Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI): What They Do

A teacher of the visually impaired, or TVI, is a special education teacher who works with students who are blind or have low vision. The TVI teaches the skills a student needs because of their vision, such as reading and writing in braille, using a low vision device or getting around a kitchen, and makes sure the rest of school reaches the student in a form they can use: braille, large print, audio or electronic files (APH). In Texas, for example, TVIs serve children from birth through high school, in rural and urban districts alike (Texas Education Agency).

The full name is teacher of students with visual impairments, and families often just say "vision teacher". Every source in this guide was checked on October 29, 2026. Requirements to become a TVI are set by each state, so the steps below are examples, not a single national rule.

Key points

• What TVI means: teacher of the visually impaired, or teacher of students with visual impairments. Same job.
• What a TVI teaches: braille, use of remaining vision, assistive technology and the rest of the expanded core curriculum, the skills sighted students pick up by watching.
• What a TVI doesn't do: teach math, reading or history to the class. That stays with the classroom teacher (APH).
• Where they work: many are itinerant and drive from school to school. Others work in resource rooms or at schools for the blind.
• How to become one: a bachelor's degree and a teaching certificate, then a university TVI program and your state's exam or endorsement. Expect to learn literary braille and Nemeth, the braille code for math.
• Pay: the US doesn't publish TVI salaries separately. Special education teachers earned a median of $67,170 a year in 2025 (BLS).

Who does what on a blind student's team

The TVI is often the one who coordinates the team, which is why APH calls the role "a central figure" around the child.

What does a TVI do?

According to the American Printing House for the Blind (APH), a TVI's week usually includes (APH):

• Teaching the vision-specific skills, one on one or in small groups: braille reading and writing, using a magnifier or other low vision device, independent living skills.
• Assessing what the student can see and how they learn best, and recommending services such as orientation and mobility or a low vision evaluation.
• Preparing materials in braille, large print, audio or electronic formats, and checking the classroom for access and safety.
• Pre-teaching key ideas before a lesson, for example letting a student explore a tactile model before the science class uses a picture.
• Working with the classroom teacher and the family. APH calls close communication between the TVI and the classroom teacher "vital". The Texas Education Agency adds consulting with medical staff and other agencies (TEA).

How often the TVI sees a student depends on the student's Individualized Education Program (IEP). Children under three have an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) instead (APH).

Where TVIs work

Many TVIs are itinerant teachers: they travel between schools in a district, seeing each student in the regular classroom, an empty room or a resource room, and sometimes before or after school (APH). Washington's standards for TVIs list the other settings: residential schools for the blind, special day classes and visual impairment resource rooms (Washington PESB).

What a TVI teaches: braille first, then the expanded core curriculum

Braille

Under US special education law, braille is the starting point for a blind child. When writing the IEP of a child who is blind or visually impaired, the team must "provide for instruction in Braille and the use of Braille" unless, after an evaluation of the child's reading and writing needs, it decides braille isn't appropriate (34 CFR §300.324(a)(2)(iii)).

That evaluation is usually a learning media assessment, which looks at how the child uses sight, touch and hearing to get information and whether print, braille or both fit best (Paths to Literacy). Teaching braille itself, from pre-braille touch skills to the first letters, is covered in our guide on how to teach braille to a blind child.

TVIs teach math braille too. Washington, for example, requires TVI candidates to show "proficiency in the Braille code: literary and Nemeth" (Washington PESB). Nemeth Code is the braille code for math and science used by many US students.

The expanded core curriculum (ECC)

Sighted children learn a lot just by watching: how people cook, how a store works, what a frown means. Students with visual impairments often need those skills taught directly. That set of skills is the expanded core curriculum, and the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) says it is needed "starting at birth", on top of the general curriculum. Its nine areas are (TSBVI):

1. Compensatory skills: the tools to access school, such as braille and Nemeth, tactile graphics, tactile symbols, sign language and audio materials.
2. Sensory efficiency: using vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste.
3. Assistive technology: screen readers, braille devices, magnifiers and other tools.
4. Orientation and mobility: knowing where you are and moving safely.
5. Independent living: personal care, cooking, money.
6. Social interaction: body language, gestures, facial expressions, personal space.
7. Recreation and leisure.
8. Career education.
9. Self-determination: making choices, solving problems, speaking up for yourself.

