To better understand the difference a highly qualified teacher can make in the lives of students who are visually impaired, meet Tesia Nasehi, now a teacher at the Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia.
Tesia Nasehi sees her students the way they see themselves: as young people with endless possibilities for their future potential.
At the Colorado School for the Blind, she taught social studies to students who are visually impaired, including many with multiple disabilities.
Tesia develops lesson plans that take each student’s unique abilities into account. Her specialized education prepared her well, and she frequently refers to AFB’s Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB). She says JVIB is more than a well-loved reference among teachers.
“I’ve read a lot of inspirational stories that give me some of the emotional support I might need from time to time,” she says.
The biggest challenges in her work are created by barriers that still exist. For example, some online tests don’t include audio descriptions for elements like graphs. “Students can’t take a test if they don’t know what’s on the test,” Tesia says.
She advocates investing in education as a way to ensure that people who are blind or visually impaired can be independent and successful in adulthood — especially because she knows what is possible.
“I want people to see what our kids are capable of, without giving any attention to their blindness or other disabilities,” Tesia says. “To see how happy they are when they see themselves succeed is extremely rewarding.”
