Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC): The 9 Areas Explained

By Carlos Acosta · October 29, 2026 · 9 min read

The expanded core curriculum (ECC) is the set of skills that students who are blind or visually impaired need to be taught on purpose, because they can't pick them up by watching. The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) defines it as skills that "often require specialized instruction" to "compensate for decreased opportunities to learn incidentally by observing others" (TSBVI). It has nine areas, from braille and cane travel to cooking, making friends and planning a career.

The ECC doesn't replace the regular curriculum. It comes on top of it: in addition to the general curriculum that every student learns, students with visual impairments, "starting at birth, also need instruction in the ECC" (TSBVI).

Key points

Nine areas: compensatory skills (including braille), orientation and mobility, assistive technology, independent living, social interaction, recreation and leisure, career education, self-determination and sensory efficiency.
Who created it: Phil Hatlen, in a 1996 article. His first list had eight areas (ERIC).
Who teaches it: mainly the teacher of students with visual impairments (TVI) and the orientation and mobility specialist, not the classroom teacher.
The law: the federal special education law (IDEA) doesn't name the ECC, but it does require braille instruction for blind students unless the IEP team decides otherwise. Some states go further.
At home: families can practice almost every area in daily routines: setting the table, playing cards, mapping a room.

Where the ECC comes from

The idea comes from Phil Hatlen, a leader in the education of blind students, who "fathered the concept of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) in 1996", according to the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). His article appeared in the journal RE:view in spring 1996 and listed eight components (ERIC).

His reasoning is simple. In his words, "There are experiences and concepts casually and incidentally learned by sighted students that must be systematically and sequentially taught to the visually impaired student" (Hatlen, revised 2007). A sighted child learns how to set a table, cross a street or join a game by watching. A blind child needs someone to teach it step by step.

The list grew from eight areas to nine. The 1996 list had no self-determination and used "visual efficiency" where today's lists say sensory efficiency (ERIC); the revised version of Hatlen's article, from November 2007, lists the nine areas used today.

The 9 areas of the expanded core curriculum

These are the nine areas as TSBVI defines them (TSBVI), with an example of what each looks like in practice.

Area	What it covers	Example
Compensatory skills	Concept development, communication, organization and study skills, braille and Nemeth, tactile graphics, tactile symbols, sign language, audio materials	Reading and writing in braille
Orientation and mobility	Knowing where you are and moving as independently and safely as possible	From exploring a room as a baby to riding a city bus
Assistive technology	High and low tech tools for communication, access and learning	A screen reader, a brailler, an abacus
Independent living	Personal hygiene, eating, food preparation, time and money, clothing care, household tasks	Telling coins and bills apart
Social interaction	Body language, gestures, facial expressions, personal space, relationships	Learning how to join a game
Recreation and leisure	Exploring and choosing physical and leisure activities	A deck of braille playing cards
Career education	Hands-on experience with jobs, and work habits	Interviewing a parent about their job
Self-determination	Making choices and decisions, solving problems, speaking up for yourself, setting goals	Explaining your own needs to a new teacher
Sensory efficiency	Using vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste, including optical devices	Using a magnifier or a telescope

1. Compensatory skills

This is the area that gives a student access to everything else. TSBVI lists concept development, communication modes, organization and study skills, access to print, and "the use of braille/Nemeth, tactile graphics, object and/or tactile symbols, sign language, and audio materials" (TSBVI).

Concept development matters more than it sounds. The Minnesota Department of Education puts it this way: "It takes detailed 'hands-on' interaction and repetition to understand a concept tactually, such as relative size, which may be visually captured with a glance" (Minnesota MDE, 2026).

Braille sits here: Unified English Braille for reading and writing, and the Nemeth code for math. Students also learn to read tactile graphics such as maps and diagrams.

2. Orientation and mobility (O&M)

O&M teaches students "to be oriented to their surroundings and to move as independently and safely as possible", from basic body image and spatial relationships "to cane usage, travel in the community, and use of public transportation" (TSBVI).

It starts early. Minnesota says O&M "should begin in infancy with basic spatial concepts, purposeful and exploratory movement", and that older students need skills for "street crossings, bus travel, and community experiences" (Minnesota MDE, 2026). The Washington State School for the Blind sums up the range: "Starting with body image for a young child to the skills allowing an individual to complete complex international travel without vision!" (WSSB).

