The I-M-ABLE
(Formerly the “Functional Approach”)
I-M-ABLE
• Individualized
• Meaning-Centered
• Approach to
• Braille
• Literacy
• Education
• the “Functional Approach”
Essential Elements
Engagement
Success
Motivation
Individualization*
Different At Risk Learners
• Adult learner who is adventitiously blinded
• School-aged learner, adventitiously blinded
• Learner with mild –moderate cognitive
impairment
• Learner with severe to profound cognitive
impairment
• Learner with multiple impairments including
physical impairments
• Learner with deaf-blindness
Emphasis on:
• Assuring early determination of literacy
medium
• Providing early exposure to braille – a braille
rich environment
• Creating stories in print and braille that are
based upon the child’s prior experiences
• Beginning formal reading instruction with
whole words rather than letters
• Selecting individualized reading
vocabulary words that engage the
learner
Emphasis on: (cont.)
• Teaching efficient hand movements when
reading
• Incorporating Language Experience
Approach Stories
• Utilizing “whole-to-part phonics”
• Incorporating writing with reading
• Moving towards functional uses of reading
and writing
Whole words not letters
• Letters are more abstract and don’t have
implicit meaning – we don’t speak in letters
• Words or phrases = meaningful units
• Words with which students have had
experience provide for instant
comprehension when reading
• Words have distinct features which can help
with identification, including tactually
distinct letters within the words
Design of Research Study
• Design of Practice Guide
• Solicit applications from teachers
• Select ten TVIs to participate (based upon
student criteria)
• Convene TVIs for a two day workshop in
the use of the I-M-ABLE Practice Guide
• Collect Baseline Data
• Begin implementation
• Mentoring/website/observations
DPI Funded for July 1, 2011 start date
• Study was approved by the NCCU IRB.
• Permission forms obtained for all participants
Design of Practice Guide – Initial Draft
• Section 1 - Introduction to I-M-ABLE
• Section 2 - Getting Started
• Section 3 - Helping Students Select
Key Vocabulary Words or Phrases for
Reading
• Section 4 - Introducing the Key Vocabulary
• Section 5 - Teaching Students to Track
Design of Practice Guide (cont.)
• Section 6 - Creating Key Vocabulary Stories
• Section 7 - Teaching Phonics, Letter Recognition
and Contractions
• Section 8 - Helping Students Write Their Own
Stories
• Section 9 - Expanding the Student’s Reading
and Writing Vocabulary
• Section 10 – Collecting Baseline Data
• Section 11 - Record Keeping Forms
Design of Practice Guide (cont.)
• References and Bibliography
• Appendix A – Hannah’s Story
Teacher selection/Child criteria
Student with whom you will work
• is legally blind and on the APH Quota
Registration
• is 8 to 18 years of age
• has additional cognitive impairments (mild to
moderate)
• (may have other disabilities -- physical
disability, on autism spectrum, etc.)
• has a primary literacy medium as reported on
the APH Quota Registration of N(non-reader),
A(Auditory) or B(Braille)
Teacher selection/Child criteria
(cont.)
• has not demonstrated success in reading (not all
letters of the alphabet learned, not currently
reading more than a few words consistently,
inconsistent performance on words and letters)
• may or may not know how to write braille letters
on any device
Teacher Incentives
• Flip Video Camera
• Califone Talking Magnetic Card Reader and
starter pack of 50 magnetic cards
• APH Word Playhouse
• Two workshops
▫ One October 17-18, 2011 – Initial training
▫ One January 27, 2012 – follow up training
• Paid attendance at NCCVIB – in March
• Ning Website (private social networking with
Chat and Discussion Board features)
Student Incentives
• Teachers explained that they would be using
their own special words to learn braille
• Students were told they would be able to be
videotaped
• Students were told they would be able to use a
card reader to help them learn their new words.
Participants
•
•
•
•
Ten Teacher-Student pairs
Selected from 14 applications
Received interest from 25 individuals
Settings of instruction
▫ Two resource; eight itinerant –
▫ One special school (developmental center); others
all public school settings
▫ Eight counties represented
▫ Mountains to coast participation
Teacher characteristics
• Training programs:
• 7 different training programs represented
• Years of Experience
▫ 0 – 30 years; mode 12 years
• Date passed Literary Braille Course
▫ 1978 – 2011; mode 1999
Student Characteristics
• Age range
▫ 8 – 14 years old
▫ Youngest just turned 8
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8–2
9–1
10 – 0
11 – 2
12 – 2
13 – 1
14 - 2
.
