Emergent Literacy Supports for Students who are Deafblind

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Emergent Literacy Supports for Students who are
Deafblind

• NCDB Topical Conference
• May 13, 2008
• Amy R. McKenzie, Ed.D.
• Florida State University
• Program in Visual Impairments

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Role of the DB Team
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Role of the DB Team

• The DB Team consists of
• Teacher of students with visual impairments
• Teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing
• Deafblind specialist

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Role of the DB Team

• 1 TVI Assessment
• Current eye report and FVE
• Learning Media Assessment
• ECC Assessment
• Consult with others regarding implications of
  VI/DB

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Role of the DB Team

• Learning Media Assessments
• Required by IDEA for all students with visual
  impairments
• The only method of ensuring objective decision
  making regarding a students preferred learning
  channels literacy media (print/braille)

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Role of the DB Team

• 2 HI Assessments
• Audiologist Report
• Functional Hearing Evaluation
• Consult with others regarding implications of
  HI/DB

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Role of the DB Team

• 3 Communication Assessments
• Visual impairment multiplies by a hearing
  impairment has large implications on a students
  ability to communicate and their preferred modes
  of communication
• Completed in collaboration with other team
  members

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Role of the DB Team

• Communication Assessment
• Every Move Counts Sensory Based Communication
  Techniques (Korsten, Dunn, Foss, Francke, 1993)
• The Callier-Azusa Scale (Stillman et al., 1978)
• Communication A Guide for Teaching Students with
  Visual and Multiple Impairments (Hagood, 1997)

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Role of the DB Team

• 4 IEP Development
• ECC Goals and Objectives (TVI)
• Consult or Team Teach
• Classroom Teacher - Literacy Skills
• Related Service Providers Literacy-related
  Skills
• Accommodations Supplementary Aids/Services

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Role of the DB Team

• 5 Direct Instruction in Unique Need Areas
• Instruction in literacy-related areas
• Communication
• Concept development
• Listening skills
• Early braille skills (TVI)
• Visual efficiency skills (TVI)
• Assistive technology skills

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Role of the DB Team

• 6 Consultation with Team Members
• Organization and adaptation of the environment
• Teaching methods
• Activities that encourage literacy development
• Literacy at home and in the community

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Environmental Supports
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Environmental Supports

• Research-based practices in emergent literacy
  include
• Print rich environment with extensive labeling
• Organization of the classroom into areas or
  centers
• All areas/centers should include literacy props

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Environmental Supports

• For students with DB
• Environmental print/labels must be in all
  students literacy media and in an accessible
  location
• Example Labels can include print, large print,
  braille, real objects, tactile symbols, pictures,
  and Mayer-Johnson symbols on one large piece of
  cardstock or cardboard.

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Strategies Activities
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Strategies Activities

• The following strategies and activities can be
  implemented by the DB Team in a variety of ways
• Direct instruction
• Team teaching
• Modeling for other team members
• Consultation with other team members

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Strategies Activities

• Early, Hands On Experiences
• Essential for concept development
• Repetitious, consistent, and comprehensive
• Variety of environments
• Lay the ground work for further development in
  all areas especially communication literacy

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Strategies Activities

• Early, Hand On Experiences
• The problem? It was often observed that books
  were being read to students who had no grasp of
  the concepts being addressed.
• Can a child truly begin to develop literacy
  skills if they are unaware of the content of the
  literacy experience?

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Strategies Activities

• Just Read... Aloud!
• Make a part of daily routines in all environments
• Select books that are based on concepts that are
  understood by the students real life
  experiences, a classroom theme, etc.

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Strategies Activities

• Just Read Aloud!
• Make the reading process as multi-sensory as
  possible
• Real objects
• Tactile symbols
• Model book reading behaviors
• Page turning
• Book orientation
• (Newbold, 2000)

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Strategies Activities

• Just Read Aloud!
• Utilize a Shared Reading approach where the adult
  and student read together
• Select stories with predictable patterns or
  related story lines
• Include communication devices in a meaningful
  manner!
• (Holbrook Koenig, 2005)

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Strategies Activities

• Using Communication Devices in a Meaningful
  Manner
• Do not simply place a switch in front of the
  student with the repeated line recorded
• Include a meaningful symbol on the book and
  device to help make the connection change for
  each story read.

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Strategies Activities

• Experience Stories
• A joint story writing process based on an
  activity or event experience by a student.
• (Holbrook Koenig, 2005)

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Strategies Activities

• Book Bags and Boxes
• Bags or boxes with objects associated with a book
  or story
• Use the objects while reading the book
• The type of objects should be based on students
  communication needs!

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Strategies Activities

• Shared Writing and Scribbling
• Shared writing or scribbling is a vital component
  of literacy development model writing for
  students whenever possible.
• Have plenty of paper, crayons, pencils, paints
  and a braille writer in a location accessible to
  students in a variety of locations.
• (Holbrook Koenig, 2005)

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Strategies Activities

• Unique Needs of Students who are Deafblind
• Activity or Schedule Calendars/Boxes
• Choice Boards
• Braille Readiness/Early Braille Activities

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ResourcesQuestions Answer