educational issues for sensory disabilities created by matt maurer, ph.d
Post on 15-Jan-2016
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TRANSCRIPT
The Sensory Disabilities
Blind AKA Low vision Blind is a PC term
Deaf AKA Hearing
impaired AKA Hard of
hearing Deaf is a PC term
Organizing Concepts on Sensory Disabilities
The deficit model is strongest here
The disability is not tragic for most deaf or blind people, it is their “normal”
These disabilities have real limitations, AND they are minimal (think difficulty, not impossibility)
Blind Orienting Ideas
The blind comprise organizational joiners and non-joiners
The organized blind see themselves as an oppressed minority
Braille is their “print” medium
The blind tend to be technology “early adopters”
The Most Important Thing I Have Learned Working with Blind Children
Blind children do not want to be pitied
Blind children want to be like sighted peers
It is both easy and common to enable dependent behavior
Many developmentally delayed children are mislabeled MMH
Many blind children are very reflective
Kids are kids (talents are lurking there, and we must find them)
The Early Development of Blind Children
The process for a parent of a blind child is often much like death
Blind children are often asked to sit and wait
“Now, don’t touch,” can further disable
Literacy Issues for Blind Children
Braille is critical (level I and II)
Large print is over-used
Technology will replace Braille when we abandon reading altogether
Level I and II Braille
Talking books (Daisy standard)
Organizations Serving the Needs of Blind Children
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), parents divisions, and state affiliates
American Council of the Blind (ACB) and state affiliates
The American Printing House for the Blind (APH)
So What Should a Teacher Do?
Keep the mind active Remember they
“see” with their hands (keep those hands “looking”)
Continue to challenge our tendency to enable dependence
Maintain appropriately high expectations
Deaf Organizing Ideas
A strong Deaf community exists
There are community joiners and non-joiners
American Sign Language is their first language (English is their second!)
The deaf are also often technology early adopters
What I have Picked up about Deaf Children
They too want to be treated as equal to their hearing peers (in many ways)
English language is often delayed (ESL), causing misdiagnosis
Kids are kids – again, talents are abundant!
Early Development of Deaf Children
Deaf parents make a great difference (inclusion in Deaf culture)
Parental acceptance parallels those of blind children, but maybe not as severe
Some “sit and wait” parallels but again, maybe not as severe
Literacy Issues
“Speaking” one language and reading another
Parental denial can lead to late learning of ASL
Balance between ASL and English is often off
Organizations Serving the Needs of Deaf Children
National Organization of the Deaf (NAD)
The American Society for Deaf Children
Gallaudet University National Technical
Institute for the Deaf
So What Should a Teacher Do?
Learn ASL (as best you can!!)
Do not further enable
Support English a strong balance between “spoken” and written language
Focus on the child’s brilliance, not the deficit