Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Outreach Programs
www.tsbvi.edu | 512-454-8631| 1100 W. 45th St. | Austin, TX 78756
2015 Texas Symposium on Deafblindness
Mindfulness in Communication
Saturday, 10:30 AM–12:00 PM Breakout Session
Presented by
David Wiley, Deafblind Transition Consultant,
Texas Deafblind Outreach
davidwiley@tsbvi.edu
Developed for
Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired
Texas Deafblind Outreach
Mindfulness in Communication
David Wiley, Deafblind Transition Consultant,
Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired Outreach Programs
davidwiley@tsbvi.edu
Students with deafblindness who don’t read print or braille need some way to use recorded
information just like everyone else. For these students object symbols, picture symbols, or
tactile communication symbols can fill that role. Students and their communication partners can
use these tangible symbols both expressively and receptively in a variety ways for different
situations and functions.
How deafblindness may affect a student’s experiences?



Sensory Impairments reduce access to information from the surroundings and other
people. (Information gathering, lack of experience, inability to move easily, language
abilities, etc.)
Information access affects how people form concepts and relationships, as well as what
they care about and enjoy.
Interactions initiated by the may be unsuccessful.
Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut
you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet
and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that
ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way
of knowing how near the harbour was.
— Helen Keller. The Story of My Life. (1902.) Chapter 4.
You have to have a message, before you have a code.



What kinds of messages does Helen Keller’s statement suggest that she wants to get.
What messages are individually important to one of your students.
People are more likely to learn what is important to them.
Communication…
Communication is the exchange of thoughts, information, or opinions between two or more
people. Exchange implies that each person will both receive and express thoughts, information,
or opinions. Expressive communication involves sending information. Receptive
communication involves receiving information.
Do you want to get coffee?



What does that question mean to you?
How does context affect the meaning?
How does past experience affect the context?
2015 Texas Symposium on Deafblindness – Mindfulness in Communication – Wiley, D.
1
Routines: a place to start the understanding of symbolic representation



People who don’t have much information need markers in the day.
Routines can provide recognizable and predictable events in a person’s life.
For people without language who don’t understand symbolic representation, these events
can then be labeled.
Successful Reader Strategies
1. Prediction and Inferring:
 Drawing on prior knowledge to make hypotheses (or predictions) and assumptions (or
inferences).
 Confirming and revising hypotheses and inferences
— Owocki, G. (2003) Comprehension: Strategic Instruction for K-3 Students
Communication Forms



We all use many communication forms to get messages to and from other people.
Communication forms that you may use include speech, sign language, printed words,
braille, pictures, gestures, objects, etc.
We use different communication forms in different ways, and they have different
strengths and weaknesses.
Why use more than one form?
Different forms have different uses.
Dynamic forms
 Communication forms that are easily changeable, flexible, and immediately available.
 Dynamic forms include speech, sign language, and gestures
Static forms
 Communication forms that are tangible, and “stay put” for closer study or future
reference.
 Static forms include print, Braille, pictures, objects, tactile symbols
2015 Texas Symposium on Deafblindness – Mindfulness in Communication – Wiley, D.
2
Dynamic Forms
Figure 1 A woman in a business suite speaks from behind a lectern.
Strengths
 Immediately available.
 Need no equipment.
 Unlimited topics.
 Flexible.
 Changeable.
Weaknesses
 Temporary.
 Can only be retrieved from memory.
 Hard to review.
 Easy to miss or misinterpret.
Static Forms
Figure 2 A man sits at a table while he sips on a drink and reads a newspaper.
Strengths
 Can be checked for gaps and accuracy.
 Can for studied for more complete understanding.
 Can be kept for future reference
Weaknesses
 Harder to produce.
 Requires materials.
 More limited in topics.
 Can be limited to the original message.
2015 Texas Symposium on Deafblindness – Mindfulness in Communication – Wiley, D.
3
Communication Forms
Figure 3 A packet of yellow Post-It Notes with the word "Urgent!" written on the it and underlined three times.



You use both dynamic and static communication forms daily.
Everyone needs both dynamic and static communication forms to use both expressively
and receptively.
For your student to be a complete communicator, you must consider both dynamic and
static communication forms.
Why do we all use static communication forms?




Why do you write things down?
When would you request something in print or Braille?
When would you request a chart, picture, or other graphic representation?
How does your student who is deafblind, and who doesn’t read text or Braille well do
these same things?
Tangible symbols are static forms you can touch:




Object symbols
Picture symbols
Tactile symbols
Symbols including print or Braille
Tangible Symbols…
…may be either three dimensional (objects) or two-dimensional (pictures) and they have the
following properties:
 They bear a clear perceptual relationship to a referent (that is, they are iconic), making
lower demands on cognitive abilities than do abstract symbols…
 They are permanent, making lower demands on the user’s memory than do speech and
signs, which must be pulled out of “thin air,” utilizing recall memory. Tangible symbols
need only be recognized out of a permanent display of symbols, thus utilizing recognition
memory, a more basic cognitive skill.
 They are manipulable. They may be picked up and handed to someone or placed next to
a referent. Thus, a literal exchange of information is possible through the communication
act.
 They may be indicated through a simple motor response such as eye pointing, touching
or pointing, placing low demands on the user’s fine motor abilities.
 Finally, three-dimensional symbols may be useful for people without sight, since they are
tactually discriminable.
— Rowland & Sweigert, (2000.) Tangible Symbol Systems.
2015 Texas Symposium on Deafblindness – Mindfulness in Communication – Wiley, D.
4
Tangible Symbols are a way for a teacher and his/her student who does not
read print or Braille, to “write things down”:




to record messages for future reference;
to increase the student’s independence;
to reduce misunderstandings by facilitating study and reflection;
to encourage the student’s communicative expression.
For communication, more is better!
Tangible symbols shouldn’t be used instead of, but in addition to many other communication
forms.
Does using multiple communication forms help learners?






