FUNCTIONAL SKILLSBy: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com Updated November 4, 2017 Functional skills refer to the skills that students learn that provide them with the opportunity to work, play, socialize, and take care of personal needs to the highest level possible. When a student has developmental delays in addition to a visual impairment, or has multiple disabilities, they will typically follow a modified curriculum. The curriculum should help ensure that students with significant cognitive disabilities are provided with multiple ways to learn and demonstrate knowledge. Students’ needs and abilities will generally vary greatly within the classroom designed for students with multiple disabilities. Students who are blind or visually impaired, require adaptations to the curriculum that address their unique learning needs but this is especially true for students with multiple disabilities. All students with disabilities, and especially those who are blind or visually impaired, will need concrete experiences, unifying experiences and opportunities to learn by doing within a natural setting. The majority students with multiple disabilities will need more time than sighted peers to acquire developmental skills. Students with visual impairments will need particular assistance with those skills acquired primarily through vision.
Age AppropriateIt is important to provide instruction that is developmentally appropriate and age appropriate. Using real materials is a way to make instruction more age appropriate for older students. For example, a 13 year old student may be functioning at a 8 month old developmental level, but it is hardly appropriate to provide them with an infant/toddler toy to entertain themselves. It is much more appropriate to locate materials that have similar features the student is interested in, but are age appropriate. It is also important when developing lessons and activities, to asses the student's unique needs and incorporate their IEP goals and objectives naturally and systematically throughout the day. Setting up stations will help encourage exploration and active participation in classroom activities. This is because students will know where they can find activity areas and materials.
Natural EnvironmentsIt is ideal to teach skills with natural and familiar environments or settings where the student can anticipate activities naturally. Teaching the skills within the environments where the skills will be used is critical as many students with multiple disabilities are not able generalize skills across environments. The activities will be much more meaningful when they are practiced within natural contexts.
Support ParticipationFor students with cognitive disabilities, provide simple, clear verbal directions and break tasks down into parts that can be easily accomplished. Simplify tasks by reducing the number of steps, using backward chaining, spiraling, and plenty of modeling and cues. If necessary, physically guide student through the task and then gradually fade support.
As students become successful, you can then begin adding steps to the task. Select the activities based on skills the student needs to work on, but also be sure to make it fun and allow students to be successful. Simplify the language that you use with students. Short phrases repeated in a rhythmic cadence or sung to a familiar tune can be effective for communicating directions. Meaningful ActivitiesLearning activities should be meaningful to the student and be relevant to their world. Different approaches will need to be used for all areas of the curriculum. It is ideal to teach skills that are functional. Consider the functionality of the skill and focus on those that will lead to the greatest independence possible. Students can and should still be exposed to print and/or braille when at all possible, but a focus should be on the environmental print/braille that the student will need and will encounter.
Learning activities should be developed to accommodate differences in abilities and interests. Use positive reinforcements. For students with ADHD, provide a consistent environment to learn rules and self control. Be specific about behaviors that are acceptable and unacceptable. Concentrate on "catching the student being good." Reward with praise, privilege or stickers/stamps.
Communication-Rich Environment and Functional LiteracyAll students need to be provided with an opportunity to be as literate as they are capable. Current legislation and research indicate that teachers must teach every student to read. Beginning reading instruction continues to be necessary for older students with developmental disabilities. The "No Child Left Behind Act" clearly states that all students must receive this instruction throughout their academic careers.
It is important as the student advances in years to think about transitioning the focus to functional skills and functional literacy. For an older student who is still reading at an emergent or beginning reading level, focus should be on learning environmental print or label associations that is functional and will assist them in becoming as independent as possible. For students unable to learn environmental print, a means of communication is important. Read more on creating communication symbols on the Individual Schedules and Communication Cards page. Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are." |
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TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired
$50.00
Written specifically for fellow itinerant Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI’s), this book consists of over 400 activities and topic areas of discussion for instructing students in the Expanded Core Curriculum. The activities are age-neutral and multi-sensory and therefore can meet the needs of the broad range of students served on an itinerant caseload serving. The activities can be individualized to the students various learning modalities and scaffold in order to challenge students but ensure success. Select those activities that align with the student’s learning objects based on the student’s unique visual needs and academic and developmental level. The core activities listed in the Activity section can be adapted to each thematic unit. These include:
In addition to the core activity areas, each of the 32 Thematic Units incorporates additional unique ECC concepts and skills providing you with a years’ worth of activities. These units are cyclical and can be used repeatedly to help students build on prior knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of concepts. Each unit includes suggestions for activity adaptation associated with the unit. These include lists of objects, possible community based experiences, environmental print, poems, children & young reader books, children's songs, pop culture songs, movies, and websites. Unique Concepts within the Units include:
Although the intended audience of this resource is fellow Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments, special education teachers may find these activities beneficial to the students in their classrooms as the activities are multisensory and include life skills and concepts needed by all students. This resource, however, is not intended to take the place of a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI). Readers are advised to consult their own TVI’s regarding instruction in the ECC and the unique visual needs of the student’s served in their programs. Note: This curriculum is a digital pdf download. Once you make your purchase you will be directed to an order confirmation page where you will find the download link. This download will also be included on the receipt sent to the email address you provide. The pdf download can be found directly under the order number. Each download is intended for single instructor use per copyright. Thank you for helping me preserve the content and not distributing copies to third parties. Product details Digital pdf download: 364 pages (11 pt font) Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments Author: Carmen Willings Language: English 
Visual Efficiency & Magnifier Fluency Grab & Go ECC Supplements
$20.00
This workbook is a pdf download that can be printed on demand for use with students. It contains five different types of worksheets for developing visual motor skills and near magnifier fluency skills particularly with the use of a video magnifier. As a supplement to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to each of the 32 ECC Thematic units. The worksheets, along with a list of environmental print for each thematic unit, are designed to help students refine their visual motor skills while reinforcing ECC concepts presented in the thematic units. Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheet Details: Digital pdf download: 210 pages Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments Author: Carmen Willings Language: English |
