Literacy Development for
Learners with Deafblindness and
Severe Disabilities
PowerPoint Slides
to be used in conjunction
with the
Facilitator’s Guide
Copyright © 2012, East Carolina University.
Recommended citation:
Wilson, S., & Henderson, K. (2012). Literacy Development
for Learners with Deafblindness and Severe Disabilities –
A PowerPoint presentation for professional development.
Modules Addressing Special Education and Teacher
Education (MAST). Greenville, NC: East Carolina
University.
This resource includes contributions from the module
developer and MAST Module Project colleagues (in
alphabetical order) Kelly Henderson (Facilitator Guide
Editor), Tanner Jones (Web Designer), Diane Kester
(Editor), Sue Byrd Steinweg (Project Director), Bradley
Baggett (Graduate Assistant), and Sandra Hopfengardner
Warren (Principal Investigator).
Session Agenda
• Introduction
• Session Goals and Objectives
• Types of Challenges faced by Learners
with Deafblindness and Severe Disabilities
• Defining Literacy
• Reading, Writing and Communication
Session Agenda, continued
•
•
•
•
•
Accessibility
Making it Happen
Raising Expectations
Summary
Evaluation
Introduction
• This session will provide us a common
understanding of literacy development and
approaches to teaching literacy to learners
with significant disabilities.
• Students who have cognitive and physical
disabilities require support for even the
most basic needs such as eating, going to
the bathroom, and transitioning between
activities and environments; this can make
teaching basic skills challenging .
Introduction, continued
• Yet, more attention is being given to the
development of literacy skills for all
students, including this learner who has
significant support needs.
• Frequently, some perceive that learners
with significant support needs are best
served within a curriculum that focuses
on functional life skills with only limited, if
any, access to academic curriculum.
Introduction, continued
• Learners with significant disabilities, such
as deafblindness, may be thought of as
being incapable of benefiting from literacy
activities.
• But literacy skills such as reading and
writing are functional life skills which
provide lifelong opportunities for learning,
sharing, and enjoyment for individuals with
severe disabilities.
Introduction, continued
• Exposure to literacy experiences and
access to academic instruction are critical.
• We must regard all students as capable of
learning and take a broader view of
literacy.
• Rather than lowering expectations, we
must challenge ourselves to find ways to
grant all students access to literacy
instruction and higher academic standards.
Session Goal and Objectives
• The goal of this is to examine the need
for literacy instruction in the lives of
learners who have severe disabilities
and/or deafblindness.
• It will explain why literacy is important,
the various forms literacy might take, and
what educators can do to help provide
appropriate supports and strategies to
build literacy.
Session Objectives, continued
• Session Objectives:
– Identify reasons why literacy is important for
learners who have severe disabilities and/or
deafblindness.
– Identify examples of what literacy might “look
like” for learners with severe disabilities and/or
deafblindness.
– Select examples of ways educators might
promote the development of literacy for learners
with severe disabilities and/or deafblindness.
Types of Challenges faced by
Learners with Deafblindness
& Multiple Disabilities
• The needs of persons with
deafblindness and/or multiple
disabilities may differ significantly from
person to person:
Types of Challenges, continued
– Individuals may have any combination or
degree of disability within the areas of
intellectual functioning, fine and gross motor
development, sensory impairment,
communication needs, medical issues, and
adaptive (self-management and social) skills.
– Learners may have partial sight, partial
hearing, a total loss of one or the other
sense, or a total loss of both senses.
Types of Challenges, continued
– Maintaining and generalizing skills
across settings, people, and activities
are likely to be difficult.
– Typically, these learners require ongoing
and extensive support in order to
achieve the quality of life that exists for
people without disabilities. Educators
must individualize and adapt instruction
according to each learner’s personal
strengths and needs.
Types of Challenges, continued
• Another challenge is the “limited life
experiences” of learners with
deafblindness and multiple disabilities
– Unlike learners with good vision who see
people reading and writing for different
purposes, those who are deafblind usually
do not have opportunities to observe others
reading and writing unless those experiences
are specifically provided.
Types of Challenges, continued
– The focus for these individuals during the
early years is sometimes more on health,
safety and acquisition of basic skills.
– As a result, they may end up missing out
on early literacy experiences, as well as
the opportunity to express themselves
using augmentative communication.
Types of Challenges, continued
• Learners are also affected by our
expectations of them.
• If instructors value literacy and have
higher expectations for learners with
significant disabilities, they will be more
likely to create the necessary adapted
materials.
Types of Challenges, continued
• Although students with multiple
impairments may not be able to access
literacy in exactly the same manner as
their peers without disabilities, we
should still expect active and
meaningful participation.
Types of Challenges, Activity
• Using suggested “simulation activities” from the
Chen & Downing book*, try some activities which
involve identifying objects through active touch,
identifying preferences in relation to types of
touch, and communicating messages through
touch. These activities are to help provide
participants with valuable insight to strengthen
their own interactions with individuals with
deafblindness. One example follows:
* Chen, D., & Downing, J. (2006). Tactile strategies for children who have visual impairments and
multiple disabilities: Promoting communication and learning skills. New York: American Foundation for
the Blind Press.
Types of Challenges, Activity
continued
• “Communicating Through Touch”: Participants
pair up with another person to simulate
interacting with someone who is blind. The
“sighted person”, who does not speak, tactually
expresses (1) a greeting (e.g., hello), (2)
disapproval (e.g., stop that), (3) direction (e.g.,
let’s sit here), and (4) praise (e.g., great job).
The person who is “blind” responds to the
messages received through touch. After
switching roles, participants discuss what they
found easy or difficult to express or understand
and share their reactions and insights.
