Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired Outreach Programs
512-454-8631
Superintendent William Daugherty
Outreach Director Cyral Miller
Texas Focus: Learning From Near to Far
Communication Portfolios: A Tool to Increase the Competence of Communication Partners of Students Who are Visually Impaired With or Without Multiple Disabilities And/Or Deafblindness
Time: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM
Date: June 11, 2010
Presented by
Susan DeCaluwe, Education Consultant, Deafblind Specialist, Massachusetts Deafblind Project, Perkins School for the Blind
Developed for
Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired Outreach Programs
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Session Agenda
- Welcome!
- Introduction
- Communication Portfolios: A Person First tool to increase…
- Communication Partnerships
- Communication Portfolios capture and illustrate:
- The essence of the individual
- Real life experiences and interactions
- Visual, auditory, and tactile adaptations
- Environmental modifications and access strategies
Assumptions
- All individuals communicate through conversations.
- Conversational interactions precede language.
- Early conversations do not need words; they require two people taking-turns and enjoying something together.
Nonverbal Communication
Information that is communicated without using words
Assumptions
- Conversational environments include all forms of communication ranging from changes in breathing, in the use of objects, gestures, pictures, written or brailled words and signs to spoken words.
- Real life learning experiences (Motto: Doing with not for!) set the foundation for literacy and the development of basic concepts, meaningful communication and social relationships.
The Student’s story is… what the Portfolio is all about!
- Team: A shared vision of and for the individual
- Focusing on the individual’s unique communication style
- Questions raised by Team members:
- How can I communicate with this student?
- How can I help this student understand and access their natural environment and daily schedule? And for educational programs; to link to the curriculum…
- Portfolios support teams in sharing what they know about the student’s unique communication style with one another, and future team members.
- Telling stories
Familiar Quote:
“As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has ~ or ever will have ~ something inside that is unique to all time. It is our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways to developing its expression.”
~ Mr. Rogers ~
Communication Portfolios…
- Create a shared sense of purpose
- Cultivate an environment of team collaboration
- Tell a life story
- Reduce the amount of time it takes new team members to get to know the student who is visually impaired with or without multiple disabilities and/or deafblindness.
The Individual as a Team Member
(Naomi Brill’s visual depiction of 10 Team Members sitting in a circle)
Communication Portfolios…
- Present the student’s experiences in a rich visual format.
- Visually capture the learner’s:
- individual processing style
- favorite and non-favorite activities
- social relationships
- natural daily rhythms and routines
- Set the stage for successful annual transitions through a visual introduction of the student and what s/he can do.
- May be used as a functional assessment tool for developing and modifying work, home, community experiences; as well as, educational curriculum requirements.
Seven Magnificent Individuals
(A map of the state of Massachusetts with seven locations of the first students to use communication portfolios)
Dangerous Assumptions that Interfere with Lifelong Learning
- The most limiting assumptions are believing that:
- a student who is visually impaired with or without multiple disabilities and/or deafblindness doesn’t know how to communicate yet
- we need to teach a student who is visually impaired with or without multiple disabilities how to communicate before s/he can express him/herself and before we can communicate with him/her.
Remember…
- Every student who is visually impaired with or without multiple disabilities at Every Moment
- Is already communicating
- Is already expressing themselves
- What is needed is a partner who:
- Will receive the individual’s communication skillfully
- Will enter into conversation with them at their level and following their lead
- Out of these conversations
- Will grow relationship and language and literacy
Your Child Who is Blind, Visually Impaired or Deafblind Can Learn
- How to have satisfying conversations
- To become confident communicators
IF
- They are given complete attention
- We respond to their smallest attempts to communicate.
The Portfolio…
- Is a collection of photographs
- Is a collection of everything the team has developed with the individual presented in a visual format
- Is not hand written notes, reports and assessments
- Visually displays what the individual is capable of doing
- Is presented in the person’s voice
Family Perspective: Questions
- What is awesome about your child? *****
- What one goal is most important for your child this year? *****
- Indicate three things that you hope for your child this year.
