Transcript Assessing - School of Psychology and Human Development at the IOE

Visual Impairment and Multiple
Disability: communication, learning
and assessment
Jonathan Bolt
Specialist Teacher (MDVI)
Cambridgeshire Visual Impairment Service
November 16th 2010
Outline for the day
11.00 – 12.30: Communication and Learning
2.00 – 3.00: Assessment
3.00 – 3.30: Q & A
My presentation in a nutshell
Understanding the individual communication and
learning styles of children who have multiple
disabilities and visual impairment is essential for all
subsequent, successful teaching.
Questions and perhaps some answers
What would you like to ask regarding MDVI?
My Role as a Specialist V.I. Teacher
• Specialist role in multiple disability and visual
impairment (MDVI)
• Mainly working in special schools
• PMLD/MDVI - 10% of special school population
• Over 50% of the learners seen by the VI MDVI
specialist teacher
• Work as part of Multidisciplinary teams: Special and
Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists,
Physiotherapists, teachers, school management,
community paediatricians, school nurses, social
service teams, Connexions, SENSE etc
A mystery object
Question:
What do I want?
(Clue: it’s not about you, it’s about me)
Communication and learning
Bridging the gap between worlds:
humans live in their heads
A parent and child are walking along a
suburban street under cherry blossom trees on a
sunny day, but they are talking about elevenses
when they got home
• Human beings do not live in the ‘here and now’ all the
time
• MDVI learners often do and can present teachers
with a conceptual problem
Barriers to Communication:
Theory of Mind
• Multiple attitudes to objects and events
• Not everyone makes the same associations
• Need to know that another person can hold a
different ‘attitude’ to an established, familiar object or
event before you can be receptive to an entirely new
object or event being introduced
MDVI – a Deficit Description
• Visual: sometimes ocular, frequently cortical
• Hearing: often assumed OK, but often unknown (can
we make assumptions about processing?)
• Communication: pre-symbolic, can be pre-intentional
• Profound global delay: developmentally often pre-12
months
• Physical: Cerebral Palsy, non-ambulant, very
restricted gross and fine motor movement, joint
dislocations, scoliosis
• Medical: respiratory problems, epilepsy, management
of medications and tube feeding, frequent infections
Learners: MDVI
Typically need to;
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share attention
develop skills typically acquired in the early years
develop a sense of self through play and exploration
develop a sense of self-agency and independence
Initial Learning goals for MDVI
students
• Development of initial attachment and security
• Development of near and distances senses in
relation to the world
• Development of the ability to structure his or her
world
• Development of natural communication systems
Aim: MDVI and Communication
• To have developed effective communication skills by
the end of Key Stage 2 (Primary)
If not:
• To have developed effective communication skills by
the end of Key Stage 4 (Transition from school)
What is successful communication?
• Exploring the world by ourselves and in the company
of others, telling them what we find, listening to their
discoveries
• Making sense of a symbolic world
• Having the means to communicate
Communication partners
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Establishing a sense of trust and security
“I like you, I like what you do”
Building shared attention
People first, objects second
Communication first, topics second
Skills needed by a communication
partner
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Follow not lead
Recognise intentionality
Respond immediately
Offer access to activities the student needs or wants
to do
The use of ‘resonance’
• Uses the student’s developing reflex response to
external stimuli
• Move from self stimulatory behaviours to behaviours
that include other people and objects
• Can be 1:1
• Can be as part of a group
Co-active Movement
• Adult follows and then joins in the movement of the
child in order to encourage later turn-taking
• Basis for structuring routines through a chain of
movements or actions
• When established a component is left out – how will
the student respond to this change?
• Supports the development of shared attention
Giving structure to experience
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Routines – supporting anticipating
Time and place
Cues and Objects of Reference
‘Distancing’ – moving from the concrete towards the
conceptual
Objects of Reference
Objects of Reference are objects that have special
meanings assigned to them. They stand for
something – in much the same way words do –
whether spoken, signed or written
Adam Ockelford, ‘Objects of Reference’ (1993)
Skills needed by the student to use
Objects of Reference
• The ability to discriminate objects by touch
• An appreciation that an object can mean something
• The capacity to remember the particular meaning an
objects represents
NB: Objects of Reference can be multisensory
Assessment for children with visual
impairment and multiple disabilities
Assessment – also in a nutshell
Assessments for learners who have multiple disabilities
or multisensory impairments often consist of separate
sections on each area of function/disability,
identifying recommendations for visual access,
hearing access, communication etc.
There can be a multi-disciplinary aspect to the
compiling of the report.
The question then is how does this inform planning for
teaching and learning?
Assessment of learning style
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Prompt modality preference
Novelty or familiarity
Person or object orientation
Internal or external motivation
In context or out of context
Confidence or lack or perseverance
tempo of learning
small steps or whole task
Some Assessment tools and guides
• A knowledge of typical development – Mary Sheridan
• The Oregon Assessment
• The Developmental Journal for Visually Impaired
Children
• Vision for Doing
• Routes for Learning (Welsh Assembly)
Assessment of Individual
Learning Needs: approaches
• Observation
• 1:1 working
• Interviewing parents, carers, classroom staff etc
Carrying out Assessment
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Repeated visits, possibly on-going
Videoing sessions gives you a ‘second pair of eyes’
People familiar to learner may get better results
Use familiar places, activities, and resources
Co-opt school staff
Always assess with school staff present
Communication and Assessment
• Communication provides an orientation for
assessment and curriculum planning as a whole
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Proximity
Exploration
Shared attention (key for curriculum access)
Labelling
Referent stage
Sensory Assessment
• Specialised or typical sensory environment?
• How to support sensory access in typical
environments?
• Establishing consistent sensory access across
different activities and settings
• How do 1:1 and group settings support (or hinder)
sensory access?
• How does time (or the lack of it) support sensory
access
• Sensory access in transitions and on routes (mobility)
Communication Sensory Assessment
and MDVI: Issues for settings
Barriers to communication
• Eye contact
• Lack of shared attention
• The world of objects
• Low motivation from others and the environment
• Typical first gestures not developing
Assessing Routines
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Consistency of the routine
Regularity of the routine
Frequency of the routine
Interruptions in the routine
Staffing of the routine
Opportunities for learner to participate in the routine
Assessing Time and Place
• Enough time – extra time has to be given to
transitions, hoisting, personal care etc
• Distractions
• Number of activities timetabled for the day
• Duration – too much time and the coherence of the
activity can break down
Assessing Cues
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Accessible to the learner
Meaningful to the learner
Consistently offered to the learner
Time to respond
Time to process
Establishing Objects of Reference
Assessing ‘Distancing’
The concrete to the conceptual: Many MDVI learners
do not do well with abstract concepts, e.g. topic on
the solar system
• Concrete experiences?
• First hand experiences?
• Meaningful experiences?
Settings and activities
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The resonance board
The sensory room
The hydrotherapy pool
Cooking
Music making
• Play and exploration
• Switch access – control, cause and effect
• Anticipation and decision making
Any questions?
[email protected]