Defining Literacy
• History of curriculum and assessment for
learners with significant disabilities:
– A developmental model, focusing on
prerequisite skills, was used in the 1970’s.
– This was followed by a functional life skills
model, social inclusion, self-determination,
and currently, access to the general
curriculum.
Defining Literacy, continued
– Several federal initiatives implemented
between 1994 and the present specifically
address literacy skills for all students.
Extensions to the general standards are
being created by states so all students can
have meaningful and functional access to
grade level standards.
Defining Literacy, continued
• Presently, educators are challenged to
utilize instruction “that provides real-life
activities within a meaningful context of
academic learning” (Staugler, 2008,
p.1).
• Literacy instruction for all learners is
gaining in recognition and importance.
Defining Literacy, continued
• So what is “literacy”, and how does it
apply to learners with multiple
disabilities and/or deafblindness?
What’s its importance for these
students?
Defining Literacy, continued
• Often, people generally think of
literacy as the symbolic systems of
reading and writing.
• But not all individuals with significant
disabilities will achieve formal literacy.
Defining Literacy, continued
• When we consider literacy for persons
who have multiple impairments, we
must expand our definition of reading
and writing to include emergent literacy
experiences, as well as different literacy
modes.
Defining Literacy, continued
• Regarding broadening the definition of
literacy:
“Perhaps most essential is for those
providing opportunities for and instruction in
literacy to broaden their beliefs regarding
literacy to include emergent skills regardless
of the age or ability level of the student.
Defining Literacy, continued
• For example, skills such as learning to
recognize the meaning of a picture or
object, making marks on paper, and
requesting more of a story by tapping
on the page must all be considered
literacy skills. Students should be
recognized for their ability to
demonstrate such skills, which serve as
a foundation for more advanced skills”
(Downing, 2006, p. 41).
Defining Literacy, continued
• Emergent literacy:
– Based on the belief that every learner,
regardless of disability, is a developing
reader.
– All behaviors and skills are important
components of literacy development.
– Currently, a field of research devoted to
emergent literacy considers reading and
writing development from the learner’s
perspective.
Defining Literacy, continued
– Literacy is important for developing and
expanding communication skills, for
increasing interaction with others, for
sharing information with one another, and
for exploring and learning about the world
in which we live.
– Literacy is a functional life skill and an
essential component for improving one’s
“quality of life”.
Defining Literacy, Activity
• Divide participants into small group. Designate a
recorder and a reporter for each group.
• Each group reviews a copy of the state’s
extended standards for reading and writing (e.g.,
North Carolina Extended Content Standards,
2007, 2008,
www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/ncecs).
• Look through the standard extensions and
consider how a student with deafblindness might
demonstrate any of the access points at the presymbolic, early symbolic, or symbolic stages.
Reading, Writing and Communication
• Literacy and communication are intimately
intertwined:
– Communication within early life experiences
serves as a basis for reading and writing.
– As everyday activities are labeled and
described by family, friends, and teachers,
language develops.
– Communication may be either symbolic (e.g.,
print, sign language, braille, pictures),
nonsymbolic (e.g., body language,
vocalizations, touch), or a combination of both.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
– But, language is always symbolic. Therefore,
opportunities for communication throughout
daily routines and experiences are extremely
important to the development of language and
literacy.
– Are there opportunities for the learner to
communicate? Is there a need for the learner
to communicate? Are the learner’s expressions
received and valued?
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
– Learners with multiple disabilities need to
be active communication partners to
promote the development of language and
literacy.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
• Individuals with significant disabilities
and/or deafblindness should be
encouraged to participate in a variety of life
experiences. They must be assisted or
encouraged in exploring, discussing, and
reading about varied experiences.
– If photographs are taken and objects are
collected that represent materials seen, heard,
smelled, tasted, or felt during an activity, these
items may be used at a later time to further
communicate about the experience.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
– Items collected will also provide necessary
materials for meaningful literacy activities.
For example, learners may be assisted in
recalling an experience by feeling the
representative materials which are put in
the form of a tactile book or remnant book.
– Labels for selected items and experiences
need to be taught, and a dialogue
surrounding these experiences should be
generated.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
– A milestone for both literacy and communication
is when a learner begins to demonstrate that he
understands that people, places, items, and
actions have names that can be used to refer to
them.
– Using an adaptation such as a remnant book,
the item or photo collected, displayed, and
experienced becomes the message to be “read”;
and when the message is selected and shared
with another, the message is then “written”.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
– This “reading” and “writing” activity needs
to be reciprocal. Learners should be
assisted in participating as both an initiator
and as a responder during these
interactions. These experiences are not
something to be done “to” a person with
disabilities, but rather “mutually shared” to
stimulate growth. Literacy, like
communication, begins as individuals learn
about the world around them.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
• Another step toward literacy and
communication is the use of visual or tactile
signs:
– Use sign language/gestures to identify people
by name, including the individual with
disabilities.
– For those learners who understand objects
best, a learner’s hand may be guided to a
common item (e.g., watch, bracelet, ring) worn
on a daily basis by his communication partner,
so he may identify or recognize this person.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
– Other life experiences such as eating,
bathing, story time, going on a community
outing, and playing outdoors are rich
opportunities for literacy and
communication development.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
• Learners with severe, multiple disabilities
and/or deafblindness need to be exposed
to literacy experiences in ways that utilize
their individual receptive (input) and
expressive (output) capabilities.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
– This may be accomplished through a number of
different communication systems depending
upon the learner’s individual strengths and
preferences, for example:
• nonsymbolic communication,
• use of objects or pictures,
• sign language,
• tactile systems,
• verbal communication,
• augmentative and alternative communication.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
– For many, particularly those learners who
have vision and hearing loss, touch is
extremely important. The hands of a person
who is deafblind function as tools (for work,
play, self-care), as sense organs (to
compensate for vision and hearing loss), and
as voice (to express self).