- What is the most critical information that all staff should know about your child? *****
- What dreams do you have for your child’s future? …for working, …for housing, …for leisure, …for community access? *****
- List all the ways that your child communicates with you.
- List all the places your child likes to go to, and places s/he has been. List all your family vacations, trips, hospitalizations, etc.
- Describe your child’s typical daily schedule including home/ chores/ school/ community/ play/leisure settings and activities. What time does your child wake-up, get dressed, eat, complete chores, go to sleep, etc. What type of family/ community activities does your child participate in on a weekly and/or seasonal basis?
Gathering (BioPoem)
A POEM by Mom
Samuel Jaden Lovering
Who is handsome, a “big boy,” sweet, gentle, easygoing
Son of Stephanie, little brother to Isaiah
Who loves Elmo and Leapster, putting his hands in his mouth, being outside, listening to music, and playing with his toys
Who feels happy, loving, and content
Who needs routine, common language, patience and cuing
Who worries about being startled and around unknown people
Who gives hope and pleasure to all who meet him
Who would like to see it easier to access places with his family
Michael
- Devilish, Bright, Very Selective, Very Demanding
- Mom, Howard, Auntie Lynda, Gramma
- To be loved, Attention, Loves to Watch People Drop Things, Big Breasts, Blonds and Howard (PCA)
- Loved, Frustration, Vulnerable, Dependent, Joy, Disappointment When Mom Leaves After a Visit
- Love, Support 24/7, Mother, Howard, Coca Cola, O'Doul's, Medical Assistance
- I hope nothing...Needles in His Arms, Being in the Dark, Being Alone, Losing a Person
- Love, Kisses, Hugs, Joy, Devilish Laughs
- Clearly, Lots of Blonds, Other Peoples Drinks, Boat Trips, Vacation, Jacuzzi’s, Home, Friends (Adam)
- Plymouth ~ Independence Street
Content and Design: Working Together
Visual Components of the Portfolio:
- Family/Team Contribution Lists
- Biopoems
- Communication Illustration
- Varied Experiences
- …And More
New England Center Deafblind Project and Massachusetts Department of Education
Matchmaker Project: A Communication Competency Model for Educational Teams Working With Children and Youth Who Are Deafblind
Hi, I’m Jonathan.
This book and video are about me and my family, friends and classmates. I hope this book and video will help us get to know each other. This book will show ways for us to communicate. The book and video are in Spanish, too. Please take more pictures of me to add to this book. I will help you write the words that go with the pictures.
Capturing and Captioning Snapshots and Videos
- Include me in real life activities so that I know what others are doing. That way, I become a member of the group.
- Coactive activities like having a drink together or discovering things together allows me to interact on a mutual topic.
Using the Portfolio as an Alternate Assessment Tool
- Secondary Evidence – Mathematics K.N.3 Number Sense & Operations
- JJ touches his tangible, representational symbol for snack. Now he can anticipate that he will be offered a choice of snack which assists him in sequencing activities.
Highlights: Families
- Understanding a family’s and/or residential staff’s vision for the student who is visually impaired with or without multiple disabilities and/or deafblindness is critical for designing a cohesive program.
- In the case of JJ, the parents’ vision statement was simple but effective: they wanted JJ to sit upright in a chair and greet his peers from a sitting position.
- Parents and/or residential staff often wished to involve siblings and extended relatives in the life of the student who is visually impaired with or without multiple disabilities and/or deafblindness. One family asked to translate the individual’s portfolio into Spanish for the individual’s grandmother to understand what her grandson was learning in school to transition to Adult Services.
Highlights: Socialization
- AL needed physical support to maintain his positioning and an one-on-one individual to interpret his facial expressions and change positions. Given these conditions, AL was free to gaze between speakers, listen to his classmates present and respond with facial expressions that were interpreted by the one-on-one.
- Greeting JC was modeled for students/peers: Approach JC, speak, then touch, then watch for JC’s response and continue. Tell who you are and “What’s up?” Tell what you are doing and use signs in his hand. Use verbal phrases, touch cues, symbols and objects in combination. Model saying “good bye” and review what you have talked about.
