In this issue:
  • Resources
  • Deaf-Blind
  • Deaf/Hard of Hearing
  • Blind/Visually Impaired
  • Additional Resources
  • Strategies: Calendars
First and foremost, we hope this newsletter finds you safe and healthy.

Many of us have found ourselves suddenly at home and in need of resources to continue the daily engagement of our children. Rose and I have been receiving emails filled with resources from our partners at other state deaf-blind projects as well as many nationally recognized organizations.

This bonus newsletter was created to share as many additional resources as possible. If you have a child who is deaf-blind in South Dakota and are in need of additional help, please contact rose.moehring@usd.edu

All of our best to you,
Rose and Brandy
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Resources: Deaf-Blind
The Active Learning Approach emphasizes that all individuals learn best by active participation. In the earliest stage of learning it is this active participation that actually "wires the brain."

Are you looking for continuing education opportunities?
TSBVI developed a series of free online courses on Active Learning that are offered for credit approved by ACVREP and Texas State Board of Education Certification for varying amounts of CEUs.
Learn about the five stages of development here.
"To achieve literacy, there must be reading. To achieve reading, it must be meaningful. To achiever meaningfulness, there must be communication. To achieve communication, there must be experience. To achieve experience, there must be opportunity. To achieve opportunity, there must be care and understanding" -Laurie Hinzman

Where do you begin? Consider completing the literacy checklist and then explore all of the resources built around your student's current level of performance. Steps to Literacy nicely lays out how to progress through the stages of literacy beginning with Building a Foundation.
PowerPoint Books : Matching to Assessed Visual Needs

 Sign up to follow Ellen Mazel's Blog .
(The sign up is about half way down the page on the right hand side.)
These are not from Ellen Mazel, but here are additional CVI resources



Resources: Deaf/Hard of Hearing
The Online Itinerant is an online community and training portal for professionals and families of students with hearing loss.
The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center is a federally funded center that provides information, training, and technical assistance for families of and professionals working with deaf or hard of hearing children. Free evidence-based resources:
Chart a Path Toward #DeafSuccess

Our  team  knows firsthand that the transition from high school to life beyond can be a tough one. That’s why we have many different ways to help deaf students and their families, teachers, specialists, and colleges.
Resources: Blind/Visually Impaired
Online Learning Courses are available through the Texas School for the Blind
Resources: Additional
Good news for those stuck at home in isolation:  Audible  is making hundreds of titles available for free during the coronavirus pandemic.
Supporting Accessibility in Distance Education:
High-Leverage Practices
The AEM Center is offering free webinars on
access and distance education!
Described and Caption Media Program (DCMP):
DCMP provides a streaming library of over 8,000 educational videos with audio description that are standard- aligned, plus E-learning resources with CEU opportunities for educators. Check it out! 

Free Resource for Qualifying Teachers and Families

A few more sites and resources that you
may be interested in following...
Adapted Literature and Lessons from Paul V. Sherlock Center on Disabilities at Rhode Island College

Writing with Alternative Pencils from UNC School of Medicine, Center for Literacy and Disability Studies

Project Core is a Stepping-Up Technology Implementation Grant Directed by the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies

A Tipsheet from the New York Deaf-Blind Collaborative: Providing Access through Sign Language & Text for Low Vision & Tactile Communicators during COVID-19
Several of our partner Deaf-Blind programs have done a wonderful job of providing continued support and resources through their Facebook pages. Follow them here.
Strategy of the Month:
Calendars

Please enjoy a recap of a previously shared strategy. Calendars can help your child create a sense of routine and predictability during these big changes to their normal schedule.


For all of us who have had to suddenly switch to homeschooling our children, setting up a schedule and routine is so important. I've seen many ideas floating around social media over the past week that might look something like this:
For children with deaf-blindness or other multiple disabilities, a written schedule would likely not be beneficial.

When you are thinking about creating a schedule to help your child get accustomed to this new homeschooling schedule, try to pick out their major routines and an object that pairs with that:
  • Brushing teeth- (toothbrush)
  • Getting dressed-clothing
  • Meal times- spoon or cup
  • School time- adapted book
  • Free time- Something that represents a choice board and then objects of preferred choices. Here are some examples:
  • walk outside (hat or sunglasses),
  • Play with toys (toy),
  • Screen Time (tablet),
  • nap/rest (pillow or blanket)
Not sure where your student should start?


Read below for additional strategies and instructions to implement an individualized calendar for your child.

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If you have questions or need help brainstorming and creating a calendar for your child,
PLEASE reach out to the SD Deaf-Blind Project!
Time

We all use many kinds of "time pieces" (eg. clocks and calendars) to keep us on track and oriented in the world. Time pieces are extremely important for students who are deaf-blind or have complex disabilities as well. Their time pieces will look a little differently than you may be used to. Keep reading to understand why and how to implement calendars with your students!

Time related concepts and words to represent those concepts help us to make sense of the world.

... and they are absolutely essential to how we communicate about our lives with others:
  • Our memories of the past
  • what we did yesterday
  • our plans for today
  • our hopes for the future

The sense of time that so many of us take for granted does not come naturally to children who are deaf-blind. Their ability to learn incidentally about time (and many other skills) is impacted and needs to be taught directly.

Consider this Pyramid of Learning for students who are deaf-blind from www.intervener.org
When students don't have a way to organize time, they:
  • experience anxiety because they don't know what will happen next
  • become frustrated with unexpected changes
  • lack opportunities to make decisions about their own schedules
  • miss the joy of looking forward to upcoming events and the pleasure of reminiscing about the past
Robbie Blaha explains how students are able to learn abstract concepts about time such as past, present and future!
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Each Calendar System for a student with Deaf-Blindness or multiple disabilities is highly individualized so that it makes sense to a particular student.
There are 3 Kinds of Calendars
Time Piece Calendar
Sequencing Calendar
Choice Calendar
1) Time Piece Calendars include the following Time Frames: Anticipation, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly


Anticipation Calendars

This is the beginning calendar system. It consists of 2 containers that represent two chunks of time: The past- what you just did and the future- what you are about to do.
A student who is ready for an anticipation calendar will already have several established routines with labels that are meaningful. For example, Routine: Snack Time is represented by the object symbol label: spoon. Washing hands is represented by a hand-soap bottle.
Daily Calendars
When a child has become familiar with an anticipation calendar, they can move on to discussing several events/routines with in a day.
Weekly & Monthly Calendars
2) Sequencing Calendars can be used within our routines as a way to break up the steps of a routine into separate, smaller chunks.
3) Choice Calendars are very much like their name states, an opportunity for a child to learn the concept of making choices
*Information in this strategies section is from the NCDB Open Hands Open Access Learning Modules and Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired: tsbvi.edu
Additional Resources:

Robbie Blaha and Beth Kennedy

"Learning how to wait is an essential skill that we acquire incidentally as we grow up... Many students with deaf-blindness have not learned this basic concept because of an ongoing lack of incidental information. To them, waiting feels like “no” and they become upset. They may be unable to hear or see the cues that typical learners use to be patient and to feel reassured."

Rose Moehring, M.A. Spec. Ed.
Certified Low Vision Therapist
Deaf-Blind Program Director
Rose.Moehring@usd.edu
(605) 357-1437
Brandy Sebera, M.S. Spec. Ed.
Deaf-Blind Program Instructor
Brandy.Sebera@usd.edu
(605) 357-1437
South Dakota Deaf-Blind Project| Visit our website!
SD Deaf-Blind Program Grant #H326T180053