– Learners should be encouraged to become
interested in what their hands are touching.
What these learners are touching or doing with
their hands can be a potential topic of
interaction.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
Examples of approaches to expose learners to
literacy experiences:
• “Tactile conversations”
– “Hand-under-hand”
• Nonsymbolic communication
• Augmentative and alternative communication
– Use of objects, pictures, print/braille, electronic
devices
• “Tactile conversations” are
encouraged by touching and
exploring items jointly with
the learner. Because the
experiences of a person
who is deafblind are so
different from others, handson exploration is necessary
to make literacy meaningful.
During hands-on
exploration, the
communication partner
should position his or her
hand or hands beneath or
alongside the learner’s
hands as they feel the
materials together.
• The “hand-under-hand”
approach allows for both
parties to share in the
experience and is less
intrusive and controlling
than putting the other
person passively through
the motions by using handover-hand assistance with
him or her.
• Learners should also be
encouraged to feel their
partner’s hands while their
partner is engaged in a
variety of activities that
involve feeling, smelling,
exploring, manipulating,
and demonstrating function
of items.
More specific examples are found
in the DB-LINK publication written
by Miles (2003), “Talking the
Language of the Hands to the
Hands”. Book shown: Geraldine’s
Blanket by Holly Keller, adapted
for tactile illustration, American
Printing House for the Blind.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
• Braille may be added to tactile pictures and
pages in a remnant book to expose readers
with low vision to words, just as individuals
with sight are exposed to print.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
• In addition, hands can be quite
expressive. Hands may be used to
greet, to praise, to show disapproval, to
give direction, to convey feelings, to
request, and to gain attention. These
expressions may be conveyed through
touch, gesture, or sign language. Sign
language may be visual or tactual,
during which the learner’s hands rest
upon that of his or her partner’s.
• Nonsymbolic communication
may be appropriate for learners
who do not yet associate a
symbol
–
–
–
–
–
object,
picture,
texture,
spoken word,
gesture, or manual sign)
with a referent.
• Nonsymbolic expression may
be
–
–
–
–
–
visual (e.g., eye gaze),
gestural (e.g., extended hand),
tactual (e.g., touch),
vocal (e.g., crying, laughing),
through body movement (e.g.,
withdrawing, eye gaze),
– through facial expression, and/or
physiological changes (e.g.,
alertness).
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
• Those interacting with individuals
communicating through nonsymbolic
means need to be sensitive and
responsive to behaviors that may serve
a communicative function (e.g., student
looking toward the computer may signal
his desire to use it).
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
• Assigning meaning to a learner’s
behavior and responding consistently
each time it occurs facilitates
communication development and
interaction.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
• If a learner’s communication attempt
results in something that meets his or
her needs, or gives him or her some
control, it is more likely the behavior
occur again. This cause and effect
interaction is an early form of literacy.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
• Nonsymbolic and symbolic communication
overlap, as symbols are introduced.
• A multimodal approach utilizing graphic
(aided), gesture (unaided), and
voice/sound may increase a learner’s
communication system.
Examples of these three modes of
communication include:
Vocal
Communication
Aided
Communication
Unaided
Communication
- production of sound
- crying/laughing (any sound
output)
- verbal speech
- objects
- photographs
- line drawings
- written/brailled letters
- voice-output augmentative
communication device
- computer
- body movements
- gestures
- manual sign
• Symbols may be used to signal the beginning of an
activity within a learner’s daily routine (e.g., two
fingers brushing left palm inwardly may signal time
to eat or placing a sweatband on right wrist may
signal time for walk).
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
• Introduced consistently day after day,
individuals will begin to connect the
cues and signals/symbols with specific
activities. This may lead to the
anticipation and, eventually, initiation of
a routine.
• Later, objects associated with the
routines may be used for learners to
make choices or requests.
Reading, Writing and
Communication, continued
• As understanding increases, students
may transition from communicating with
whole objects to using parts of objects
and picture or tactile symbols, or from
using general body language to more
intentional gestures or sign language.
Augmentative and alternative
communication (AAC) systems
• AAC may be used if a learner has limited or
no speech.
• It may also be useful in settings where
other people are not familiar with sign
language or an individual’s idiosyncratic
communication style.
AAC systems, continued
• It may include objects, pictures,
electronics, or any of the other forms
listed previously.
• Use of objects assists learners with
visual impairments and those who do
not yet understand more abstract
symbols such as pictures or print.
Object choice board: Learner
uses hand to scan choices
left to right.
Object symbols book: Objects may be
positioned on cover to reduce number
of choices.
AAC systems, continued
• Literacy experiences may:
– utilize objects within tactile books;
– present a learner with a choice of activity by
Velcroing objects to a book or board; and
– use objects to represent activities and
locations. These may be sequenced in a
calendar box so an individual can learn to
“read” and follow a daily schedule.
• For detailed instructions on making and using
calendar boxes, refer to Robbie Blaha’s book
(2001) Calendars for Students with Multiple
Impairments Including Deafblindness.
These are objects which are
presented in a learner’s hand
prior to a transition in daily
routine.
This is an example of one
form of object schedule:
“First lunch, then computer”.
AAC systems, continued
• Representations may be visual, auditory,
or tactile.
• Photos or line drawings may be selected
depending on a learner’s cognitive ability.
