to the remainder of the course, as it looks at the functional implications of individual eye conditions on education and vocational services. - SPEG 697 Methods of Rehabilitation Therapy I
- 4 credits
Course Description: This course is designed to provide the learner with hands-on instruction, independent learning and laboratory practice in the methodologies and adaptive techniques utilized by the professional vision rehabilitation therapist in the Personal Management / Recreation and Leisure areas of Independent Living Skills. This course will emphasize the utilizations of adaptive techniques and resources gathering, and will address skills that are applicable for adults and older adults as well as children and adolescents. Laboratory experienced with blindfolds and low vision simulators will provide each learner with the opportunity to practice recommended techniques and adaptations that will facilitate the teaching of selected Independent Living Skills to students, clients and consumers who are blind or having low vision.
Spring
- SPEG 616 Implications of Low Vision
- 3 credits
Prerequisite: SPEG 614
Course Description: This course expands on the education and rehabilitation implications of vision loss, introduced in SPE-G 614: Visual Functioning, from a functional and psychological point of view. This course will include a review of clinical procedures and the interpretation of clinical reports. Emphasis will be placed on conducting individualized functional vision assessments. Optics will be revisited in relationship to optical low-vision devices. Vision-simulation activities and the development of a functional vision-assessment kit will be utilized to provide a practical, hands-on approach to learning. - SPEG 697 Methods of Rehabilitation Therapy II
- 4 credits
Course Description: TBA
Summer 2
- SPEG 698 Internship VRT
- 4 credits
Prerequisite: All coordinator approval of pre requisite course work.
Course Description: This course and its associated advanced seminar series is for students who have completed course work pre-practicum hours. Enrollment may be full-time or part-time but must be completed in two semesters. Interns are required to keep an ongoing diary of their experiences along with a capstone portfolio documenting clinical requirements set by ACVREP, totaling a minimum of 350 hours.