Effective Instruction

Effective instruction of students with disabilities draws upon effective methods or instructional techniques that educators use to facilitate learning. The difference lies in how, when, and why the strategies are implemented. Strategies such as visual schedules, highly structured materials and directions, teaching sequence for simple facts, and sensory-specific activities are some examples of strategies that assist in effective educational design. The document Ten Effective Teaching Principles provides some basic effective instruction guidelines.

Understanding and acknowledging the impact of deafblindness on learning is the first step in determining how to teach a student who is deafblind. This requires knowing as much as possible about the types and level of visual and hearing impairments. For example, cortical visual impairment (CVI-the brain's inability to process visual information from the eyes) is the leading type of visual impairment for students who are deafblind, and there are specific CVI strategies that are helpful for working with these students.  In addition, meaningful and effective instruction occurs within familiar routines, activities, and settings, and includes using actual items that have real uses (e.g., a real apple versus a plastic apple to teach the concept and language development). Consistency in the presentation of information across different settings (such as home and school) is also important, as it enables students to generalize concepts and skills. Finally, what is perceived as challenging behavior may be a communication attempt requiring us to determine the message and assist in developing a more efficient communication system.There are a variety of effective instruction strategies for deafblind students, such as hand-under-hand, concept development, specific instruction, and CVI-specific methods.

Additional Information on Effective Strategies for Deafblind Students

Hand-under-hand (or hand-over-hand depending on the student's preference or physical impairments) is an important strategy for teaching students who are deafblind. Here, the adult places his or her hand under the student's hand as they explore objects together. The adult may guide the exploration or may wait for the student to initiate an interaction. For unfamiliar objects, one approach is to place the student's hand on top of the adult's hand while the adult grasps the object. The adult then slowly rotates his or her hand so that the student is gradually introduced to the shape of the object. To allow the student more active exploration, the adult can withdraw her hand until the student's fingers touch the surface of the item being explored. In order for hand-under-hand strategies to be effective, the student must be willing and able to keep his or her hand on top of the adult's hand, which may take some work and practice. For additional guidance, see Talking the Language of the Hands to the Hands.

Concept development is the mental representation of both concrete objects (cup, house, teacher) and intangible or abstract ideas (e.g., emotions, democracy, object permanence, cause and effect). Students can compare and contrast objects and ideas, leading to categorization of concepts. To teach concepts:

• Incorporate concepts frequently and in routine activities
• Maximize the use of the student's residual vision and hearing
• Provide tactile or other sensory cues and encourage exploration
• Ensure appropriate communication for activities and experiences

Hand-in-Hand: Essentials of Communication and Orientation and Mobility for Your Students who are Deaf-blind is a set of resources, including a videotape, that is available from Short Term Loan.

Systematic instruction is a strategy that involves a clear indication of the beginning, middle, and end of an activity. Having the student obtain, use, and put away items that are part of the instructional sequence conveys information about what is occurring next, and is a permanent record of the daily schedule. Tools such as a calendar system or schedule system serve to organize the sequence of events, provide input to a student, and indicate transition times. The types and frequency of prompts are part of systematic instruction, and are critical to promoting the student's independence and learning.

CVI Strategies
For students with cortical visual impairment (CVI) there are a variety of effective instruction strategies. The CVI Resource Packet provides strategies information. In addition, there are a number of simple and straightforward strategies that will help the student learn. They include:

• Keep information (pictures, objects, words, sentences) simple and concrete. Use the same things over and over (repeat, repeat, repeat).
• Make backgrounds solid colors, as patterns can be confusing.
• Background sounds should be kept at a minimum, since voices and noises are very distracting.
• Experiment with light and note what helps. Bright lights or putting light on the object may help, but sometimes less lighting is better, so make sure you understand the student's needs. The light from a light box used in a dim or dark room may help keep the student's attention and distract them from looking at the ceiling lights.
• Eliminate glare.
• Give the student ample time to organize thoughts and information, even if the time seems long.
• Note the student's normal response (eye blink, squeezing, etc.) to pleasurable and non-pleasurable stimuli.
• When introducing new objects, patterns, or sounds, start with something known and build upon that. Try keeping one color, pattern, sound, etc. dominant.
• Determine the student's size preferences.
• Pair an object with sound if the student benefits from multisensory input.
• Consider touch as a major sense for learning.
• Make changes s-l-o-w-l-y!
• Watch for fatigue or over-stimulation. Anticipate a need for a short break and teach the student to request a break.
• Use language, but be consistent in the terminology.
• Use high contrast, such as yellow against black.
• Reduce visual and auditory clutter. You may need to allow more space between objects.
• Make sure the student is positioned correctly. Use a head support, angle of wheelchair, tumbleform, etc. The goal is to "see" and/or "hear" this should be the student's main task.
• Supplement the material presented with tactile, color, or verbal and/or auditory, cues. Keep these cues simple and direct.
• Use name signs.
• Keep the student's arousal level up through active engagement, such as by keeping his or her hands busy when presenting items.