• Photos may sometimes function as a
bridge between the use of actual objects
and the use of line drawings, which then
generalize across activities and settings.
AAC systems, continued
• Pictures may be arranged on Velcro boards,
in books, as a set of cards on a ring or
lanyard, within a study carrel, and on a
placemat.
• Pictures may be used for choice-making,
reading and following a picture schedule,
answering questions about a story, following
a picture recipe, and for communication and
social interaction. Students may “read” and
“write” using pictures.
AAC systems, continued
• Texture may be added for those who
read with their hands. If using pictures,
particularly with a student who is
visually impaired, consideration needs
to be given to size, color, and contrast.
In addition, photos need to have an
uncluttered background.
These are examples of choice
boards in picture and object
form, which are used during
community outings at the public
library.
These are examples of photos used for
choice-making and communication
which are displayed on the wall for
easy access. The material to which
they are Velcroed is similar to fabric
used as headliner in a car, which may
be purchased at a fabric store or
salvage yard.
The photos on the right were taken
against a solid background and those
on the left had the background digitally
removed to reduce background clutter
and distraction. It would be
recommended to add a printed label to
each picture so the learner is exposed
to print and so communication partners
use the same terminology when
referring to each picture.
This example shows an
individual’s picture schedule
using line drawings and a
“finished” pouch. Mayer-Johnson
Picture Communication
Symbols® are used here.
Picture communication
book: Pictures may be
positioned on the cover
as an individual learns to
discriminate between
pictures. Mayer-Johnson
Picture Communication
Symbols® are used
here.
AAC systems, continued
A wide variety of electronic devices offer
persons with multiple disabilities the
opportunity to have a “voice”.
• Devices that provide synthesized speech
allow learners to express themselves by
activating the device through direct touch or
by using a switch.
• Pictures or tactile symbols may be displayed
on the device so when an individual touches
or pushes a symbol, the device will speak a
related message.
AAC systems, continued
• For those with limited physical
movement, scanning devices may be
used where the touch of a switch
positioned near a body part activates a
light under a symbol. The switch is
pressed repeatedly to move the light
until the desired symbol or message is
reached.
• Those with visual impairments may
utilize auditory scanning so they can
hear the options as the device scans.
AAC systems, continued
• Computer adaptations may include:
– the use of a switch, touch screen, or
alternative keyboard.
– tactile symbols which may be mounted on
alternative keyboards for those who read
with their hands.
– the use of braille software and printers.
This is an example of a voice
output augmentative
communication device (e.g.,
CheapTalk 8 from Enabling
Devices). The background of
the Mayer-Johnson Picture
Communication Symbols® may
be colored according to a
student’s visual need or
preference.
For students who require tactile
symbols rather than pictures,
an overlay with only printed
words on it may be used with
tactile symbols glued to each
square of the overlay. The
individual would feel and press
the texture for the device to
speak a message so others
could hear.
AAC systems, continued
• Assistive technology helps to make
traditional communication and literacy
materials accessible to students with
multiple disabilities.
• Miles (2005) states, “Literacy never exists
in a vacuum. People read and write for
many purposes, most of them social” (p.3).
• People with severe disabilities, including
those who are deafblind, should be
exposed to these same social
opportunities.
AAC systems, Activity
• Create an adapted book- Each participant
is to make an adapted book for an actual
learner with multiple disabilities or
deafblindness that he/she knows or for a
learner who attends the local school
system:
– The book may be a tactile book made from
materials based on something the learner
experiences, a purchased book which is
adapted for reading pleasure, or a book
(adapted or made from scratch) made to
support a topic being taught in the classroom.
AAC systems, Activity, continued
– When making the books, consider
(1) the vocabulary they are going to target,
(2) the symbol system best suited for the learner
(objects, texture, print, braille, pictures), and
(3) the best way to read the book with the learner
(e.g., hand-under-hand feeling objects,
spoken word, sign language, etc.).
Accessibility
• Learners with significant support needs face
a combination of physical, cognitive, and/or
sensory impairments.
• Paper, pencils, and textbooks are inadequate
tools to support their active participation in
literacy activities.
• Materials and environments should be
adapted, sometimes extensively, for these
learners to have access to the same content
standards and curriculum as their nondisabled peers.
Accessibility, continued
• Exclusion of these learners from literacy
activities is not an option!
• Like those made for communication
systems, adaptations such as pictures,
objects, photos, texture, print, and braille
can be used for literacy materials.
• Objects may be used initially to help
learners associate the pictures with actual
items.
Accessibility, continued
• Pictures should meet student needs,
taking into consideration:
– the appropriate size,
– simplicity (no clutter),
– use of color (color coding, student
responsiveness), and
– contrast (black/white or black/yellow for
high contrast).
Accessibility, continued
• Sign language (labeling the pictures)
should be utilized as a book is read to
a learner who is deaf or hearing
impaired.
• The following slides show various
examples of adapted books using
pictures for reading and receptive
language.
The paperback book, Who Will Help? By Rozanne Williams, from
Creative Teaching Press, has been adapted in the photo above by
adding two Mayer-Johnson Picture Communication Symbols® per
page. The noun “apple” remains constant throughout the book, while
the verbs change. For an individual with low vision, the words may be
signed tactually, acted out, and/or a real apple may be explored with
the hands. This book was selected because of repetitive phrases.
These phrases were recorded on a voice-output augmentative
communication device for a student to activate to “read” at the
appropriate time in the story.
This photo is of the book, Little White Dog by Laura Godwin, which
was adapted in a similar fashion as the previous one using MayerJohnson Picture Communication Symbols®. However, the focus of
this book is on identifying colors and animals as the book is read.
