Enhancing the Literacy Experience for Students who are Deafblind

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Enhancing the Literacy Experience for Students
who are Deafblind

• Presenter
• Deirdre Leech, M.Ed.
• Perkins School for the Blind
• Deafblind Program

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Overview

• Literacy challenges for students with
  Deafblindness and Multiple Disabilities
• Ideas on how to encourage other teachers of
  Deafblind students to incorporate literacy into
  the school day
• Several ways to adapt books for all types of
  learners

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What is literacy?

• Old definition
• ability to read and write

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New definition
Proficiency in understanding and using written
as well as spoken language as a reader, writer,
speaker, and listener. Literacy is an integrated
process which develops gradually from birth and
is built upon learning from broad experiences,
linking language with the development of
concepts, and providing exposure to the written
word in a variety of meaningful contexts
(Wright, 1997).
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Goals of Reading Writing

• Reading for the reader to obtain meaning from
  text and apply it to the world and oneself.
• Writing to communicate an individuals
  understanding of the world and themself through
  written text.
• (Koppenhaver, 2000)

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Challenges

• Children with Deafblindness have limited
  opportunities for incidental learning
• Reduced exposure to literacy
• Lack of early experiences
• Read aloud to less
• Lack of readily available materials
• Motivation

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Lack of Early Literacy Experiences

• Child may not oversee parents and siblings
  reading newspapers, writing out grocery lists,
  and reading books
• May not hear or process language in stories being
  read aloud
• For medically fragile children, medical
  interventions often take precedence over other
  learning opportunities, including literacy

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Lack of Early Literacy Experiences

• Delayed concept development due to
• visual impairments
• hearing impairments
• motor impairments
• health issues
• behavioral issues

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Lack of Exposure to Stories Read Aloud

• Limited opportunity for reading time
• Limited access to appropriate print materials
• Access to dual media books (Braille/Print/auditory
  /tactile)
• Limited sign language capabilities to communicate
  the story
• Incorporating individual communication strategies
• Reading aloud regularly to a child from
  infancy is the most important factor in building
  a foundation for the enjoyment and success in
  reading

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Lack of Motivation

• Child
• See no value in books or reading
• May only be motivated by music, sounds, flip-ups,
  tactile components, movement
• Parents
• May not get enough feedback or response from
  child
• May think story time is not enjoyable for child
• Teachers
• Time consuming to make materials
• Diversity of students in classroom

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Motivating Books
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• What are some strategies to incorporate literacy
• throughout the school day
• and at home?

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Modify the environment

• Exposure, exposure, exposure!
• Display visual, tactile, and sign language
  alphabets
• Label the environment
• Use Bulletin boards
• Thematic Unit vocabulary, display favorite books
• Organize room
• Accessibility to materials (height, distance)
• Name symbols (labeling, attendance cards)

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Modify the Environment
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Encourage Book Handling Skills

• Books have
• Top and bottom
• Front and back
• Title and Author

• We read print/Braille from left to right, top to
  bottom
• Explore books through touching and feeling

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Have several options available

• A typical classroom has many shelves of books for
  a child to choose from
• Children who are Deafblind do not have this many
  choices available for many reasons
• Dont just go to the library, create your own
  personal library in classroom/home!

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Reading Activities
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Read aloud

• Reading aloud regularly to a child from infancy
  is the most important factor in building a
  foundation for the enjoyment and success in
  reading

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Create Story Boxes Literacy Kits

• Story box includes
• Props related to the story
• Adapted book(s)
• appropriate for each student
• Switches

• Literacy Kit includes
• Story box
• Communication boards
• Extension activities
• Worksheets
• Games
• Electronic activities
• Assessment

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Story Boxes
Curriculum books with materials
Objects only
Repetitive line picture book with objects and
materials
Story books with materials
Concrete
Abstract
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Story Boxes and Literacy Kits
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Story Boxes/Literacy Kits
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Story Boxes/Literacy Kits
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Supporting Activities

• Preview Review Vocabulary
• Book reports
• Sentence starters
• Questions
• Curriculum activities
• Expanded CORE curriculum

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Supporting Activities

• Address the expanded CORE curriculum
• Cooking recipe related to book
• Community experience
• Grocery shopping
• Special events
• Museums

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Adapting Books
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Student Considerations

• Visual
• Tactile
• Physical
• Cognitive
• Lesson goals and objectives

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Goals of the Lesson

• Teaching reading skills (decoding)
• Simplified language
• Length of text on each page
• Material includes familiar vocabulary
• Content is interesting
• Comprehension skills
• Use more listening (attention) skills
• Include picture and/or symbol support
• Assessment activity

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Adapting books

• Modifications to the TEXT
• Modifications to the PICTURES
• Modifications to the BOOK

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Modifications to the TEXT

• Make text accessible by adding Braille
• Make text accessible by replacing smaller print
  with enlarged print
• Provide contrast
• Simplify the content
• If student is not reading print or Braille at the
  level of the text in the book
• Support print with picture or tactile symbols

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Modifications to the TEXT
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Modifications to the PICTURE

• Simplify the background
• Make accessible for student with CVI
• Highlight the main idea of the picture
• Provide tactile enhancement to the picture

