Educating Students with Significant Disabilites Through Active Learning

SPE 520

3/5/2013

Education Service Center, Region 2

Mari Garza

Educating Students with Significant Disabilites Through Active Learning

Active Learning

As the name implies, Active Learning revolves around the learner being active.

Research based for all students with and without disabilities

Research based for students with Visual Impairments by Dr. Lilli Nielsen

Biobehavioral States

Dr. Lilli Nielsen

Second child of seven
Had 4 younger siblings with blindnenss
At7 years old, she was responsible taking care of her blind younger brother
National Institute to Blind and Partially Sighted Children and Youth in Denmark since 1967
Trained as a preschool teacher and psychologist
Performed research in the area of spatial relations with infants who are congenitally blind and has written several books and articles about educating children with visual impairments and multiple disabilities

Goals

Promote active interaction among caregivers, students, and service providers.
Develop a clear understanding of the child’s existing likes and dislikes and current means of communication
Increase the number of the child’s communicative behaviors
Strengthening the interactive relationship between the caregiver and the child

Beliefs

All young children learn through play
They need to be encouraged to explore their environment and objects in their environment
That all very young children learn by being active, rather than passive recipients of stimulation
Do not interrupt a child by talking when she is actively engaged in play
Slow down, when interacting with a child
Let the child have control of her/his own hands

Principles of Active Learning

This is the essential active learning principal - to create the environments that provide feedback and support the learner so that the learner can take action on their own initiative to learn.
May take a lot of trust to allow a child or challenged learner to be on their own and apparently not be accomplishing anything. It also takes a very well tuned environment so that this time is productive and not simply frustrating.
There is productive frustration and futile frustration.
This is probably the most difficult aspect as a parent, teacher and/or caregiver to decide when frustration is a learning mode vs. a fiasco.
In order to justify any appreciable level of frustration, one must make due diligence that the environment is optimally suited to learning for the challenged learner.
This is where Dr. Nielsen's research has paid off. She has through the years seen so many children and older learners with severe disabilities and tried so many variations that she has identified some that work much better than others.

Recommendations

Observe the child.
Provide the child with more activities and objects that are similar to those he enjoys
Give the child opportunities to practice and/or to compare
Provide a few materials and activities that are at a slightly higher developmental level to provide a challenge for the child, so he doesn't become bored

FIELA Curriculum

Equipment

Design Principles of Active Learning Equipment

The basic principles involved in designing the Active Learning environments are:

Feedback - The environment must supply strong responses in multiple modes (auditorily, tactually, visually)
Support - The child must be supported so as not to be in pain, typically not bearing weight on their legs fully or even partially
Richness- Related to feedback, the environment must be thick with objects so that minor actions are rewarded with feedback
Variety - However rich and responsive the environment is, it must be changed periodically- probably more often than we are inclined to think

Sensory Learning Kit

Millie Smith

Former TVI
Employed at TSBVI
Now Employed by APH
Updated Kit with some collaboration with Lilli Nielsen
Updated Kit based on her immense experience working with children with multiple impairments as well as that experience of those working with her from APH
Written numerous articles on assessment, documentation, and teaching of students with multiple impairments.

Advantages

Suggestions for other activities that may be developed
Routine Based
Multiple opportunities for learning through repetition of activities or routines
Routines could be used during development of IEPs and STARR-Alt

Questions – Comments

"If the child is not learning the way you are teaching, then you must teach in the way the child learns" - Rita Dunn

References

Nielsen, Lilli. Space and Self, SIKON, 1992.
Nielsen, Lilli. Are You Blind?, SIKON, 1990.
Active Learning and the Exploration of Real Objects Stacy Shafer TSBVI See and Hear Newsletter Winter 2004
An Introduction to Dr. Lilli Nielsen’s Active Learning Stacy Shafer TSBVI See and Hear Newsletter Fall 2003
Nielsen, Lilli. "Environmental intervention for visually impaired preschool children with additional disabilities," VIP Newsletter, Vol. 8, No. 3.
Nielsen, Lilli. "The blind child's ability to listen," VIP Newsletter, Vol. 10, No. 3.
Nielsen, Lilli. "Active learning," VIP Newsletter, Vol. 10, No. 1.
TSBVI

Contact Information

Mari Garza

Educational Consultant

361-561-8539

Mari GarzaActive Learning LIDS Conference 2012