This book was cut apart so pages could be put in plastic sleeves,
stiffened with tagboard, and placed in a three-ring binder for durability.
The book, Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh, was cut apart and
adapted by placing construction paper behind the pages of the
book. Students can match color cards to the colored pages as
the mice in the story play in the various colors of paint.
The book, The Four Seasons by Rozanne Williams, was adapted by
adding a strip to the bottom of each page which displays print with
Mayer-Johnson Picture Communication Symbols®. Additional pictures
are given to the learners so they may form sentences by matching the
pictures to those on the strip, as these are read. The pages in the book
were laminated for durability.
The pages in this student-made book were reproduced from the
MEville to WEville curriculum by Ablenet. Students selected
pictures based on their preferences to tell a story. Those with
significant visual impairments might use packaging from their
favorite foods to glue to the pages in order to read object or tactile
symbols.
This is an example of a class-made book. Students each made
their own page to add to the book using their handprints and
choosing Mayer-Johnson Picture Communication Symbols® to
state what they like to do. For students with visual impairments,
handprints could be made from puff paint so they can feel the
various handprints as classmates are named and the book is
read. Student made books could be used at any grade level by
using content that involves age-appropriate interests and topics.
Pages for this book were downloaded free from the Adapted Learning website, http://www.adaptedlearning.com. Pages were laminated and bound.
The content of this book is U.S. history and would be appropriate for older
learners. Mayer-Johnson Picture Communication Symbols® were printed
to reduce content from each page to a two-picture sentence (e.g., “We live
in”, “the United States”). A prop was made by copying the U.S. picture from
the page and laminating it with heavy laminate. It was cut out so that
students could manipulate it and “feel” the shape of the U.S.
Accessibility, continued
• For learners with low vision or
significant cognitive disability:
– Books may be illustrated with objects or
partial objects which feel like the items
with which the learner comes into contact
during a targeted activity (e.g., piece of
chain for swinging, sprig from a bush for
outside).
Accessibility, continued
– Tactile symbols and texture may also be
used depending on the abilities of the
learner. The Texas School for the Blind &
Visually Impaired (TSBVI) web-site,
http://www.tsbvi.edu, is a resource where
tactile symbol systems are described and
pictured.
– A book’s pages should include text for a
partner to read.
Accessibility, continued
– Print size should be considered for those
with vision, and braille for those with low
vision, even if they cannot yet read it in a
traditional sense.
– Select basic concepts within the book and
keep the printed text simple.
– Partners should also consider the use of
facial expression, gesture, or sign language
while reading or discussing a book.
This is an example of a page in a tactile book. Print is displayed. A
sentence written in braille may be added for a student with low vision. A
piece of chain is used to represent the chains which a child holds onto
while swinging. Sign language for key words may be included for reading
partners using a multimodal approach to communicate.
The Signing Exact English illustration is from Gustason, G., Pfetzing, D., Zawolkow, E., & Lopez, L.
(1993). Signing Exact English. Los Alamitos, CA: Modern Signs Press.
The book, Fish Eyes by Lois
Ehlert, has been adapted in a
three-ring binder, similarly to
some picture books shown
previously. This book is used
within the content area of
math. Colored, plastic fish
have been Velcroed to each
fish on the page so students
may pull them off or put them
on as they count with their
reading partner. For learners
with low vision, tactile signing
may be used while counting
the manipulatives.
The book shown on left is a
teacher-made tactile book filled
with various textures inside.
The book, That’s Not My Bear
by Suzette Wright, shown in
photo at right, is adapted with
texture and braille and
published by the American
Printing House for the Blind
(http://www.aph.org).
Accessibility, continued
• Age-respectfulness is an issue of dignity,
especially as students get older.
• Students at the middle and high school
levels should have topics (including the
content areas of math, science, and
social studies), music, and pictures
appropriate for their age group.
• Adapting books, magazines, and
textbook materials allows one to use ageappropriate topics while simplifying the
information and focusing in on the basic
concepts targeted for a learner.
Newspaper articles may be used with high school students as
they study current events. The article here is summarized in
one word. (Photo provided by Andrea Zody)
A student may select pictures from magazines about which to
talk or write. As sentences are written by a partner, the student
with disabilities may be given word/picture choices to complete
the sentences.
(Photo provided by Andrea Zody)
A student may use a keyboard
to type written work (alternative
keyboards can provide large
print or photo representations)
or a partner may type/write
down what is expressed.
(Photo provided by Andrea Zody)
Accessibility, continued
• In addition to books, students should
have access to literacy in other formats
as well.
• Learners may be taught to follow
picture/tactile sequences for daily
routines, grocery lists, and recipes.
• Menus from favorite restaurants can be
adapted in advance so learners can
make their own choices when they eat
out with their families. Some restaurants
do have picture menus upon request.
Accessibility, continued
• Voice-output augmentative devices may be
used for learners to speak and hear
sequenced steps of a task, such as food
preparation or art projects.
• Writing is the expressive form of literacy.
• Experimenting and playing with a
braillewriter might be considered as
“doodling” in braille.
Accessibility, continued
• Adaptive writing tools for learners with
physical impairments include:
– special grips for pencils,
– a writing bird (a tool that looks like a bird upon
which a student rests her hand as she moves
hand across the paper),
– a universal cuff (splint fastened around hand
which holds a pencil for the learner),
– address labelers to stamp names to papers,
stencils, devices for typing print or braille, and
– adaptive scissors for cutting out pictures to glue
to paper as means of “writing”.
