Tactual Readiness Skills for Future Braille Readers

Teaching Students with Visual Impairments

Tactual Readiness

Sensory efficiency skills include instruction in the use of residual vision, hearing and other senses including use of tactual, gustatory, and olfactory input to identify one's personal possessions or use hearing and other senses to identify people. This section provides information on skills and strategies for instruction.

Visit Product Support to learn how to buy products & services using a purchase order.

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

The development of tactual exploration and discrimination skills are necessary for future braille readers. It is also important for students with cognitive disabilities who may not be able to learn formal braille but can learn to discriminate objects by touch to help make sense of their world or to use for communication.

Locate & Explore Objects

One of the first steps in becoming independent and reaching out to tactually explore the world is for students to attempt to reach out and locate objects. The facilitator may need to assist the student in developing an interest in locating objects. One primary way is to not retrieve objects for the student. If the student loses an object, provide a sound source to help the student locate the object, or touch the object to the student, but encourage them to reach for and obtain the object. This is part of the student beginning to understand object permanence.

Encourage students to:

reach for and obtain an object that comes into contact with their body. As stated before, try to involve the student in the process of locating and obtaining objects. Students need to understand that objects continue to exist even when they are not in contact. Tap the toy/object on the tray or floor if it fell on the floor or place the object in touch with the student's arm or leg.
locate partially or fully hidden objects. Help students explore their area and teach them that they can locate partially hidden objects. Play fun hide and seek games by partially hiding the object. If students have difficulty, provide a sound source by the object to help the student locate it.
find objects after systematic search (use a search pattern to locate an object). Teach the student to use a pattern to locate materials. For example, starting in the top left-hand corner and working in a zig-zag pattern moving to the right and left and up and down until they locate the object.
retrieve object when placed in their usual location. Students should be oriented to the room and be instructed in where materials are kept. Refer to "Labeling System" for suggestions on creating a well-organized area that can assist students in locating materials.
explore a variety of objects with both hands. Provide tactually interesting materials to encourage exploration.

The Importance of & Tactual Discrimination Finger Sensitivity

When preparing for braille literacy, it is important to develop tactual discrimination skills and finger sensitivity. The development of tactual discrimination skills follows an order from larger to smaller that is similar to the development of the hands and fingers. It begins with using the whole hand to explore objects and progresses to using fingers and fingertips to examine the details of tactile materials. Students with limited sensitivity in their fingers may not be good candidates for braille reading. There are a variety of diagnosis that can cause numbness or reduced sensitivity in the fingers. This will be a factor in determining if a student will be a candidate for formal braille instruction.

Tactual discrimination usually follows the following sequence:

Three-dimensional forms;
flat shapes, such as puzzle pieces;
embossed shapes with the entire area raised;
raised outline shapes and raised lines;
and finally braille letters.

Identify, Compare & Organize Objects

Encourage the student to begin to identify, compare and organize objects and toys they are exploring. Talk to the student about different temperatures, weights, and textures and encourage them to locate identical or similar materials. Draw the student's attention to where toys and materials are located and encourage them to locate the objects and put them away in their correct place. Encourage students to begin identifying and naming objects. Once they are successfully able to identify objects, begin to transfer this skill to embossed shapes, and then outlined shapes.

Developing Tactual Discrimination & Finger Sensitivity

You can help the development of tactual discrimination and finger sensitivity by providing many opportunities throughout the day for the student to tactually discriminate materials and compare similarities and differences, classify, and sort. Many commercially produced classroom classification kits consist of molded plastic figures that all feel the same. These lack the variety of textures of real objects. Instead, use real materials whenever possible. Using real materials that support the current topic make these activities interesting for all students!

Draw the student’s attention to textures and describe the textures. This will help the student become aware of their differences. You can help a student develop finger sensitivity and refine their tactual discrimination skills by providing them with a variety of textures to match, sort and play with and explore. When selecting toys, choose toys that are tactually interesting. Throughout the activities, provide the student with the language that connects the experience. See the Objects & Containers section for a list of materials to classify and sort.

Although real materials should always be included in each unit, you may want to purchase commercially available texture sorting materials to complement these activities.

Motor Activities to Develop Pre-Braille Skills
You are welcome to print and use this list of motor activities that can help develop tactual skills and pre-braille skills.

Free Membership

Sign up for free membership to access the FREE downloadable handbooks and handouts on the Free Printables page along with access to the Goal Bank pages. Simply click on the Log In | Register link in the navigation bar. If you haven't joined yet, you will be prompted to create a password.

ECC Complete Set Bonus Pages

Purchase the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC Complete Set and immediately unlock the pages within the ECC Complete Set Bonus including bonus printables, interactive sensory stories, interactive matching activities, interactive choice making activities, job task box activities and MORE! This is my way of continuing to support you and say "Thank you!" for choosing to purchase the Complete Set.

TVI's Guide Complete Set Bundle + BONUS Resources

$200.00 $100.00

Buy together and get BONUS resources!

The TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC Complete Set includes the following:

TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired (a 346 page pdf download)
Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets: TVI's Guide to the ECC Grab and Go Supplements (a 210 page pdf download)
Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Worksheets: A TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC Grab & go Supplement (a 338 page pdf download)
Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists: Grab & Go ECC Supplement (a 446 page pdf download)
NEW!Interactive Sensory Stories page access and booklet of activities!

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.

NEW! Access to TVI's Guide Bonus Membership Pages

Bonus pages include tutorials, printables, interactive sensory story downloads, and interactive choice making, matching and visual discrimination computer games (PowerPoint based interactive games), and job task activities.

Note:

All products are digital pdf downloads. 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. If you encounter any difficulty, please let me know and I can assist you. Once you purchase the complete set you will have immediate access to the bonus pages!

*Please contact me if you need to purchase using a purchase order. I am happy to help guide you in the process of adding Teaching Students with Visual Impairments as an approved vendor for your school or program or you can visit the product support page for information on using a PO.

Shop