By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
​Updated June 9, 2019

When creating a daily schedule for the students, it is important to incorporate routines (the parts of a class schedule that stay consistent), activities, and any special events. Post a written, pictorial and/or object schedule that is accessible to the students depending on their developmental level and primary and future mode of learning. The word (in print or Braille or both) paired with the object should be presented to the students at the beginning of each routine to help mark the transition.

Use of Cues (Receptive Communication)

In order to follow a daily routine and to transition between stations, a student may need a cue from the teacher paired with a symbol to assist them in transitioning. Designing and using a consistent routine is the beginning of teaching cues. A cue is a type of communication used by an adult to let a student know what is expected of him in a given situation. Cues are a type of receptive communication. There are different types of cues that can be used:
  • Touch cues are ways an adult can touch a student to communicate the desired action.
  • Sensory cues are some sensory input used to help a student anticipate an event.
  • Object cues are some concrete piece of an activity or routine that is used to represent that activity.

Factors to Consider when Choosing a Communication System

  • Ocular Motor Skills:​ the ability to fixate, hold that fixation, and move the eyes purposefully.
  • Field Losses: affects visual access and placement of items.
  • Visual Acuity: the level of detail vision, which can be very difficult to assess in a student who is nonverbal.
  • Specific characteristics of a student's visual impairment.
  • Visual energy (how much information can the student get through vision?)
  • How many communication choices will the student be able to handle or attend to if vision is used?

Use of Symbols (Receptive or Expressive Communication)

Symbols are representations of an event, action, object, person, or place that can be used to communicate about the event, object, person, or place. Symbols can be used for both receptive and expressive communication. Objects, parts of objects, pictures, print, actions, gestures, signs and speech can all be symbols. The more the symbol resembles what it represents, the more concrete that symbol is. Learning goes from concrete (real objects) to manipulative (replicas), to abstract (symbolic representation).

Hierarchy of Symbols:

The students must have deliberate involvement with actual objects and be taught the association before replicas will have any meaning to them. After the student has enough of an image of “the real” to do comparative thinking about the identifying characteristics, replicas can start to have meaning. 
  1. An object used as part of the activity it represents;
  2. An object that is identical to the one that is being used as part of an activity an object that is similar to, but not identical to, the object as part of an activity;
  3. A part of an object from the activity it represents;
  4. A full-sized colored drawing of the activity it represents. For a tactual learner, a raised line drawing of an object;
  5. A full sized black and white drawing of the object or a reduced size colored drawing of an object;
  6. A reduced size black and white drawing of the activity it represents; and
  7. A printed or braille word.

Communicate with Objects

Use objects to help students begin to anticipate events when they are given an object associated with the event. Assist the student in using an object/toy to help sustain or request a social interaction with another person and take turns. Use objects for choice making and encourage them to locate and respond to the object when named or signed. Embed literacy opportunities by pairing objects or symbols with the print and/or Braille word to provide students with the exposure to written language.
Tricia Noe, a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments with over 35 years experience working with students who are blind or visually impaired with multiple disabilities and former colleague of mine has developed a process for determining the appropriateness of picture use with students. You are welcome to print the instructional sheet Titled "Evaluation of Picture Use for Students who are Visually Impaired and Nonverbal" or "The Noe Method". 

Schedule & Communication Cards

I used the Tactile Connections Kit: Symbols for Communication from APH to create the following labels. I printed the labels in 18 pt font and printed on Avery address labels (two per label if using standard label size and cut in half to fit on the card - or purchase smaller labels). I used the clear adhesive sheets to add the braille (I chose contracted braille). Finally, I selected an object to represent each activity. Please remember these are just some possibilities and you should select materials that make sense to your student.

Recommended Resources

Picture of Tactile Connections Kit
Tactile Connections Kit: Symbols for Communication. This kit, available from APH, helps teachers create a tactile card system that is individualized for students who are blind or visually impaired who have additional disabilities and/or lack a formal means of communication or literacy. Objects that can also be paired with words are mounted on hand-sized cards representing core vocabulary categories.

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