Active Learning for Students with Visual and Multiple Impairments

Active Learning for Students with Visual and Multiple Impairments

2013 LID Active Learning Conference

June 19-20, 2013

Presented by

Patty Obrzut, Assistant Director

Penrickton Center for Blind Children

Wednesday – June 19, 2013

9:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.

Active Learning vs. Passive Learning

The history and philosophy of Active Learning. Establishing rich environments to encourage active learning vs. passive learning. The role of play as a developmental tool in learning. Understanding the dynamic learning circle and the role disability plays in disrupting this process. Identifying strategies to encourage developmental learning.

11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Lunch on your own

1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Active Learning Equipment & Tools

Active learning as an instrument for decreasing self-injurious behavior, self-stimulatory behaviors or aggressive behaviors. Use and demonstration of aides that facilitate an active learning environment: the Little Room, Resonance Board and HOPSA-dress. Facilitating skills in spatial relations, object concept, increased muscle strength, weight bearing, unsupported sitting, standing and walking.

Thursday - June 20, 2013

9:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.

Active Learning Equipment & the Five Phases of Educational Treatment

Use and demonstration of aides that facilitate an active learning environment: the Essef Board, Support Bench, Multi-functional Table. Facilitating cognitive skills, fine and gross motor skills, improving muscle strength and dexterity, improving weight bearing, unsupported sitting, and standing. Understanding and identifying the emotional and intellectual levels of the special needs child. Identifying the role of the adult in promoting skill development.

11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Lunch on your own

1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

From Assessment to Curriculum

Assessing a child’s developmental level with the use of the Functional Scheme. Establishing a rich and appropriate Active Learning curriculum. Physical layouts for the classroom or playroom. Strategies for implementing Active Learning in the home, school, and therapy environment. Community resources.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE APPROACH OF ACTIVE LEARNING

By: Dr. Lilli Nielsen

March 2000

The philosophy of the approach of ACTIVE LEARNING is to give the child the opportunity to learn, and so step by step, achieve the pre-requisites that would enable him to learn at higher and higher levels.

The approach of ACTIVE LEARNING developed over the past 25 years, primarily while working with children who were blind with additional disabilities such as mental impairments, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism and hearing loss. While developing the approach it was discovered that infants and toddlers with vision impairment only would also benefit from having optimal opportunity to learn, rather than from being trained or taught. Although physical contact with the parents and other adults is important, it is considered even more important that the child with learning difficulties have opportunities to learn from his own activities, and to do so in all aspects.

Learning to move mouth, lips and tongue are important pre-requisites for learning to chew, babble and talk. This learning occurs while the child is playing, rather than while he is eating or communicating. Learning to move arms, hands and fingers are important pre-requisites for learning about the surrounding world, as well as to achieve daily living skills, and so become as independent as possible. This learning occurs while the child is playing, rather than while he is handled by an adult, or while an adult is guiding his hands.

Learning to move legs and feet are important pre-requisites for learning to sit, stand and walk unsupported. This learning occurs if the child has opportunities to achieve the muscle strength necessary for displaying weight bearing. Learning to combine information gained from acting sense modalities is the pre-requisite for learning object concept and for establishing a memory that enables the child to recognize, associate and generalize. This occurs if the child has opportunities to repeat and to compare his experiences at the time that he chooses.

Learning to initiate is the pre-requisite for social development and independence. To facilitate this learning environmental intervention is usually necessary. For this purpose several perceptualyzing aides are designed. The perceptualyzing aid called the “Little Room” facilitates the child’s learning of spatial relations and object concept, gives him the opportunity to explore and experiment with the objects with which the Little Room has been equipped. By means of this, the child develops fine motor movements and learns to be active without help from anybody.

The perceptualyzing aides called the “Support Bench” and the “Essef Board” facilitate the child’s learning to sit unsupported and to develop the gross motor movements necessary for learning to stand and walk. The perceptualyzing aid called the HOPSA-dress facilitates the child’s opportunity to achieve sufficient muscle strength for bearing his own weight, for learning to balance, to stand and to walk. Several other specific materials and setting of environments are explained in the books “Space and Self,” “Early Learning, Step by Step,” and “The FIELA Curriculum 730 Learning Environments.”

Every child is unique and the complexity of handicaps in any child with disabilities makes him even more unique. The intervention for facilitating the child’s learning must, for this reason, be done individually. Also the role of the adult while interacting with the child is considered. In some situations the adult should only act as the provider of materials and be ready to share with the child when he wants to share his experiences. In other situations the adult should contribute by taking her turn when the child wants her to do so. And sometimes the adult should be the one to introduce a new game by playing the game and letting the child participate when he or she is ready to do so.

