Literacy for Students with Deafblindness

TETN # 30913

1:30-3:30 PM

Presented by

Holly Cooper, Deafblind Education Consultant

and

Jim Durkel, APH Coordinator

Literacy for Students with Deafblindness

Resources

National Consortium of Deaf-Blindness Practice Perspectives, August 2008
The Path to Symbolism

Miles, B. Literacy for Persons who are Deafblind

NCDB Outcomes and Performance Indicators: Literacy

McKenzie, A. (2007). Research in Literacy for Students Who Are Deafblind. Deafblind Perspectives, 14(2). Available:

Emergent Literacy for Students Who Are Deafblind, Project Salute

National Association for the Education of Young Children and International Reading Association

Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children

Phonological Awareness, Phonemic Awareness, and Phonics

Ling Six Sound Check (Bionic Ear)

Ideas and Activities for Developing Early Phonological Awareness, Virginia Department of Education

Video on Visual Phonics, Hereford (Texas) Independent School District

Narr, R. A. F. (2006). Teaching phonological awareness with deaf and hard of hearing students. Teaching Exceptional Children, 36(4). Available:

Carlson, B. Blaha, R. (2007) Assessment of Deafblind Access to Manual Language Systems (ADAMLS). National Consortium on Deafblindness. Available:

"Fuzzy Wuzzy Was a Bear" in Cued Speech

Cued Speech chart

Califonia Deafblind Project Fact Sheet on Tadoma

Alternative Tactile Writing

McCall, S. (2009) Developing Literacy Though the Moon Code. Available:

Moon Literacy website

Tactile Books

Making Tactile Books

Detailed Description of Making a Tactile Book

The Tactile Book Advancement Group (TBAG)

Literacy for Students with Deafblindness

Holly Cooper, Ph.D. and Jim Durkel, CCC-SLP/A

Who Are Our Deafblind Students?

Vary widely in ability level and include students:

With severe and multiple disabilities without standard symbolic communication

Who use some sign language, speech, picture or object symbols

Who are functionally deaf and have low vision

Who are functionally blind and have some hearing loss

Who are both deaf and blind

Who are academic learners

In this presentation

We will try to touch on the needs of all types of students, but our primary focus is:

Students with significant sensory impairments
Students who unction at the kindergarten level or below

Students with Deafblindness in Texas

In Texas we have a total of:

8196 students with visual impairments
384 students who are read braille
740 students on DB census

Who Are Our Deafblind Students?

APH VI registration reports about students who are deafblind or AI & VI:

Nonreaders 302
Pre Print 105
Print 127
Pre Braille 16
Braille 17

What Is Literacy?

Literacy is the ability to:

Read
Write
Spell
Communicate through written language

Understand and use written word in daily activities at home, work, in the community
Use written prose, documents, and numbers

Learning to Read & Write

International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) position paper cautions against the “maturational” approach in which it is believed young children will learn to read when they’re ready.

Learning to Read & Write

Many children appear to spontaneously learn to read
Research shows outcome effected by differences in environment, parenting and teaching

Children with deafblindness have different life experiences due to sensory and language deficits that directly impact the learning of literacy.

Learning to Read & Write

5 Phases of Early Reading Skills Development according to the IRA and NAEYC position paper

1: awareness & exploration

2: experimental

3: early

4: transitional

5: independent & productive

Literacy for Students with Deafblindness

Literacy for Persons Who Are Deaf-Blind

Written by Barbara Miles

Why literacy?

Allows the individual with deafblindness:

to communicate more effectively with more people
to express thoughts and feelings

It enriches the lives of individuals because it allows them to:

Make choices
Express needs and feelings
Share experiences with others

Emergent Literacy

Many of our students with deafblindness are functioning at a level known as emergent literacy and may remain at this level for some time.

Some of the earliest skills young children acquire which lead to literacy include:

Awareness of literacy media in the environment
Awareness that literacy media convey meaning to people
Awareness of books and papers as items containing interesting information

Emergent literacy also includes:

Awareness that literacy media involves language
Awareness of stories
Awareness of books, writing and braille as a focus of enjoyable social experiences

In the phase of emergent literacy, language learning builds early literacy skills and early literacy skills build language.

National Report on Reading

Phonemic awareness
Phonics
Fluency
Vocabulary
Text comprehension

Phonological Awareness

Words are Made Of Sounds

Sound identification
Sound blending
Segmenting words into sounds
Sound manipulation

The Theory

Phonological awareness skills aid in decoding
Rapid decoding supports fluency and comprehension
At least some types of dyslexia are related to deficits in this area

Cues for Phonological Awareness - Narr (2006)

Listening - The Value of Ling

Cover the spectrum
The 6 sounds

–a

–ee

–oo

–s

–sh

–m

Listening - Issues for Deafblind

Deafblind children often fit with hearing aids or cochlear implant later

Deafblind children often don’t get the same opportunity for instruction

Teachers for the deaf and speech therapists are used to using very visual techniques and may need help to adapt

Speechreading and speaking

Cued speech

Visual phonics

Visual Phonics Example

Speechreading and Speaking-Issues for the Deafblind

Use the ADAMLS

Tactual speechreading = Tadoma

Last Thoughts on Phonological Awareness for the Deafblind

May support the development of literacy

Tied to good auditory skill and speech development
Don’t rule it out!