Potential benefits of using presentation graphics include:
Engaging multiple learning styles
Increasing visual impact
Improving audience focus
Providing annotations and highlights
Analyzing and synthesizing complexities…
— Faculty Center for Teachng and Learning, University of Central Florida
www.fctl.ucf.edu/teachingandlearningresources/technology/index.php
Creating successful interactions.
The three basic components of communication must be working together:
 Forms – How you communicate.
 Functions – Why you communicate.
 Topics – What you communicate about.
How to help students value symbols.






Have a message that needs to be given or received.
Make sure the message is motivating and interesting to the student.
Use the symbols routinely.
Have a structure to organize the symbol use.
Make sure your message is accurate and reliable.
Affirm the student’s communication initiatives.
2015 Texas Symposium on Deafblindness – Mindfulness in Communication – Wiley, D.
5
Tangible Symbols: Where to Start






Is your student familiar with symbolic communication?
Create recognizable and consistent activity routines which provide topics for
conversation.
Create a schedule of activity routines that is motivating, interesting, and predictable.
Determine what you need to communicate about and create symbols accordingly.
Create frameworks to routinely use the symbols.
Create consistent recognizable formats to organize, access, and transport the symbols.
Determine what you want need to communicate about...
You and your student might need symbols for:
 Activities / Actions.
 Locations.
 People.
 Materials / objects / foods.
 Time frames / days / months.
 Emotions.
Create frameworks to routinely use the symbols.
The tactile symbols may be used to create and support:
 Calendars and datebooks.
 Choice menus.
 Lists.
 Step-by-step instructions / recipes.
 Experience / memory books.
 Timepieces.
Create consistent recognizable formats to organize, access, and transport
the symbols.





Chart / board
Sequence strip
Box / tray
Book / binder / album
Wallet
2015 Texas Symposium on Deafblindness – Mindfulness in Communication – Wiley, D.
6
To Succeed with Tangible Symbols:






Use the symbols regularly, so they become second nature to the student and teacher.
It is easier to learn during routine situations, so don’t just use symbols during stressful or
confusing times.
Use symbols to assist during conversations, pairing them with other communication
forms.
Find ways to give the student access to the symbols, for using them expressively and
receptively.
Reliably follow through on what is communicated, even if you must adjust your
expectations.
When things change, explain changes to the student.
Suggestions for Making Symbols





Standardizing symbols assists as students and staff/caregivers move from one setting to
another.
Because every student’s situation (activities, places, people, etc.) is different, symbols
often must be custom-made.
Plan time for symbols to be repaired or replaced.
Use materials that are easily found for replacement.
When possible, give the student responsibility for his or her symbols.
2015 Texas Symposium on Deafblindness – Mindfulness in Communication – Wiley, D.
7
Resources
NCDB (www.nationaldb.org) Follow links to Selected Topics: Communication, Symbolic;
Calendar Systems; Tactile Learning
Project SALUTE: Successful Adaptations for Learning to Use Touch Effectively
http://projectsalute.net/
Blaha, R. (2001). Calendars: for students with multiple impairments including deafblindness.
Austin, TX: Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
http://www.tsbvi.edu/curriculum-a-publications
Hagood, L. “A Standard Tactile Symbol System: Graphic Language for Individuals who are Blind
and Unable to Learn Braille” www.tsbvi.edu/seehear/archive/tactile.html
Rowland, C., & Schweigert, P. (2000). Tangible symbol systems (2nd ed.). Portland, OR:
Oregon Health & Science University.
www.osepideasthatwork.org/toolkit/InstPract_tan_sym.asp
TSBVI. Standard Tactile Symbol List www.tsbvi.edu/deaf-blind-project/1116-tactile-symbolsdirectory-to-standard-tactile-symbol-list
APH. Tactile Connections: Symbols for Communication. www.fredshead.info/2006/11/tactileconnections-kit.html
APH. STACS: Standardized Tactile Augmentative Communication Symbols Kit
www.aph.org/advisory/2013adv06.html#P2
2015 Texas Symposium on Deafblindness – Mindfulness in Communication – Wiley, D.
8
2015 Texas Symposium on Deafblindness – Mindfulness in Communication – Wiley, D.
9
Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired
Outreach Programs
Figure 4 TSBVI logo.
Figure 5 IDEAs that Work logo and OSEP disclaimer.
2015 Texas Symposium on Deafblindness – Mindfulness in Communication – Wiley, D.
10