While implementing the approach of ACTIVE LEARNING it is necessary to know as much as possible about what the child is already able to do, and to know how infants and toddlers learn. Activities that are too easy to perform, or materials that are so well known that they do not challenge the child, fail to facilitate the child’s learning. Activities that are too difficult for the child to perform or materials that the child is unable to handle may result in the child refusing to be active or becoming autistic. Interactions, during which the adult performs most of the activities, or refrains from waiting for the child to initiate his part of the interaction, fail to give the child opportunity to learn to initiate. Instead, the child may become stereotyped, passive, or unable to perform any skill without being prompted.

To be held in an adult’s arms, or to sit in a wheelchair whenever awake, restrains the child’s opportunity to exercise various gross motor movements and to learn about the external world. Instead of focusing on all the things the child with multiple disabilities is unable to do, we should see him as an individual who is just as eager to learn as is any child without disabilities. Furthermore, parents to a child with disabilities are just as eager to see their child learn as the parents to a child without disabilities.

Finally, the philosophy behind the approach of ACTIVE LEARNING is that, if given opportunity to learn from his own active exploration and examination, the child will achieve skills that become a part of his personality, and so are natural for him to use in interactions with others, and of fulfillment of his own needs, and will gradually let him react relevantly to instructions and education, in other words to be as independent as possible.

References :

Lilli Nielsen, 1977, SIKON: The Comprehending Hand

Lilli Nielsen, 1990, SIKON: Are you Blind? Lilli Nielsen, 1992, SIKON: Space and Self.

Lilli Nielsen, 1989, SIKON: Spatial Relations in Congenitally Blind Infants

Lilli Nielsen, 1993, SIKON: Early Learning – Step by Step.

Lilli Nielsen, 1998, SIKON: The FIELA Curriculum – 730 Learning Environments

Lilli Nielsen, 2000, SIKON: Functional Scheme – Levels: 0 – 48 months

J. van der Poel, 1997, SIKON: Visual impairment – Understanding the needs of young children.

ACTIVE LEARNING PERCEPTUAL AIDS & RESOURCES

Dr. Lilli Nielsen

Degnevaenget 7

Nr. Bjert

6000 Kolding

Denmark

Phone: 011-45-7551-0983 - Email:

LilliWorks Active Learning Foundation

Little Room/Support Bench/Essef Board/Hopsadress/Resonance/books

Boards/Newsletter/Videos

510 Palace Ct. Alameda, CA 94501

Phone: 510-522-1340 - Email:

Button-hole Elastic Suppliers

Newark Dressmaker Supply, Inc. Button Hole Elastic for Bunchers P.O. Box 20730

Lehigh Valley, PA 18002-0730

1-800-736-6783

(2013) - $2.60 for 3 yards, $21.75 for 30 yards

Fray Check Suppliers

Check local fabric stores Manufacturer is Prym-Dritz Corporation

Veltex Brand Display Fabric Suppliers – To Construct Velcro Boards

Textol Systems, Inc. Phone: 1-800-624-8746

Fax: 1-201-935-1824

(2013) - $14.84 a yard, must be orders in multiples of 10 yards

$11.66 a yard over 40 yards or

Velcro Brand

1-800-225-0180

Minimum order $300.00

Southpaw Enterprises

1-800-228-1698

Suspension & Hardware Flying Trapeze $1,199.00 (2013) Safety Rotational Device $62.00

Safety Snap $14.95

Height Adjuster $107.00

Eye Splice $14.50 & Therapy Rope $1.50 per foot

Mini Massagers

Water Dancer Mini Massager $16.99 on internet

TFH – Fun and Achievement

1-800-467-6222

(2013) Mini Massagers $12.00 each Product #9MIMA

West Music

1-800-397-9378 musical instruments

Music is Elementary

1-800-888-7502

Musical instruments

Ceiling Lift Systems

THE DYNAMIC LEARNING CIRCLE

Stage One

A child becomes aware and interested in:

1. His/her own motor and sensory activities

2. The objects and activities in the environment

3. People in the environment – their social/communication activities

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Stage Three

A child completes learning with an activity

An activity is repeated to such a level that it becomes part of the child’s every day actions and patterns.
An activity or action becomes familiar enough that it presents no more challenges to the child.