Literacy Media

Encompasses a variety of media:

Print
Braille
Alternative tactile writing
Tactile symbols
Picture symbols
Calendar systems
Object symbols

Functions of Literacy

Literacy supports:

TSBVI TETN # 30913 – Cooper and Durkel

Literacy for the Student with Deafblindness

Acquiring knowledge
Memory
Entering a fantasy life
Entertainment
Problem solving (word puzzles and riddles)
Financial transactions

Creating and maintaining relationships (mail)

Processing of emotions
Conveying instructions
Announcements of importance
Advertisements
Identification of people, places, things
Inspiration and spiritual growth

TSBVI TETN # 30913 – Cooper and Durkel

Literacy for the Student with Deafblindness

Functions of Literacy

Pragmatic functions of literacy: if we use these in our teaching we give students motivation and practical reasons to read.

What Children Need to Read & Write

Emergent literacy research tells us children need:

to know that writing is all around them
to see significant people using print
to see print used in fun and functional ways

Students with Deafblindness

Many will not have the opportunity to observe others reading.

To address this we must structure opportunities for children to observe us reading in a way that is meaningful to them.

Model Reading

Model reading utilizing a variety of media accessible to the child throughout the school day:

Books
Newspapers & magazines
Calendars
Computers
Signs
Lists

Story Reading

In reading a story with emerging readers, or individuals at a literacy awareness level, bring objects that relate to the story

Comment and Converse

Comment on and converse about literacy activities with the child.

Comment when a child notices a word or symbol
Pause during reading stories and respond to the child’s reactions
Respond to the child’s drawing and writing

Accessibility of Literacy Media

Make literacy accessible:

Address interests and experiences of individual with deafblindness
Use understandable language
Allow student to participate in making and writing books
Include lots of print and braille signs and books in classroom
Use a story box with objects to accompany story

Accessibility of Literacy Media

Make literacy accessible:

Adapt books and stories using tactile items, textures and Braille

Clear Vision: Making Tactile Books

Tactile Book Advancement Group (TBAG)

Adapt or create books and stories using large print and simple high contrast pictures or graphics

Have appropriate drawing, creative art, and “writing” materials available

Use the child’s communication mode: sign language or objects

Use appropriate and familiar language and concepts

Connect Literacy to Child’s World

Create experience stories based on recent events and activities
Use a memory box or scrap book items
Use targeted vocabulary
Write poems, use journals

Emerging Phase

Provide opportunities for independent and participatory reading and writing:

Library of books in the classroom and at home if possible
A regularly used area with writing and drawing materials
Computer drawing programs

Playdough/tactile materials to create letters
Textured materials
Opportunities to scribble with braille writer, slate and stylus and other materials

Experimental Reading/Writing Phase

For students who are emerging into the experimental reading and writing phase, we see the following:

Enjoy being read to / will retell “read” familiar stories
Recognize letters
Show familiarity with rhyming and initial sounds
Make letter-sound matches
Write letters of the alphabet and some high-frequency words
Understand that reading and writing proceed left to right / top to bottom
Use language to explain and explore

Literacy Instruction

Should teach and reinforce these early literacy skills.

Teachers should provide daily:

Opportunities to write and read
Direct instruction in letter recognition and writing
Direct instruction in letter sound matching
Direct instruction in word recognition

How to do this?

While “only the vision teacher should teach braille”, instruction can include participation by classroom teachers, interveners and instructional aids:

The TVI can

collaborate with the team to create appropriate materials
do direct instruction of new skills (i.e., introduce a new braille letter)

After introduction of new skills by the TVI:

TVI demonstrates to staff how to re-teach and reinforce the new skill
Team members read aloud daily
Team members target upcoming reading vocabulary and email to TVI so she can bring appropriate materials
Team members create experience stories with student by writing in print or on computer & the TVI brailles

Resources

NCDB Outcomes and Performance Indicators: Literacy

Emergent Literacy for Students Who are Deafblind,

Project Salute

National Consortium of Deaf-Blindness Practice Perspectives, August 2008
The Path to Symbolism

Whatever you do, believe this:

Students with deafblindness have a right to literacy!

The TVI is professionally obligated to take on literacy.

Literacy for Students with Deafblindness

There is little research and no proven method of teaching literacy to students with deafblindness, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.

Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Outreach

1100 West 45th Street

Austin, TX 78756

TSBVI TETN # 30913 – Cooper and Durkel

Literacy for the Student with Deafblindness