The photo above is a fourth grade writing assignment. Students wrote
sentences about a topic, then sequenced their sentences to put their
stories together. This student read 2” x 2” pictures rather than words. She
cut out her picture choices with adapted scissors and glued them to each
strip. Her partner filled in the printed words to form the sentences. Once
the story was assembled, it was recorded on a voice-output
communication device so the student could read her story to the class
when it was her turn to share.
Musselwhite & Wagner (2001)
suggest poetry as another form
of literacy. Shown left is an
example of one of the
recommended poetry styles, a 3
x 3 poem, formed by Velcroing
Mayer-Johnson Picture
Communication Symbols® or
Symbolstix symbols from N2Y,
Inc.® to a chart to write about a
lesson on government. This is a
writing tool that could be used
across grade levels.
An example of how literacy
and math might overlap:
Collecting and analyzing
data is a math content
standard at a variety of
grade levels. Depending on
the literacy topic that day,
students select two or
more items (in picture,
object, or texture form)
about which to survey
other students and staff.
Students who are nonverbal use voice-output augmentative devices, such
as Ablenet’s Step-by-Step with Levels (pictured here on the right), to survey
people around the school. Those being surveyed follow the instructions
given by Velcroing a poker chip to the board beneath their choice. When
students return to the classroom, they count, graph, and report their findings
using the voice-output devices. The idea for this activity came from the
Unique Learning Systems literacy curriculum, N2Y, Inc.®.
Journaling is another form of literacy. This photo of a remnant book is
a simple form of home-school communication. In one pocket, the
student takes home a tangible item along with a printed sentence
about something he or she did that day, to share with the family.
Another pocket is provided so the student may bring something back
from home that represents what he or she did the night before.
Literacy can occur at mealtime. Shown here are MayerJohnson Picture Communication Symbols® sealed within
heavy lamination to form a communication placemat. Learners
may point to pictures during the meal to request more or
indicate when finished, or they may pull off pictures Velcroed
to the mat to hand to an adult who can assist them.
Even games can provide opportunities for literacy. Two plastic
disposable lids held together with a brad serve as a playing card
holder for a student with limited motor ability. The game of UNO™
serves to teach color and number recognition, matching, and turntaking. Card games may be played with cards that are tactually
marked.
Bingo can be adapted by providing
a switch and spinner for those with
physical limitations and using
pictures or textures to match
literacy concepts related to the
learner’s grade level content.
These pictures and sheets happen
to be provided within the UNIQUE
Learning System curriculum, N2Y,
Inc.®. The AdaptedLearning.com
website also has a variety of
educational materials like this that
may be downloaded for free.
This is an example of an actual menu that was adapted
with photos inside prior to going on a community-based
instruction trip to a local restaurant. Students were able to
place their own orders by pointing to desired photos.
Accessibility, continued
• Adaptations for literacy are only as limited
as one’s creativity. Some examples
include:
– Story “boxes” or other props to supplement a
story, giving students additional hands-on
exploration and learning (Miles, 2005).
– Page fluffers (e.g., a piece of foam under the
edge of each page, a large paperclip on each
page) help separate the pages of a book,
making them easier to turn.
Large paperclips are used in this photo as page fluffers to help
separate the pages for easier turning.
Accessibility, continued
– Stories may be provided on tape,
CD, or computer. There are a
number of websites with stories
online.
– Voice-output augmentative devices
may be used to “read” repetitive
parts of a story, lines or pages of a
story, directions for a game or
activity, or spelling words.
This is a teacher-made book that makes use of props. It has
print and a sentence in picture form on each page that students
can Velcro in sequence. It also includes pictures glued to a thick
piece of foam that may be removed and handled for added
interaction with the book. Tactile props could be used instead
of/in addition to picture props.
This photo is an example of an assistive device from Enabling
Devices, called a “Book Talker”, that reads each page aloud
when a designated hot spot is pushed. This book has a bright
red circle on each page to designate that spot. For students
with low vision, tactile dots (e.g., Velcro, felt, etc.) could be
used.
Accessibility, continued
• Adaptations may be necessary within the
environment as well.
– Lighting, noise, and temperature affect a
learner’s ability to maintain attention and
focus.
• Books of interest to learners should be
made accessible within the environment.
• As individuals gain more of a sense of
control over their environment and over
literacy, interest and learning will grow.
Accessibility,
Activity on Adaptations
• Consider ways to adapt a classroom
game, book, or academic lesson
appropriate for the age or grade level
you teach or are most familiar with.
• Use one or more of the approaches
discussed and shown.
Making It Happen
• A learner’s first attempts at reading must
be positive for success to continue.
• Frustration at not being able to access
something of interest might result in a
negative experience and the individual
may stop trying.
• To insure initial attempts are successful,
books and materials must be made
accessible through adaptations and
proper positioning of the learner.
Making It Happen, continued
• Connecting hands-on exploration and
literacy experiences to a learner’s interests
and preferences will increase the
likelihood of the learner being actively
engaged. Examples include:
– a remnant or photo book to document an
enjoyable and meaningful experience,
– relating vocabulary words to personal
interests and incorporating them in other
activities throughout the day,
Making It Happen, continued
– incorporating interests and preferences into low
interest topics such as preferred colors and
familiar items from home,
– giving learners choices throughout the literacy
experience- allowing them to choose topics
about which to read or write, the place where
they want to read or write, and which writing
instruments and materials they’d like to use,
and/or
Making It Happen, continued
– making reading interactive so that
individuals are actively engaged and not
just spectators- the social aspect of
reading can be very motivating.
• Literacy opportunities need to be
provided on a regular basis. Reading
and writing activities should occur
daily.