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Modifications to the BOOK

• Use cardboard to make pages thicker, easier to
  manipulate, and more durable
• Add page fluffers
• Rebind the book so it stays open more easily
• Take pages out and put into protective sheets
• Laminate pages
• Tactile enhancements

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Modifications to the BOOK

• Books that are on tape or CD can be adapted with
  a switch so that a student can continue to read
  the story by activating the switch
• Create an electronic version of the book
• Tape, CD, MP3
• PPT or other software
• Can be made accessible using a switch or
  touch-screen

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Electronic Books

• Audiobooks
• On the computer
• Include animations
• Motivation
• Adapted with appropriate pictures and text
• Accessibility
• Attention
• Physical
• Cognition

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Writing Activities
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Make your own books

• Fun and engaging activity
• Promotes language skills
• Teaches books can be different
• Shape and size
• have different parts (pages, cover, etc.)
• may contain pictures and writing
• Book skills
• read left to right
• Written by author
• (Swenson, 1999, p.27)

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Make Concept Books

• Create books that describe abstract ideas and
  objects such as
• Actions
• Emotions
• Colors
• Shapes
• Size
• Spatial relationships

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Write Experience Stories Together

• Students participate in activities then write a
  story based on the experience
• Stories incorporate real life experiences that
  may be fun and memorable
• Experience stories can be written using objects,
  pictures, print or any combination
• Experience stories can be reviewed at any time
  and brought back out as routine/experience is
  repeated

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Write Social Stories Together

• Definition
• Teaching a skill
• Stories incorporate real life experiences that
  may be routines that are stressful and require
  desensitization
• Social stories can be reviewed at any time and
  brought back out as routine/experience is
  repeated
• They evolve

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Example Experience Story
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Compose Journals/Home Books

• Develop memory skills activities or events that
  occurred earlier in the day are reviewed and
  documented
• Writing may take form of objects, pictures, line
  drawings, print, or voice output devices
• Take childs communication mode/level into
  consideration

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Write letters together

• Writing letters is a motivating activity to
  encourage and practice many literacy skills.
• Sentence structure, Braille, vocabulary
• Letters can take shape in many different formats
  including partial objects, pictures, print,
  Braille, or any combination of these.

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Name Writing

• For work samples, vocational jobs, signing cards
• Stencils
• Name stamps
• Stickers
• Students initials
• Tactile name symbol

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Name Writing
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Universal Access

• Write using symbols/text that the student
  understands
• Objects, tactile symbols, Braille
• Pictures, MJ symbols, drawings, text
• Display text in an accessible format
• Slant board, book, sequence boxes

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Universal Access

• Incorporating Technology
• Computer access
• Reading
• Writing
• Communication devices
• Switches

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• Researchers in the field of emergent literacy
  define written language as beginning at birth and
  continuing throughout life. Consequently,
  written language activities should not be
  withheld while waiting for speech, language, and
  cognition to reach a prerequisite level
  (Koppenhaver, 2000).

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Functions of Reading and Writing
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Assessment Strategies

• Use meaningful activities
• Find ways to increase independence
• Assistive tech
• Design of the activity
• Teaching time vs assessment time
• Purposely change things and observe
• Invert letters, text, pictures, sentences

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Positive Literacy Outcomes

• Discover that books are fun
• Foster a desire to read
• Awareness that symbols represent meaning
• Understand that stories come from print
• Awareness of the structure of a story
• Hearing book language as different from
  conversational language
• Develop new vocabulary
• Learn book handling skills
• (Stratton, 1996 Newbold, 2002)

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What Now?

• Prioritize what to do first
• Meet with the team
• Connect this to the IEP Goals
• Try one thing OK if its not perfect before you
  try it out!

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Every Child is a Potential Reader
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Questions, Comments Discussion
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Thank you for Coming!

• Deirdre.Leech_at_perkins.org

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Works Cited

• Koppenhaver, D. 2000. Literay in AAC What should
  be written on the envelope we push? Augmentative
  and Alternative Communication, 16, 270-279.
• Miles, B. 2000. Literacy for persons who are
  deaf-blind. Monmouth, OR DB-LINK The National
  Information Clearinghouse on Children Who Are
  Deaf-Blind.
• Miller, Cyral. 2001. What is the Expanded Core
  Curriculum for Blind and Visually Impaired
  Students? See/Hear.
• Musslewhite, C. King-DeBaun, P. (1997).
  Emergent Literacy Success Merging Technology
  and Whole Language for Students with
  Disabilities. Park City, UT Creative
  Communicating.Newbold, S. 2000. Emergent
  literacy for young blind children. Phoenix The
  Foundation for Blind Children

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• Reading Language Arts Shared reading. From the
  MCPS Early Literacy Guide. Retrieved April 29,
  2005, from http//www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/en
  glish/shared_reading.html
• Spadorcia, S. Sturm. (2001). Literacy Kits.
  Adapted from K. Erickson. Handout from Graduate
  Course Emergent Literacy and Numeracy
  Instruction for Children with Severe Special
  Needs (ESPED 6127 Section 21). Lesley University,
  Cambridge, MA. 2003.
• Stratton, J. 1996. Emergent literacy A new
  perspective. Journal of Visual Impairment and
  Blindness, 90(3), 177-18
• Swenson, A. 1999. Beginning with braille
  Firsthand experiences with a balanced approach to
  literacy. New York AFB Press.