When a student who is visually impaired or blind feels safe in a laboratory setting, confidence goes up and the student performs better. This secure feeling will allow them to concentrate on the experiment at hand, so make sure to accommodate their requests.
In any science lab, the basic safety equipment used to protect students are a lab apron and safety goggles.
Many students who wear glasses or have prosthetic eyes will assure you they don’t need safety goggles. So how do you convince them otherwise?
Here is a simple, but VERY effective way to demonstrate the need for safety goggles.
- Put a raw egg in a Petri dish and allow the student to touch the raw egg.
- Say something like: “This is your eye.” Now slowly pour concentrated acid such as hydrochloric acid on the raw egg. Within minutes the egg is cooked and the yolk is white like a cataract.
- Carefully wash off the acid and allow the student to touch the hardened egg.
- Now say: “This is your eye on acid.” Notice how quickly students keep their safety goggles on and without complaining.
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