Stage Two

A child becomes curious and interested –which leads to:

Repetition of his/her own activity
Establishing memories of his/her own activity
Experimentation, exploration and comparison with objects
Imitation of the activity of others
Responding to verbal/non-verbal communication of others
Initiating activity
Sharing his/her experiences with others

2013 Active Learning Conference, Houston, TX – Active Learning for Students with Visual and Multiple Impairments, Obrzut, 2013 1

Stage Four

A child becomes ready for new challenges which lead to awareness and interest if:

The child is given opportunities to experience new motor/sensory activities
The child is given opportunities to experience new actions of others
The challenges offered are within a child’s developmental level
Other people have taken an interest in the child’s past activities

2013 Active Learning Conference, Houston, TX – Active Learning for Students with Visual and Multiple Impairments, Obrzut, 2013 1

THE LITTLE ROOM

By: Dr. Lilli Nielsen

The “Little Room” is designed to give blind infants, children with slow development, severely disabled children and children with combinations of disabilities the possibility to gain the ability of reaching, the beginning of the understanding of space, and early object concept.

Non-handicapped children are reaching for objects when they are 3-4 months old while blind children often are 10-12 months old before they achieve this ability. Some blind children will instead of reaching behavior, develop a stereotyped motor behavior, which is turned toward their own body. It is therefore important to offer the blind infant surroundings, which can motivate him to reach for objects as early in life as possible.

The “Little Room” can be built in the size that best fits each child. The material in the Little Room must be provided with objects that hang from the ceiling and/or upon the walls, so whatever movements the child makes, he will come in tactile contact with the objects. It is a good idea to observe which qualities the child prefers – which structure the child prefers tosearch – which sounds the child prefers while reaching – which smells the child prefers just now.

When the child reaches for the ceiling and the walls (one can build the Little Room bigger,) so the child thereby can be motivated to move himself around in the Little Room and perhaps out of it and into it. In some ways the handicapped child gains the experiences and understanding of space that non-handicapped children achieve by looking around, and by building a lot ofdifferent playhouses. Blind children and severely disabled children are not able to build playhouses by themselves, or to find small spaces under furniture and cupboards as needed early in life.

The modules of the “Little Room” must now and then be moved from one place to another and be provided with new objects so the child’s curiosity and thereby his motivation for experimenting can be preserved. It is important that the “Little Room” is equipped with many objects so the child can compare different tactile and auditory stimuli. It is also important that the objects can be reached by the child, and are graspable.

References :

Lilli Nielsen, 1992, SIKON: Space and Self.

Lilli Nielsen, 1989, SIKON: Spatial Relations in Congenitally Blind Infants

Lilli Nielsen, 1993, SIKON: Early Learning – Step by Step.

Lilli Nielsen, 1998, SIKON: The FIELA Curriculum – 730 Learning Environments

2013 Active Learning Conference, Houston, TX – Active Learning for Students with Visual and Multiple Impairments, Obrzut, 2013 1

THE RESONANCE BOARD

By: Dr. Lilli Nielsen

The Resonance Board is made of 4 mm plywood size 150 x 150 cm (120 x 120 cm if the child is very small.) Along the edge of the underside you apply a wooden strip, which is2 x 2 cm. It is very important to apply the strip along the edge and that the strip is not wider than 2 cm. If the board is correctly made, it has the following qualities. The sounds that the child produces on the sounding board will be transmitted through the fibers of the wood and will be felt by the child on other parts of his/her body. The sounds will get a prolonged and a reinforced effect, which is important to the child’s motivation for increased activity.

The weight of the child will result in a little bending of the board downwards, which will make beads roll back that were made to roll to the edge of the board by the body movements of the child. This is a prolonged reaction to the child’s activities. The air gap also has an insulated effect to the cold floor. Children and adults will not get as tired throughout their bodies while sitting on it, due to its adaptability.

The child will get an opportunity to develop an understanding of space by learning a little about the limited “room” which the resonance board represents. He/she will start moving about on the board. This will constitute a good basis for the motivation of the child to use the space outside of the sounding board, and by means of this, he/she will start moving from one place to another.

When using the resonance board for the first time, the adult should sit down on the board with the child in his/her lap. Make contact with the board by making small sounds on the board. Inform the child, and make a little stronger sound. Slowly move the child’s body down onto the board. Not until then, when you have made sure that the child is secure and made to feel at home in the situation should you start putting objects under the hands of the child, around the child, under the feet of the child, under the head of the child. By observing the reactions of the child you will decide how far to get the first time, when the child is able to lie alone on the board and for how long.

References:

Lilli Nielsen, 1977, SIKON: The Comprehending Hand

Lilli Nielsen, 1992, SIKON: Space and Self.

Lilli Nielsen, 1989, SIKON: Spatial Relations in Congenitally Blind Infants

Lilli Nielsen, 1993, SIKON: Early Learning – Step by Step.

Lilli Nielsen, 1998, SIKON: The FIELA Curriculum – 730 Learning Environment

2013 Active Learning Conference, Houston, TX – Active Learning for Students with Visual and Multiple Impairments, Obrzut, 2013 1