Student Characteristics (cont.)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
TBI – 1
TBI with mild physical involvement – 2
Autism – 2
Autistic Tendencies ESL, extreme attentional
issues – 1
Physical Disabilities – 1
Speech-language impairment – 1
Second LD – 1
Communication Delay - 1
Baseline Data - Reading
• Letter Recognition
▫ 7 - 0 letters
▫ 1 - 6 letters
▫ 2 - 8-9 letters
• Name Recognition
▫
▫
▫
▫
o/3 times – 2
1/3 times – 2
2/3 times – 4
3/3 times - 2
Baseline Data – Reading (cont.)
• Word Recognition
▫ 8 - 0 words
▫ 1 - 2 words
▫ 1 - 18+ words
• C0ntractions known
▫ 0 contractions – 10 students
Baseline Data – Writing
• Letter writing
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
5 - 0 letters
1 - 11 letters
1 - 17 letters
2 - 18-19 letters
1 - 18-26 letters
• Writes own name
▫ No – 6
▫ Yes - 4
Baseline Data – Writing
• Word Writing
▫
▫
▫
▫
5 children - 0 words
3–2-8 words
1 - 36 words
1 - Yes, ? (same student wrote 19 letters)
Baseline Data – TPRI Results
• Word rhyming – 8 – 0; 1 – 3; 1 – 5
• Blending Onset/rhymes –
▫ 5 – 0; 1 – 1; 1 – 2; 1 – 3; 2 – 5
• Blending phonemes – 7 – 0; 1 – 4; 2 – 5
• Remove last sound – 7 – 0; 3 – 5
• Remove initial sound – 6 – 0; 1 – 1; 1 – 3; 1 – 4;
1–5
• One student had all 5’s; one had three 5’s
Amount of Instructional Time
• Varies from teacher to teacher.
• Minimum of 2 times per week required.
• Some have 5 days a week for an hour a day
minimum.
• One has already increased her time with her
student.
• Involvement of others is also being documented.
Fidelity of Implementation Checklist
• Developed to assist teachers in evaluating
themselves
• Used by PI and Mentors to observe teachers
during lessons and observe using videos taped
by teachers
• Will be modified as necessary for future research
and for inclusion in the Practice Guide.
What questions have teachers had?
• Mechanics – concerning how to share videos
using the flip camera, when to introduce the
card reader, how long to make the cards, should
they have the student record the word
• Questions about when to introduce different
aspects of the approach – when to create stories,
when to create tracking stories, when to
introduce another word, how many to introduce
• Questions about teaching hand movements -
What progress have we made?
• Teachers began implementing the approach
after October 31. Most began from November 1
through the 10th. School year ended June 13.
• All reported increased motivation on the part of
their students to learn braille. Some report that
behaviors have disappeared – more engagement
– liking the card reader and liking the word
cards
• Individual progress varied:
Individual progress
• All reported improvements in tracking words
even with students who didn’t want to touch
braille previously.
• Number of words read at end ranges from four
to around 80 to 100 words.
• General patterns in data collection emerging:
▫ More time equals more success.
▫ More involvement on part of others equals more
success
More comments about progress
• Teachers report that their students are being
seen as “readers” now
• Two students will move into a higher category of
instructional placement due to this
• All teachers commented that they realized that
they needed to have daily lessons with their
student
• Highlighting “James”
James
(pseudonym)
st
1
grade
8 years old as of
December 2011
Etiology
• Congenital Cataracts
• Glaucoma
• Persistent Fetal Vasculature
Additional Disabilities and Hindrances
•
•
•
•
Intellectual Disability
Autistic tendencies
Severe Attention difficulties
English as a Second Language
Previous Attempts with Braille
• Pre – Braille activities
• Building on Patterns
Language difficulties and attention issues
prevented progress.
Time Served
• Worked 5 hours a week with VI teacher.
• November 1st – June 5th
• Teacher & assistant listened to him read daily.
Activities
• Word cards – sorting and
Monster Munch
• Card reader
• Stories – Tracking and Short
stories
• Student Stories
• APH Word Playhouse
First Words Introduced
• “bumpy ball” – a favorite toy, VERY motivating
• “scratchy” – his term for the velcro
• “ball” – he dropped “bumpy” in his story
• “Mommy”
• “cupcake” – Birthday treat
Major Progress Noted
•Excitement for Braille
•Asking for words
•Language Development –
HUGE!
•Choosing to read for free
time
Progress During I-M-ABLE
Word Knowledge
Number of Words
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Words Introduced
Identifying in stories
Identifying in isolation
To be continued . . . . . . .
• I will be so happy when I M ABLE to tell you
“the rest of the story.”