3. Assistive technology

TSBVI describes it as "an umbrella term" for tools and services that "enhance communication, access, and learning", from mobile devices, notetakers and screen readers to low-tech devices "such as an abacus, a brailler" and optical devices (TSBVI).

4. Independent living skills

This area covers "personal hygiene, eating skills, food preparation, time and money management, clothing care, and household tasks". The reason it needs teaching: "People with vision typically learn such daily routines through observation, whereas individuals with visual impairments often need systematic instruction and frequent practice in these daily tasks" (TSBVI).

The IRIS Center at Vanderbilt University gives a concrete case: a student named Evan, whose TVI offers to teach him "a system for folding bills for identification and how to identify different coins", while the O&M specialist plans community lessons with small purchases (IRIS Center).

TSBVI lists "awareness of body language, gestures, facial expressions, and personal space", plus relationships and self-control, and gives the reason in one line: "Almost all social skills are learned by visually observing other people" (TSBVI).

The Washington school's examples show how wide this is: "learning about sarcasm, finding out about how to detect if someone is flirting, or for a young child, learning that their actions are being observed, or how to show interest in someone else's topic of conversation, or how to join a game" (WSSB).

6. Recreation and leisure

"Being unable to observe others reduces awareness of recreation and leisure options," says TSBVI. Instruction should let students "explore, experience, and choose" activities they enjoy, with a focus on "life-long skills" (TSBVI). Games are an easy start: see our guide to braille playing cards.

7. Career education

Career education gives students "the opportunity to learn through hands-on experiences about jobs that they may not otherwise be aware of without the ability to observe people working", plus work habits such as "assuming responsibility, punctuality, and staying on task" (TSBVI). For what comes later, see jobs for blind people.

8. Self-determination

Self-determination "includes choice-making, decision-making, problem solving, personal advocacy, assertiveness, and goal setting". According to TSBVI, students with visual impairments "often have fewer opportunities" to practice these skills, and those who have them "become effective advocates for themselves" (TSBVI).

9. Sensory efficiency

This area teaches students to use "vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste", including optical devices (TSBVI). For students with some vision, Minnesota's examples include "using visual gaze to make choices, tracking car movements when crossing the street" and "using optical devices such as magnifiers and telescopes" (Minnesota MDE, 2026).

Who teaches the ECC

Hatlen was clear that the classroom teacher can't carry it alone. "I do not expect classroom teachers to deliver a lot of the expanded core curriculum. I think it requires the skill that teachers of visually impaired and mobility instructors have," he said in a recording used by the IRIS Center, which adds that students "might need some separate pull-out instruction" for skills such as O&M, reading braille and using assistive technology (IRIS Center).

The teacher of students with visual impairments (TVI) leads the assessment and teaches most areas. In Hatlen's words, the work "must begin with a thorough assessment of the child, one that covers every area of the expanded core curriculum" (Hatlen, revised 2007).
The orientation and mobility specialist teaches O&M.
The family practices the skills where they are actually used: at home and in the neighborhood.

The ECC and the IEP: what the law says

Federal law. IDEA, the special education law, doesn't use the words "expanded core curriculum". It does require the IEP team, for a blind or visually impaired child, to "provide for instruction in Braille and the use of Braille" unless, after an evaluation, the team decides braille "is not appropriate for the child" (34 CFR 300.324). TSBVI ties the ECC to another IDEA rule: the IEP's goals for needs that let the student make progress in the general curriculum and "other educational needs that result from the child's disability" (TSBVI).

The American Foundation for the Blind supports a federal bill, the Anne Sullivan Macy Act, that would spell out an evaluation of these areas, from braille and assistive technology to orientation and mobility, self-determination and career education (AFB). It is a proposal, not law.

State law. It "varies from state to state", and a 2022 legal study found that "Only two states have passed legislation requiring instruction in the ECC" (Chase, 2022). Some examples:

Texas: since Senate Bill 39 (2013), "evaluation in all areas of the ECC is required" for students with visual impairments, and districts can arrange services "beyond regular school hours" (TSBVI).
Louisiana: Senate Bill 176 became Act 302 in 2022 (Louisiana Legislature). The legislature's fiscal note says it requires an IEP for each blind student and lists specialized supports that "are the components of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC)" (fiscal note).
Minnesota: the state's 2026 report to the Legislature calls the ECC "the foundation of instruction" given by teachers of blind students (Minnesota MDE, 2026).

Do students get enough ECC instruction?