• Books should be made available for
individuals for read and re-read
visually and/or tactually.
Making It Happen, continued
• Time and materials should be provided
for independent play such as:
– scribbling,
– writing in shaving cream or other textured
substances,
– playing with playdough,
– forming shapes or letters with wiki stix,
– stamping letter stamps to paper, or
– using magnetic letters.
Making It Happen, continued
• Props for stories may be collected and
stored in a box that learners can explore.
• Reading occurs in many ways. For
example, reading occurs when a learner:
– checks his or her personal schedule before the
next activity,
– follows a picture or tactual sequence to
complete a task,
Making It Happen, continued
– matches the picture or tactile symbol being
carried to the identical symbol located at
the door of the room to which he or she is
going, or
– routinely puts materials away in a labeled
bin.
Symbols label various environments (e.g., office, gym, music room,
library, etc.). Tactile symbols are added and braille is adhered below the
printed word for those with low vision to feel. Students match the symbol
they are carrying to the one on or by the door.
Making It Happen, continued
• Writing occurs in many ways, such as
when a learner:
– stamps his or her name to their paper using
an address labeler, or
– hands a symbol to a communication partner
to convey wants.
Making It Happen, continued
• These are all activities that can take
place frequently and routinely
throughout a learner’s day, providing
multiple literacy opportunities naturally.
Learners with significant disabilities and
deafblindness respond positively to
routines. They acquire skills more easily
when those skills occur as part of a
natural routine.
Raising Expectations
• One method of providing literacy
instruction is through the use of thematic
units.
• Connecting all content areas (e.g.,
reading, writing, math, science, and social
studies) to a single theme or topic
“enhances student understanding by
creating opportunities for skill synthesis,
generalization, ongoing practice, and
increased attention to cues”
(Cooper-Duffy et al., 2010, p. 33).
Raising Expectations, continued
• Themes should utilize high interest
materials and activities.
• Content and ideas need to be agerespectful.
Raising Expectations, continued
Examples of literacy instruction through
a theme of travel:
• Students read about various forms of
transportation using pictures, words,
tactile symbols, and/or objects.
• They write, describing something they
have seen, heard, or felt while using
a particular form of transportation.
Raising Expectations, continued
• For math, they might count and add model
cars.
• During science, they may explore the
concepts of fast and slow through an
experiment.
• A social studies lesson might explore the
use of maps and involve acting out travel
by following a visual or tactile map, to
locate various landmarks within a building.
Raising Expectations, continued
• Key vocabulary and concepts would be
targeted for use within the various content
areas. Vocabulary would be presented in
print, sign language, picture, braille, tactile,
and/or object symbols depending on the
needs of the students.
• Use of themes can help to make literacy
interesting and fun while still working on
both academic and functional skills!
Raising Expectations, continued
• Another effective way to plan for literacy
instruction is use of a collaborative team
approach.
– Team members, including general
education teachers, special education
teachers, paraprofessionals, support
service personnel, and family members,
have ideas and skills upon which to draw.
Raising Expectations, continued
– The team develops IEP goals for a learner
based upon his or her strengths, needs, and
interests, aligning goals with state standards
or content standard extensions developed to
make general education curriculum available
to all learners.
– Students then work on individualized goals
within the framework of literacy activities.
– Use of differentiated instruction allows
students of various ability levels to participate
in the same literacy activity while working on
their own personal goals.
Raising Expectations, continued
• On the next slide is an example of a
student support outline planning form
which illustrates how a general
education literacy activity might be
adapted for a learner with significant
support needs.
Student Support Outline
Student: K.
Classroom: 5th Grade
Classroom
Activity
Student Participation &
Modifications
General Ed.
Composition:
After reading
a story which
is stopped
short of the
ending,
students will
be asked to
be creative in
writing their
own ending
to the story.
Since K. does not read or
write in print and is nonverbal, she will use pictures
(2”x2”, high contrast, black
line drawings on yellow
paired with print) to make
choices of what to write
about and the specific
descriptive words to use.
She’ll use adaptive scissors
to cut out the pictures to
glue to paper. Given handunder-hand assistance, she
may be assisted in writing
some words in between
pictures to make sentences.
She is to sign her name on
her paper using her name
stamp. When it is time to
call on students to read
their stories, K. will use a
Step-by-Step voice-output
device to read the
sentences in her story
aloud.
Special
attention is to
be given to
descriptive
words.
Year:
IEP Goals
Identify and use name
stamp
Increase picture
vocabulary
Improve comprehension
and attention to task
Increase expressive
communication skills
(choice-making)
Improve fine motor skills
and functional use of
tools (scissors, glue,
pencil)
Demonstrate appropriate
use of assistive
technology, speaking
when appropriate
Materials/
Equipment/Position
Name Stamp
Folder with paper
and Mayer-Johnson
Picture
Communication
Symbols®
Art Bag with
writing instruments
and glue
Tabletop scissors
with rubber mat to
stabilize
Step-by-Step
voice-output device
K. will be seated in
her wheelchair at a
table of the
appropriate height
Raising Expectations, continued
• In a collaborative team approach, the
special education and general education
teachers collaborate and adapt each lesson
with an individual student’s goals in focus.
All students, including the student with
multiple disabilities, work on activities
linked to state standards for reading
(receptive language) and writing
(expressive language).
Raising Expectations, continued
• Once a student’s IEP goals are identified,
systematic instruction should be planned so the
important skills (e.g., identifying objects or
vocabulary, signing, stamping name to paper,
using a voice-output device to read repetitive
lines, using writing tools, etc.) a learner needs to
master during literacy instruction can be
embedded into daily lessons.