Highlights: Instructional Practices
- Opportunities for social interaction for many students who are visually impaired with or without multiple disabilities and/or deafblindness must be created by families and residential staff. Finding peers can be a challenge.
- Proximity is crucial for social interactions and accessing the environment. For social situations the student who is visually impaired with or without multiple disabilities and/or deafblindness must be near enough to reach out and touch and have peers that are okay with touching. If there is anyone within reach it increases the possibility of the individuals to spontaneously respond to language opportunities.
- Modeling interactions for peers is helpful and sharing the portfolio allows for independent interaction.
- Timing is crucial for all students who are visually impaired with or without multiple disabilities and/or deafblindness. Combined vision and hearing loss affects an individual’s processing style. Use videos to capture the time it takes an individual to process and to respond to a request.
- In one of the Portfolio a student remarked, “Using APH trays, choice containers and total communication methods gives me time to think, process and experience the activity and build skills in social opportunity with my classmates.”
Highlights: Systems Change
- Focus the team on the needs of the student; once focused, cross-referenced objectives work.
- Translate information for parents/residential staff into their native language and meet team members with an appropriate language interpreter.
- Check school to work to home resources: phone support, person-focused information, terminology questions, and advocacy tips.
Carl Jung Quote:
“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings, our emotions. The Curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but Warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the individual.”
Chinese Proverb
Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember, involve me and I’ll understand.
For more information….
DeCaluwe,S., McLetchie, B., Evans Luiselli, T., Mason, B. Hill Peters, M., (2004) Communication Portfolio: A Tool to Increase the Competence of Communication Partners of Learners Who Are Deafblind. Deaf-Blind Perspectives, Spring 2004, Volume 11 Issue
DeCaluwe,S., McLetchie, B., Hill Peters, M., Evans Luiselli, T., Mason, B. (2005) Communication and Connecting with Learners Who are Deafblind Developing Communication Portfolios (Books and Videos). New England Center Deafblind Project, Watertown, MA. click on Resources then Matchmaker
Additional Resources
Remarkable Conversations: A guide to developing meaningful communication with children and young adults who are deafblind, Perkins School for the Blind, 1999
Understanding Deafblindness; Issues, Perspectives, and Strategies, Ski Hi Institute, 2002
NCDB ~ National Consortium on Deafblindness ~ Clearinghouse
Project Participate
Project Participate provides families, educators, administrators and therapists with simple strategies to increase the active participation of students with disabilities in school programs. Supported by a U.S. Department of Education grant (H324M980258), Project Participate facilitates team collaboration and promotes the appropriate uses of technology in the classroom. Explore their site to see success stories and learn practical solutions to enhance learning, teaching, and the full inclusion of students with disabilities in the classroom. Download sample curricular adaptations, handouts for training, intervention planning forms and more!
Biopoem Gathering Information
First name
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Traits which describe character (list 4)
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4.
Relative
Lover of… (list 3)
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2.
3.
Who feels… (list 3)
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2.
3.
Who needs… (list 3)
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2.
3.
Who fears… (list 3)
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2.
3.
Who gives… (list 3)
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2.
3.
Who would like to see… (list 3)
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2.
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Resident of…
Last name
At least 22 photos to capture these images…
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Family Perspective: Questions
What is awesome about your child? *****
What one goal is most important for your child this year? *****
Indicate three things that you hope for your child this year.
What is the most critical information that all staff should know about your child? *****
What dreams do you have for your child’s future? …for working, …for housing, …for leisure, …for community access? *****
List all the ways that your child communicates with you.
List all the places your child likes to go to, and places s/he has been. List all your family vacations, trips, hospitalizations, etc.
Describe your child’s typical daily schedule including home/ chores/ school/ community/ play settings and activities. What time does your child wake-up, get dressed, eat, complete chores, go to sleep, etc. What type of family/community activities does your child participate in on a weekly and/or seasonal basis?
Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired
Outreach Programs
1100 West 45th Street
Austin, Texas 78756
512-454-8631
Figure 1 TSBVI Outreach Programs logo
Figure 2 OSEP logo
This project is supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the U.S. Department of Education.
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