LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com

Vision helps to provide information about nonverbal communication and also helps provide meaning to language. Students with visual impairments need many hands on experiences with real objects paired with auditory labels and descriptions and a rich literacy environment (print and/or braille depending on the student's unique needs).

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The toddler years are typically the time of great language development as children begin to make connections and verbally label and identify objects. Children who are blind or visually impaired will not have the same opportunity to casually observe and make connections with gestures and materials in their environment. Unless the student was intentionally taught through direct experiences paired with language, their language development will undoubtedly be delayed.

To encourage the student to develop language, it is important for the student to be exposed to good language models in a active learning environment. The following strategies can help a student develop their language skills:

Model appropriate language

• Practice turn taking
• Teach through units that help students understand topics and integrate skills
• Provide students choices within the activities
• Develop a routine to help the student anticipate transitions and build language
• Embed language into all the student's experiences
• Find ways to help the student participate in all activities

There are language problems that are common among children with visual impairments. They are verbalism, echolalia, difficulty with pronouns and frequent questioning.

Verbalism
It is common for a student to talk about people, objects, and events without having the understanding of the concepts. This is because they haven't had the experiences related to the topic, but have heard others talk about the said topic.  Having a vocabulary or language without the understanding is called verbalism. It is the ability to talk about a subject without the concepts or understanding related to it.

If the student isn't provided with many hands-on experiences, the student will have difficulty understanding concepts and will not have a foundation to build upon. As stated in Guiding Principles, provide the student with many hands-on and concrete experiences with real objects.

Echolalia
Many students who are blind or visually impaired learn to talk by echoing or copying phrases or sentences even if they do not understand it. They may echo what they just heard, or have delayed echolalia where they repeat language heard earlier in association with a particular subject or event. Speech and Language Pathologists can evaluate and determine if the student needs support and assistance in developing their language comprehension.

Again, using concrete experiences can help a student understand language and using a consistent schedule can help a student feel structure and organization allowing them to anticipate the activities. Help expand on the students language and model language. For more information on Echolalia in children who are blind or visually impaired and strategies to minimize it, refer to the article written by Mary McDonach in the Winter 2011 edition of Future Reflections.

Excessive Questions
Many students with visual impairments ask excessive questions. which can be inappropriate to the conversation or inappropriate within the social context. Frequently this can be a learned way of initiating interactions or to check that the person is still nearby. Students need to learn when it is appropriate to ask a question, and when they need to listen for an appropriate time to ask it. Students who ask questions for comfort and reassurance of another persons presence should be encouraged to express their feelings directly rather than through questioning.

Sustaining Conversations
Students who are blind or visually impaired also can have difficulty sustaining conversations. They can tend to focus on their own interests and not appear to have an interest in others. Students may need explicit instruction in participating in conversations. This is a skill that can be addressed by the Speech and Language Pathologist or from the schools guidance counselor where skills can be modeled and practiced. For suggestions refer to social interactions.

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TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired
The TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC is a digital pdf available for download. It is designed specifically for fellow itinerant Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI’s), and 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. 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.


In addition to the book, the following two supplements are included:
·      TVI’s Guide to the ECC Concept Checklist
·      TVI’s Guide to the ECC Activities Checklist


For complete product details and additional images, visit the TVI's Guide product page.


TVI's Guide to the ECC Product details
·      Digital pdf download: 346 pages (11 pt font)
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets: TVI's Guide to the ECC Grab and Go Supplements
The Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets is a Grab and Go supplement to the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC. 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 companion 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.  


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Product Page.


Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheet Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 210 pages
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Worksheets: A TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC Grab & go Supplement
The Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Grab and Go ECC worksheet packet is a print on demand workbook that contains worksheets in print and simulated braille to use for data collection. Present the student with a hard braille copy and use the worksheets to document accuracy and fluency in reading braille. As a companion to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to the ECC Thematic activities presented in the curriculum guide. These word lists and sentences will help the student refine their keyboarding or braille reading skills while bridging ECC concepts presented in the thematic units. Although the lists and passages can be produced using a manual braillewriter, you may also copy and paste the passages into any braille translation software for quick production on an embosser. They may also be entered into a typing program such as APH’s Talking Typer to build keyboarding fluency.


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency & Maintenance Product Page


Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency Worksheet Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 338-page print and simulated braille worksheets
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists: Grab & Go ECC Supplement
The Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists Grab and Go ECC supplement is a 446 page pdf downloadable print on demand workbook that includes 2940 vocabulary card on 3 1/2" x 2" templates divided by each of the 32 Thematic Units along with a checklist of each unit words in print and simulated braille. As a companion to the TVI's Guide to the ECC, the vocabulary cards correspond to the ECC Thematic activities presented in the curriculum guide. 


Additional Use:
Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments can have a extremely varied caseloads. It is possible to go several years without having a student on your caseload who requires braille instruction. Like other skills, if you do not practice your braille regularly, it is easy to lose those skills. Use these checklists and cards to maintain your braille skills. Fold the checklist along the line dividing the print from the braille. Choose to either read the print and produce the word in braille using a braillewriter or read the simulated braille and decode it. Finally, these vocabulary cards and checklists may be used with family members or peers who are interested in learning and practicing the braille code.


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Thematic Vocabulary Cards & Checklists Product Page


Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 446-page print on demand resource
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


BONUS!
Lotto Cards
The LOTTO Cards Grab and Go Supplement includes 37 theme related unit cards along with activity suggestions that support activities within the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC.


On My Way File Folder Cards
Print and use these cards to represent locations the student may visit that are related to the current thematic unit. Use these with the On My Way File Folder Game outlined in the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC p. 27.

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