• When systematic instruction is used, the same
set of procedures is used repeatedly on a
continuous basis, to teach a specific skill or
piece of information.
Raising Expectations, continued
• To teach targeted skills, some type of
prompting system may be selected.
Prompting systems provide students who
have severe disabilities with supports
necessary to carry out tasks, but not to such
a degree that the student is not challenged
• Examples of such systems include:
– “least to most” or “most-to least” prompting,
– time delay, and
– graduated guidance.
Raising Expectations, continued
• Systematic instruction is data driven in
order to determine if progress is being
made and to decide what steps need to
be taken next. Data may also be used
to determine progress within the
extended standards.
• It is a teacher’s challenge to ensure that
all students have access to high
academic standards.
“A key aspect of this
work is creativity and
unwavering
persistence.”
(Giangreco, 2006, p.24).
Raising Expectations, Using a
Student Support Outline Activity
• Review the following scenario of a student
with severe disabilities/deafblindness in a
general education class for language arts.
• Complete a “Student Support Outline” for
this student, detailing modifications and
adaptations the student might need to
participate in the same activity as his
peers.
Using a Student Support Outline,
continued
Scenario: B. attends a 5th grade language arts
class with his peers and truly enjoys being around
his peers. B. can scribble on paper but does not
imitate marks. He is able to visually track people
moving around him and can see 2”x2” black and
white line drawings paired with print if he holds
them just right. He startles to very loud, sudden
sounds but is not able to hear someone speaking
to him.
Using a Student Support Outline,
continued
B. has a vocabulary of approximately 35 signs. His
individual goals include increasing his picture and
signing vocabulary, improving use of fine motor
skills, and completing tasks with greater
independence. His class has been studying about
current leaders within the community, state, and
U.S. They are going to be writing letters to their
senators next week expressing something of
concern to them. B. is invited to write a letter as
well. The class will be working on these letters over
the span of the next week.
Summary
• Learners with severe disabilities and/or
deafblindness are faced with many
challenges, but teachers do not need to be
one of those barriers.
• These learners will know of many
experiences only if given the opportunity to
explore beyond arms’ reach.
Summary, continued
• It is critical to make good instruction
accessible, given the nature of these
learners’ significant disabilities in areas such
as understanding what a teacher is saying,
accessing writing tools, seeing texts, or
attending to lessons.
• We should maintain high expectations and a
belief that all learners can and do benefit
from literacy instruction, whether or not they
acquire a more abstract language system.
Summary, continued
• For individuals with significant
disabilities, effective instruction should
be individualized and include consistent
routines, clear expectations, motivating
experiences, active participation, and
opportunities for communication.
• Materials and environment should be
made accessible through adaptation and
supports.
Summary, continued
• With creative and individualized support,
these learners can begin to make sense
of the world around them.
• Literacy is a functional skill that results in
an improvement in “quality of life” for
them, and for us, as we learn from each
other.
Summary- Video activity
• Watch the video at
http://mast.ecu.edu/modules/db_1/lib/me
dia/moth2.html .
• Discuss the characteristics of activities
and materials identified by the mother as
key to her son’s developing literacy.
• If this child entered your classroom
today, what do you feel you would need
to know about this boy as a learner that
would enable you to provide him with
quality literacy experiences?
Focus and Reflection Questions
1. Define literacy for a student who is
deafblind and/or has severe,
multiple disabilities.
2. Explain why literacy is important for
learners who have severe,
disabilities and/or deafblindness.
3. Describe what literacy might “look
like” for learners with severe
disabilities.
Focus and Reflection Questions,
continued
4. Provide examples of ways educators might
promote the development of literacy for
learners with severe disabilities and/or
deafblindness.
5. Brainstorm various ways literacy may be
incorporated into a student’s daily routine.
Focus and Reflection Questions,
continued
6. If a student with severe disabilities and
deafblindness entered your classroom,
what things would you want to know or
find out about this student as a learner
that would enable you to provide him
or her with quality literacy
experiences?
Application and Extension Activities
1. A list of companies that sell adaptive
equipment follows. To gain awareness of
the types of equipment available to
support learners, view these companies
and their products online. Note that not
all equipment needs to be purchasedthere are many adaptations that can be
made from everyday materials!
Application and Extension
Activities, continued
Select two items from each catalog and
tell how those items might be used
within academic instruction for
learners with deafblindness/ multiple
disabilities.
Also provide two examples of items you
might produce yourself if money was
in short supply.
Application and Extension
Activities, continued
– Abilitations,
http://store.schoolspecialtyonline.net
– Ablenet, http://www.ablenetinc.com
– APH: American Printing House for the Blind,
http://www.aph.org
– Attainment,
http://www.attainmentcompany.com
Application and Extension
Activities, continued
– Don Johnston,
http://www.donjohnston.com
– Enabling Devices,
http://www.enablingdevices.com
– Mayer-Johnson, http://www.mayerjohnson.com
– SammonsPreston,
http://www.sammonspreston.com
Application and Extension
Activities, continued
2. A list of website for organizations and
resources on deafblindness is at
http://mast.ecu.edu/modules/db_1/su
mmary/#4 . Look at one of the sites
and report on the approaches or
materials promoted on these sites and
how they could impact literacy for
children with deafblindness and
multiple disabilities.
Self-Assessment
• A self-assessment with response
feedback is available at
http://mast.ecu.edu/modules/db_1/quiz/.
Participants may take this assessment
online to evaluate their learning about
content presented in this module
Session Evaluation
• A form for participants to evaluate the
session is available in the Facilitator’s
Guide.