Jane Hankins RESNA 2014

1. Creating Educational Toys, Games and Puzzlesfor Children with Dual Sensory Impairments andMultiple Disabilities Jane Hankins RESNA 2014

2. Many of the educational materials used for children in general education are not accessible to children who are deaf-blind. • Toys made for the deaf frequently have exciting and colorful visuals, while toys for children who are blind often have auditory cues.

3. Many toys on the market have blinking lights and a variety of sounds to keep children engaged and help them develop. For children who are deaf-blind, this is a waste—at best—and could even be detrimental in the case of conditions like Cortical Visual Impairment.

4. Purpose • This workshop will explore how educational toys, games and puzzles can be selected, adapted, or specifically created for students with deaf-blindness and multiple disabilities to enhance their learning outcomes.

5. Background • Educator of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing • Graduate Certificate in Deaf Blindness • Practicum at Helen Keller National Center • Itinerant caseload of children with deaf-blindness and multiple disabilities • Lack of educational toys, games, and puzzles available that are suitable to the abilities and needs of children who are deaf-blind • Master’s thesis • International Deaf Blind Expo in Las Vegas

6. True or False? According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the definition of deaf-blindness is: “possessing no functional vision or hearing.”

7. False IDEA defines “deaf-blindness” as concomitant [simultaneous] hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness. [§300.8(c)(2)]

8. True or False? • Deaf-blindness is a subcategory of “multiple disabilities” under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

9. False • Deaf-blindness is recognized as a unique disability with very specific learner needs, and is therefore is a separate category under IDEA.

10. What percentage of children who are deaf-blind have additional disabilities? A. 20% B. 45% C. 70% D. 90%

11. Correct Answer: D • It is estimated that 90% of children who are deaf-blind have additional disabilities, making it one of the most diverse categories under IDEA.

12. Who teaches these children? In California, the following credentials authorize the teaching of students who are deaf-blind: • Teachers of the Visually Impaired • Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing • Teachers of Special Education, Moderate/Severe

13. How much training have these teachers had specifically teaching students with dual sensory impairments? • In an informal survey, most of these teachers have had less than one class in deaf-blindness, including etiology, assessment, and teaching strategies

14. This is an example of a typical educational puzzle that is widely used. As the puzzle pieces are placed in the correct spot, the corresponding animal sound is heard. What will typically developing children learn from this?

15. Cause& effect Animal recognition Grouping Animal/sound association More… What will the child who is deaf-blind learn from this?

16. This is an adaptation that is commonly made, but while it may help the child who is deaf-blind complete the puzzle, what educational value does it preserve?

17. There are a few specialty games on the market such as Web Chase from APH

18. Cost: $249.00

19. Others are less expensive but don’t offer much variety

20. In a study conducted by Hamm, Mistrett, and Ruffino (2006), parents of 46 children with disabilities listed a “variety of play options” as their most preferred outcome with regards to play objects for their children. With this in mind, all of the play objects were designed to be toys, puzzles, and games.

21. Operational Definitions • Toy—encourages exploration, does not have a specified goal, usually solitary play • Puzzle—goal directed, problem-solving skills, usually solitary play but may be cooperative play with another • Game—goal directed, rules, social interaction with others, often competitive

22. The Progression of Play Patterns and the Skills Developed at Each Level

23. Example Progression of Levels

24. HaptiCubes

25. Design & Development This series of toys, games, and puzzles were created with input from education specialists in Deaf & Hard of Hearing, Visual Impairment, Occupational Therapists, and parents of children with special needs.

26. Most programs advocate a very individualized approach to working with these children. • These play objects were created to be tactual and do not require any visual or auditory abilities. • This enables children who are deaf-blind to play with sighted/hearing children, and not be at a disadvantage.

27. They were created so that parents and professionals working with these children could duplicate them at a low cost. They were designed to be played at multiple levels so that they could grow with the child or be played by groups of children functioning at a varying stages of development.

28. Embedded SkillsThese play objects were carefully designed to develop and reinforce the following skills that are essential for people with deaf-blindness: • spatial memory • tactile discrimination • tracking • identifying salient features • haptic perception • sorting & categorizing • encoding of tactual information

29. Tracking

30. Memory

31. Encoding

32. Haptic Perception

33. Communication • People who are deaf-blind may use a variety of communication methods, largely dependent on the degree of their vision and hearing impairment, and the age of onset. • In addition to utilizing any residual vision and hearing, people who are deaf-blind may also use braille, and haptic or tactile sign language. These modes of communication require the development of tactile skills.

34. Pro-tactile: The DeafBlind Way • A new communication revolution taking shape of, by, and for DeafBlind individuals • Pro-Tactile supports “hands-on” learning and “hands-on” experience rather than an experience limited to the DeafBlind person’s partial vision/hearing or vicarious information. • It challenges sighted privilege. • Pro-Tactile is a rejection of the pressure from the dominant society to conform to sighted-hearing norms.

35. Neuroplasticity Studies of neuroplasticity and sensory substitution have shown that parts of the brain devoted to vision and hearing—when deprived of input—can be reallocated to process information gleaned from other senses, mainly touch.

36. Social Interaction • Many children who are deaf-blind become socially isolated. • While it is bad enough to be cut off from sight and sound, being cut off from other people can be devastating. • This lack of social contact is detrimental to the development of communication skills and language, creating a vicious cycle.

37. What factors need to be considered when selecting toys, games, and puzzles for your students? • Vision • Hearing • Cognitive functioning • Physical ability • Speech?

38. Let’s Play!

39. How can these toys, games, and puzzles be utilized to support the following academic domains? • Math • Language Arts • Science • Physical Education/Recreation

40. Math • Score keeping • Spatial reasoning • Language Arts • Pre-braille • Haptic/tactile sign language • Science • Waggle • Eggs • Physical Education/Recreation • Social skills • Competition • Cooperative Play

41. QUIZ

42. True or False? According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the definition of deaf-blindness is: “possessing no functional vision or hearing.”

43. True or False? • Deaf-blindness is a subcategory of “multiple disabilities” under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

44. What percentage of children who are deaf-blind have additional disabilities? A. 20% B. 45% C. 70% D. 90%

45. True or False? • Most teachers who work with children who are deaf-blind have had extensive training in this area.

46. Discussion