perspectives in Education and Deafness

Kendall School Integrates Literacy Skill Development with Auditory and Speech Services

What's Happening

Literacy is one of the three priority areas targeted by Pre-College National Mission Programs (Clerc Center) for intensive examination and focus. Much attention has been paid to innovative projects like the Shared Reading Project and the products related to literacy that have been developed at Clerc Center. But sometimes overlooked are the critical roles played by Clerc Center speech/language pathologists (SLPs) and audiologists in meeting the varied needs of deaf and hard of hearing students related to literacy development.

ABOVE: A new listening literacy support station includes access to books, songs, and poems in print, on audiotape, and on videotape. Pictured here student Edwin Brizuela enjoys listening to a story on audiotape. Photo by Susan Flanigan.

At Clerc Center, a variety of approaches is integrated into service provision to advance literacy development and being evaluated by the audiologists and SLPs who serve on the Kendall Demonstration Elementary School (KDES) teams. Although the effectiveness of these strategies is still to be determined, they provide additional opportunities to open pathways to literacy development. These strategies include:

• Visual Phonics/See the Sound
• Connecting ASL/Spoken English/Printed English
• Listening/ Literacy Centers
• Assistive Devices Center; Linking with Literacy Development
• TTY Training

Visual Phonics

Visual Phonics is a system of 46 hand cues and corresponding written symbols to facilitate development of speech as well as reading skills. These cues are used in conjunction with spoken language and represent individual sounds. The hand cues selected for Visual Phonics are in some ways suggestive of how the sounds are produced. These cues provide a concrete way for deaf and hard of hearing children to conceptualize how to produce a sound and then to see how that sound relates to its printed correlate. While phonics as a tool has been traditionally felt to be inaccessible for deaf and hard of hearing children, Visual Phonics helps make a phonics approach accessible and provides another way to support literacy development.

This system, developed by the mother of three deaf children, is distributed by the International Communication Learning Institute (ICLI), PO Box 39153, Edina, MN 55439. Anyone who wants to use the system must attend a 6-8 hour training session by a licensed trainer. For information about trainers in specific regions, contact ICLI at 612-929-9381 or http://www.icli.org/.

	ABOVE: Student Anthony Dixon practices TTY communication with audiologist Stephanie Marshall in the Assistive Devices Center.

Visual Phonics/See the Sound is currently being used with preschool-age and first- and second-grade students at KDES. It is showing great promise in helping these students approach the reading process. Preliminary observations have been encouraging regarding the benefits of this system. Young students are making the connection between what they see on the lips (speechreading), what they say (speech production), and what they see in print (reading). The children appear motivated to use this system, and quickly make the connections and begin to incorporate the system into their reading. This system also has been used effectively with older KDES students.

Connecting ASL/Spoken English/Printed English

ASL can provide a solid language base for students, helping them to communicate and learn about spoken and written English. Since many deaf and hard of hearing children use ASL as a primary means of communication, it is the responsibility of communication specialists to understand ASL and how it can help students develop literacy skills. Communication training should include activities designed to help students make connections between ASL and printed English. Activities include strategies that help students make direct relationships between words, sentences and stories in ASL, and their printed English interpretation.

Listening/Literacy Centers

Listening/literacy centers at which students listen to music, books, or poems on audiotape and/or videotape have been established throughout KDES. These centers provide opportunities for students to develop their listening skills and, at the same time, address literacy skill development. These centers can be used independently by students who are trained to use the equipment or with the assistance of communication specialists or teachers.

The centers have been established with books, songs, and poems available on audiotape with copies of the printed text. The books have been recorded in a specified format and utilize a drumbeat to signal students to turn the page. The students can follow along with the words and printed text and turn the page independently when they hear the drum. These centers are primarily for students who can benefit from an auditory representation of the printed text. However, some students who can not understand the words still enjoy and appear to benefit from listening for the drumbeat to turn the page and reading the text. Materials developed for the listening/literacy centers include books, poems, and music supporting student reading levels and classroom curriculum content.

One new center introduces students to materials in a videotape format in addition to the printed and audiotape format. Books, poems, and songs on videotape are interpreted in ASL. Videotape selections enhance literacy skills by providing clear language concepts of the printed word to aid the reading process. A writing station is included, at which students can write about their favorite book or part of a book that they have read, listened to, or seen at the center. These young book critics can write their entries in a journal that remains at the station for other visitors to review and enjoy. These critiques can assist other students in selecting a book, audiotape, or videotape that may interest them. including videotapes and/or writing stations in a center allows a broader range of students to have access to the center's activities. This expanded listening/literacy center can be used by students who have varying levels of listening skills.

Assistive Devices Center

The Communication Specialists at KDES have created a new Assistive Devices Center (ADC). A realistic home-like environment is used to display and demonstrate assistive listening and alerting devices. The ADC is designed to be an attractive and inviting setting that allows students to easily experience how these devices can be used in their everyday lives. The ADC is designed to expand students' communication options, increase their independence in managing their daily living activities, and provide family education, while enhancing their literacy development. Students participate in literacy-based activities as they learn about assistive devices.

A variety of reading and writing activities support student learning in the ADC. The initial task engages students in a survey that evaluates the types of communication strategies and assistive listening and alerting devices they currently use in their homes. students can then use information from the survey to initiate shared learning discussions about the types of devices available. This activity serves as an introduction to a hands-on devices demonstration. the students are encouraged or required to complete reading and writing activities following their experience in the ADC.

These literacy activities are designed to help reinforce new information, develop new vocabulary, and provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned. these literacy activities include: writing letters, creative journal writing, completing sentences, selecting appropriate words, matching pictures with printed words, alphabetizing devices, crossword and word find puzzles, and matching definitions and correct device words. All of the literacy activities are directly related to the experiences the students are involved with at the ADC.

	ABOVE: Speech Pathologist Bettie Waddy-Smith leads a group of KDES students in a visual phonics exercise. Students from left: Pakuna Spady, Cierra Cotton, and Anthony Dixon.

TTY Training

TTY use is integral to communication independence for deaf and hard of hearing students. Literacy skills are essential for students to successfully use TTYs. At the same time, training and practice on TTYs can enhance and further develop literacy skills. Therefore, TTY activities that promote literacy development while simultaneously addressing functional communication skill development are provided.

Literacy development is actively addressed during TTY training. TTY training supports literacy development in the classroom by providing additional exposure to the alphabet and numbers to create communication through text. At the preschool level, exposure and use of the TTY facilitates emerging literacy skills. Opportunities are provided for students to observe the equipment being used and to operate it themselves.

Older students have more extensive TTY practice and training to help them develop both literacy and transition skills. Activities are designed to incorporate student interests and motivate them to use this technology to improve their literacy skills. The students write and edit scripts for possible TTY conversations. students enjoy working on scripts related to homework, sports, social interactions, emergency contacts, and other real-life situations.

Audiologists and SLPs Have a Key Role

"The challenge facing audiology and speech professionals in an educational setting is to investigate, evaluate, and incorporate strategies that will support literacy skill development with deaf and hard of hearing students," according to Stephanie Marshall, Clerc Center SLP. "Audiologists and SLPs need to re-conceptualize their role and find ways to integrate literacy development into service provision. It is important that these kinds of strategies support literacy development approaches already being utilized in the educational program."