The IEP team decides which areas are the priority for each student. Orientation and mobility usually has its own specialist; the TVI refers students to that service (APH).

How to become a teacher of the visually impaired

Each state sets its own rules, but the path usually has four steps. These examples come from Texas, Washington and Pennsylvania:

1. A bachelor's degree and a teaching certificate. Texas asks for a bachelor's degree from an accredited university and an initial teaching certificate; special education is preferred but not required (TEA).
2. A TVI preparation program at a university. The University of Pittsburgh's graduate certificate, for example, is 29 credits, mostly online with some in-person workshops, taken part time over 2 to 3 years, with a full semester of student teaching (Pitt). Some programs are accredited by AER, the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired, and some offer a dual TVI and O&M track.
3. Braille. Expect to learn literary braille and Nemeth to a professional level (Washington PESB).
4. Your state's exam or endorsement. Washington uses the NES Blind/Low Vision (603) test for its TVI endorsement (Washington PESB). In Pennsylvania, the Pitt program plus the Praxis II exams leads to the state's certificate in special education for students with visual impairments (Pitt).

Paying for it: some states fund training. In Texas, Stephen F. Austin State University and Texas Tech University both offer a competitive service grant for their TVI programs (TEA). Ask your state's department of education or school for the blind what exists where you live.

TVI jobs and salary

There is no official national salary figure for TVIs alone. The closest is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' data for all special education teachers (BLS):

TVI jobs are posted by school districts, state schools for the blind and early intervention programs. Texas says there are openings for vision professionals across the state (TEA). Blind people teach too: our guide to jobs for blind people covers teaching and the tools behind it.

If you are a parent: questions to ask the TVI

• How often will you see my child, and where: in class, in a separate room, before school?
• Has a learning media assessment been done? What did it recommend: braille, print or both?
• Which areas of the expanded core curriculum are on the IEP this year?
• Who makes the braille or large print materials, and how far ahead of each lesson?
• How do you and the classroom teacher stay in touch?

For the classroom side, see our checklist on how to adapt the classroom for a blind student.

Where Braillito fits

The TVI teaches braille to the student. Often, nobody else around that student reads it: not the classmates, not the classroom teacher, not the parents. 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 is a TVI?

A teacher of the visually impaired, also called a teacher of students with visual impairments: a special education teacher who teaches blind and low-vision students the skills they need because of their vision, such as braille, and makes school materials accessible.

What does TVI stand for?

Teacher of the visually impaired. The longer form is teacher of students with visual impairments, and some families just say vision teacher.

Do TVIs teach braille?

Yes. Teaching braille reading and writing is a core part of the job, and US law makes braille the default for a blind child unless an evaluation shows it isn't appropriate.

What is the difference between a TVI and an O&M specialist?

The TVI teaches braille, use of vision, assistive technology and the other skills of the expanded core curriculum. The orientation and mobility specialist teaches safe travel, such as cane skills. Some people train for both.

How do I become a TVI?

Usually with a bachelor's degree and a teaching certificate, a university TVI program with student teaching, and your state's exam or endorsement. Rules vary by state, so check with your state's department of education.

Do you need to know braille to be a TVI?

You learn it during training. Washington, for example, requires proficiency in literary braille and Nemeth for its TVI endorsement.

How much do TVIs make?

There is no official figure for TVIs alone. Special education teachers in the US earned a median of $67,170 a year in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Is a TVI the same as a classroom teacher?

No. The classroom teacher teaches the general curriculum. The TVI supports the student's access to it and teaches the vision-specific skills, working alongside the classroom teacher.