Linda Hagood, Speech-Language Pathologist

(Writing CAN Be Child’s Play) Co-creating Imaginative Stories with students who have Visual Impairment and Additional Disabilities

Presented by:

Linda Hagood, Speech-language pathologist

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•Washington State School for the Blind

•Doctoral Student, Portland State University

•Supported by NLCSD

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Goals for the session

•Give you new ideas for plugging play into your day.

•Share stories that have grown from the play-based storytelling activities I’ve done with students who have autism and visual impairment.

Characteristics of Play

•Voluntary

•Pleasurable

•Symbolic

•Meaningful

•Active

•Process oriented

•Intrinsically Motivated

Dockett & Fleer (1999), Lester & Russell (2008), Shipley (2008)

Narrative language Elements for Co-creating Imaginative Stories

•Structure—sequence, plot, character development.

•Creativity and Humor.

•Connections—between characters, events, storytellers and listeners.

•The Elevator who Just Wouldn’t Listen

HEATHER

•Septo Optic Dysplasia (ONH); totally blind

•Excellent Braille skills.

•Challenges with self-regulation, especially with transitions, insecure about movement.

CLARA

•Traumatic Brain Injury; fluctuating vision.

•Does not yet read.

•Significant language impairment, with poor topic maintenance.

Social-Communicative Goals

•Engagement –with partners, with instruction

•Topic Maintenance

•Perspective-taking (between characters, authors)

•Turntaking

•Expanding communicative functions (reporting, describing, labeling, expressing feelings).

Narrative Language Goals

•Language Organization (sequencing, main idea, topic sentence with supporting details)

•Expand vocabulary.

•Grammatical structure.

Guided Participation Strategy 1:
Nurturing initiations “Yes, and…”

•Shaping nonintentional or unclear communication or contributions.

•Using wait time

•Reduction in questions & directions; Increase affirmations, comments, descriptions.

Strategy 2:
Scaffolding participation

•Embracing partial participation and interdependence.

•Expanding and clarifying input.

•Moving fluidly between play levels.

•Balancing topics/themes.

•Model cohesion by blending participants’ contributions.

Strategy 3:
Guiding social communication

•Modeling structure of narrative storytelling

•Modeling vocabulary (time, causality, affect)

•Modeling creativity, humor, flexibility

•Sharing written products verbally or through dramatic enactment.

Edward:

“Once there was a parent named Seattle who named her new baby @. The nurse at the hospital said, ‘You can’t name your baby @ because that name has been used too many times.’ After that Seattle and her father Microsoft Sam decided that the ! (exclamation Point) would be a better name because exclamation means happy and very excited and this baby made them feel that way.”

Katrina:

“I cannot define the word ‘lying’ …Lying is evil but Performing is great? I don’t understand.”

“I am the expert of things, but people are so confusing.”

“I was one with nature...now where’s my BrailleNote?”

“Can this be the day of Magic—when all of us wear one shoe like Cinderella?”

Isaiah:

“Muchtotolerate walks outside in the forest and finds a marching parade. In the parade he hears music. A screeching owl burns his ears"

Rylan

•Strengths in auditory memory.

•Interest in dogs and other animals, also in music.

•Minimally verbal—echolalic.

•Difficult to engage during group activities.

•Challenges in self-regulation

Goals from the Common Core Standards

•Use combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic (Writing standard K #2, using writing only at grades 1 and including conclusions at Grade 2)

•With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed (writing standard #5, expanded to include topic focus at grade 1, and revising/ editing at Grade 2)

•With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers (Writing standard #6, K-2).

Experience stories

• Based on student’s own activities
• Highlight part that was memorable to STUDENT. (Look for part in which student was engaged or interactive)
• Model language related to student’s symbolic or interactive play level (e.g. “together”, sound effects)
• Initially, introduce writing as natural ending to activity
• Share story with someone who wasn’t there for the experience.
• Little or no sequencing to begin with--later build in beginning, middle and end..

Stories Built Around Books, TV, or Video Games

•Choose short, simple books with emotional themes (The Missing Piece, It’s not easy being a Bunny, Little Red Hen, 3 Billy Goats Gruff, Where the Wild Things Are, Alexander and the Bad Day)

•For older kids, use video games, longer books (Holes, Wizard of Oz, Twilight, Harry Potter), movies.

•Use book to support writing activity.

•Scaffold between enacting and writing.

•Socially motivated stories--built around student’s social issues

• Built around student’s social problems, confusions, or conflicts.
• An alternative to Social Stories--not so “in your face”

Epochs

•Appeal to kids who have difficulty shutting down favorite topics. Provides acceptable context for topic.

•Good for addressing narrative cohesion, perspective taking, planning, executive function.

•Use calendar to plan completion dates and product outcome.

Yoga Stories

•Teach characters first using yoga animals.

•Good for kids who like to talk but not “do”--a good way to draw them into yoga group.

•Take-aways

•INTERDEPENDENCE-building a concept of TOGETHER.

•Use writing to highlight feelings, relationships.

•The 2 most important words: “YES, AND…”

•Scaffold from sensorimotor to pretend play and back again.

•Write for the kid in YOU--Let your own imagination fly!

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