The research says often not. In a 2002 study of 18 TVIs, teachers spent "the majority of their instructional time on academics" (Wolffe et al., 2002). In 2010, Sapp and Hatlen found that although teachers consider the ECC critical, "they do not provide their students adequate instruction" based on it (Sapp and Hatlen, 2010). A 2008 study found that "more than 35% of the paraprofessionals" (classroom aides) were teaching ECC skills directly (McKenzie and Lewis, 2008).

The problem is time. As a TSBVI article for families puts it, these students "do not have any more than the same 24 hours in a day that their sighted peers have" (TSBVI). Minnesota reported in 2026 that "schools still face challenges in setting aside enough time for it" (Minnesota MDE, 2026). That is one reason some students spend a semester or a summer at a school for the blind.

How families can practice the ECC at home

Most of these ideas come from a summer plan by Paths to Literacy, a site from Perkins School for the Blind and TSBVI, organized by ECC area (Paths to Literacy):

Independent living: "Setting the table can start as just placing napkins at each seat and as they get older they can then place forks and spoons." At breakfast, a child can press labeled buttons on the toaster or spread butter on toast.
Orientation and mobility: "Explore your child's room, home, neighborhood, etc. and create a tactile map together." Or play Marco Polo, where the child finds people by the sound of their voices.
Recreation and leisure: "Braille regular playing cards or game cards such as Uno", and "Mark dice with braille labels or glue dots."
Career education: "Have your child interview you about your job and other jobs people in your family have", or give them a plant to look after, with a log of when and how much to water.
Sensory efficiency: "Use play dough and cookie cutters. Rolling, cutting, pressing, squeezing the dough."
Assistive technology: watch movies with audio description as a family.

Christopher Tabb, a statewide orientation and mobility consultant at TSBVI, suggests three habits for families (TSBVI):

Use the same words everyone else uses. "Sometimes this is as simple as using common language, such as everyone agreeing to use the word jacket instead of coat, wrap, or outerwear."
Share what works. "Using video recordings of the student is a great way to document what is working well and what is challenging."
Learn the skills yourself. Ask the TVI or the O&M specialist about training time for family members "using a blindfold or low vision simulator".

Questions to bring to the IEP meeting

Has my child been assessed in all nine areas of the ECC, not only in reading and math?
Which ECC areas are the priorities this year, and what are the goals for each?
Who teaches each area, how often, and where (in class, pull-out, in the community)?
Is braille part of the plan? If not, what evaluation led to that decision?
What can we practice at home this month, and how do we tell the TVI how it went?

Where Braillito fits

Braille is part of the first ECC area, and the student learns it at school. Often, nobody at home reads it: not the parents, not the brothers and sisters. Braillito, our app, teaches the braille cells in lessons with exercises you play, with lives, levels and a daily streak: 59 lessons in 8 worlds in English. It also has a translator, a dictionary and a cell builder. It is meant for anyone learning the code, such as sighted parents and teachers of a braille reader (learning braille as a sighted person) or adults who are losing their sight (learning braille as an adult). For whole classes, see Braillito for schools.

Braillito is a subscription with no free version; depending on the plan, it starts with a free trial or a discounted first period, if it's your first subscription (is Braillito free?). Get Braillito.

Frequently asked questions

What are the 9 areas of the expanded core curriculum?

Compensatory skills (including braille), orientation and mobility, assistive technology, independent living, social interaction, recreation and leisure, career education, self-determination and sensory efficiency.

Who created the expanded core curriculum?

Phil Hatlen, in a 1996 article in the journal RE:view. His first list had eight areas; the revised version of his article, from 2007, lists the nine used today.

Is the expanded core curriculum required by law?

The federal law, IDEA, doesn't name the ECC, but it requires braille instruction for blind students unless the IEP team decides it isn't appropriate. Some states go further: Texas requires an evaluation in all ECC areas, and Louisiana passed Act 302 in 2022.

Who teaches the expanded core curriculum?

Mostly the teacher of students with visual impairments (TVI), with the orientation and mobility specialist for O&M. Families practice the skills at home.

When should ECC instruction start?

From birth, according to TSBVI. Orientation and mobility, for example, starts in infancy with basic spatial concepts and movement.

Is braille part of the expanded core curriculum?

Yes. Braille, along with the Nemeth code for math and tactile graphics, belongs to the first area, compensatory skills.

Does the ECC apply to students with low vision?

Yes. It is for students who are blind or visually impaired, and the sensory efficiency area includes using the vision a student has and optical devices such as magnifiers.