REQUIREMENTS FOR CHILDREN WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS

(a) Each child with a visual impairment must receive instruction in an expanded core curriculum required for children with visual impairments to succeed in classroom settings and to derive lasting, practical benefits from education in a school district, including instruction in: (1) compensatory skills, such as braille and concept development, and other skills necessary to access the rest of the curriculum; (2) orientation and mobility; (3) social interaction skills; (4) career education; (5) assistive technology, including optical devices; (6) independent living skills; (7) recreation and leisure enjoyment; (8) self-determination; and (9) sensory efficiency. (b) To determine a child's eligibility for a school district's special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, on the basis of a visual impairment, the full individual and initial evaluation of the child under Section 29.004 and any reevaluation of the child must, in accordance with commissioner rule: (1) include an orientation and mobility evaluation conducted: (A) by a person who is appropriately certified as an orientation and mobility specialist, as determined by commissioner rule; and (B) in a variety of lighting conditions and settings, including in the child's home, school, and community and in settings unfamiliar to the child; and (2) provide for a person who is appropriately certified as an orientation and mobility specialist, as determined by commissioner rule, to participate, as part of a multidisciplinary team, in evaluating the data on which the determination of the child's eligibility is based. (c) In developing an individualized education program under Section 29.005 for a child with a visual impairment, proficiency in reading and writing must be a significant indicator of the child's satisfactory educational progress. The individualized education program must include instruction in braille and the use of braille unless the child's admission, review, and dismissal committee documents a determination, based on an evaluation of the child's appropriate literacy media and literacy skills and the child's current and future instructional needs, that braille is not an appropriate literacy medium for the child. (d) Braille instruction: (1) may be used in combination with other special education services appropriate to the educational needs of a child with a visual impairment; and (2) must be provided by a teacher certified to teach children with visual impairments under Subchapter B, Chapter 21. (e) A school district shall provide to each person assisting in the development of an individualized education program for a child with a visual impairment information describing the benefits of braille instruction. (f) To facilitate implementation of this section, the commissioner shall develop a system to distribute from the foundation school fund to school districts or regional education service centers a special supplemental allowance for each student with a visual impairment. The supplemental allowance may be spent only for special education services uniquely required by the nature of the child's disabilities and may not be used in lieu of educational funds otherwise available under this code or through state or local appropriations.