Teaching strategies for children with DeafBlindness

Children with deafblindness have unique educational needs. The dual sensory loss i. e vision impairment and hearing impairment affects the major areas of communication, socialization, cognition , and mobility. The child with deafblindness requires considerable modifications to teaching content and different teaching strategies. Encountering the world without the benefit of vision and hearing requires a great deal of trust and hence establishing a trusting relationship is a priority. Safety is also of critical importance to this child. Not only must the environment be made safe for him, but he must feel safe in order to move around on his own. Developing a communication foundation for learning is a priority along with the emphasis on conceptual development. Providing them with opportunities to explore their environment and to understand and control it are also equally vital. This webinar will focus on the strategies to support students with deafblindness to learn and explore their environment meaningfully.

Teaching strategies for children with multiple disabilities including DeafBlindness

Individuals with multiple disabilities and visual impairment (MDVI) face many learning challenges and have unique learning needs. Along with vision impairment they may have additional disabilities like intellectual, physical, behavioural and health challenges. They may have unique way of using their senses of vision, hearing, touch, taste and smell. Hence as the professionals we have to encourage the individuals to learn as per their needs, and ensure that they have access to information and communication through encouraging them to make the best possible use of their residual senses and involvement in the daily routine. Involvement of family members is also an important component to ensure the learning and skills are generalized and practised.

Independent living skills for children with DeafBlindness (not MDVI),

When we work with children with deafblindness our aim is to make them independent to the fullest extent possible and hence our focus is encouraging individuals to learn functional skills. When we talk about independence, it is not only about attaining economic independence. Rather, it implies independence in various areas related to life skills. Independence means participating in the activities of daily living i.e. self care, grooming, washing clothes, money management and other areas which are necessary in our day to day life. The webinar will focus on involving children with deafblindness in routine activities at home to foster independence.

Individual education programs – setting goals for students with DeafBlindness and those with MDVI

All children with deafblindness and MDVI are unique. All children have a unique learning style, individual preferences and challenges. Hence it is important to develop an IEP as per the individual needs of individuals with deafblindness/MDVI. The student’s IEP includes effective strategies and approaches that teach environmental information that the student is missing along with addressing the impact of environmental factors on accessing information through SMART goals. Due to the complexity of needs of students with deafblindness/MDVI, the professionals and family members work together on developing goals as per the needs of the individual. A well designed IEP focuses on several areas such as Access to Information, Social Issues Communication, Behaviour, Orientation and Mobility related and Supplemental Services as per the specific needs of the student.

This event addresses the following Standards from the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers: 1.1.2, 1.2.2, 1.3.2, 1.4.2, 1.5.2, 1.6.2, 2.6.2, 3.2.2, 3.3.2, 3.4.2, 3.6.2, 4.1.2, 4.4.2, 4.5.2, 5.1.2, 5.2.2, 5.3.2, 5.4.2, 6.2.2, 6.2.6, 6.3.2, 6.4.2, 7.4.2. It fits within the Priority Area of Children/ Student with Disabilities. This event is evidence and research based.