Sessions 9 Reading

Summary: The Beginnings of Communication: Early Childhood

Although the capacity to communicate is  inborn, the skills that infants need to communicate our acquired with the assistance of other people.  Therefore, the primary goal of early intervention with infants who are deaf blind is to encourage the growth of their bonds with their parents and other caregivers because attachment and bonding can promote the development of essential communication skills.

Providers of early intervention services frequently need to families of deaf blind infants soon after family members have first learned of the child disability and are feeling frightened or overwhelmed by the information.  In this chapter presents information to help service providers work with families and other caregivers of infants and young children and include strategies to meet the unique communication needs of infants who are deaf blind.

Responsive early environments

To an infant, there's a significant difference between the responsive environment and 1 that is merely stimulating.  The responsive environment is interactive and adjust expectations according to the infants needs, preferences, and reactions.  Creating a responsive environment requires understanding of (1) attachment behaviors (bonding), (2) and infants sensitivity to specific sensory stimulation, and (3) and infants temperament.

Attachment behaviors

During the first year, infants develop behaviors that enhance their emotional attachments, they tried to maintain contact with their primary caregivers through specific attachment behaviors, such as vocalizing, clinging, and smiling.  The bonding is a crucial step in the infants development.  If an infant does not form a secure bond with his or her caregiver, the ability to form relationships with others may be affected.  Infants who are deaf blind may have difficulty developing attachment behaviors, especially since their medical needs and hospitalizations may interfere with the bonding process

Strategies

• To develop emotional bonds, an infant who is deaf blind needs contact with caregivers that is consistent and predictable.

• When possible, hold the infant in a secure a comfortable position for caregiving routines, such as bottle feeding, and identify other routines in which holding is possible.

• Touch the infant during play and other interactions.  Identify the types of touching that the baby enjoys, such as padding, stroking, kissing, tickling, cuddling, and bouncing.

• Respond quickly to comfort and an infant who is crying, busy, or frightened.

• Given as much attention as possible to the infant by maintaining high contact (at close range for infants who are visually impaired), engage the infants attention by making faces, cooling or babbling, humming and singing, blowing on the baby stomach.

• Respond to the infants behaviors, such as by vocalizing when the baby makes a sound or shifting the baby's position.

Sensitivity to stimulation

Infants who are deaf blind tend to be extremely sensitive to certain types of sensory stimulation (such as excessive movement and abrupt handling) and not sensitive to others (such as they allowed but distant sound).  Their thresholds of reaction depend on their neurological makeup and degree of sensory impairment.

Strategies

You need to identify the infants preferences for different types of sensory stimulation.  Learning these preferences will enable you to help the infant to be, and attentive.  Discuss the following suggestions for touching, movement, position, vision, and hearing with the caregivers.

Differences in temperament

Everyone has seen infants who are, and responsive and those who are fussy, slower respond, and difficult to engage.  These differences are due to variations in temperament.

Easy infants had predictable aiding sleeping culmination patterns.

Slow to warm infants have allowed to moderate activity levels, varying regularity other physical needs, slowly accept changes.

Difficult infants had irregular physical needs, slowly accept the new or unfamiliar, and have unpleasant moods and intense reactions.

The goal is to achieve a "good fit" -- when a caregiver can adapt his or her interactions, expectations, and care-giving routines to match and infants temperamental style.

Strategies

• Activity level, or amount of motor activity

• rhythmicity, or regularity of physical needs

• distractibility from ongoing activity

• approach or withdrawal response

• adaptability to changes in routine or environment

• attention span and persistence in activity

• intensity of reaction

• threshold of responsiveness to stimulation

• quality of mood or general disposition

Movement -- based activities movement based instruction helps a child who is deaf blind and an adult develop a trusting, interactive relationship that can be the basis for the development of communication overtime.  Activities and instruction are associated with the work of Dr. Jan Van Dijk, who is "coactive movement" approach to teaching deaf blind students has been useful for teachers for several decades.

Resonance

At the first level, resonance, you hold the child close to support the child's body and to give the child a strong sense of security.  "Conversations," or interactions, involve turn taking by you, the adult, and the child, with movement as the basic response, rather than the spoken or signed words.  He is familiar movements, such as rocking and clapping so the trout can learn to accept your physical closeness and to move in unison with you.  To begin, place the child in your lap in initiating movement, such as rocking, with the child, (older students can be placed on the floor, avenge or a bolster.) Allow enough time for a response; some students take longer to understand what is expected and may need many repetitions.  Movement gains can be affected in bringing about reciprocal responses in students and toddlers.  Some of the following could be used as movement games; pat a cake, row, row, row your boat, too little monkeys, London Bridge.

Coactive movement

The next instructional level, coactive movement, a variety of sequences of movements are used.  First, move with the child to establish the sequences and then gradually distance yourself from the child.  Routine activities, such as washing hands and putting socks on the feet, can also be used at this level of movement-based activity.

Environments that promote communication

By participating in consistent and predictable exchanges, infants who are deaf blind discover their capacity to influence their environments.  Consistent responses help deaf blind infants discover that they can make things happened, and predictable patterns encourage the development of their communication skills.

Tips for communicating: a summary

Infants behaviors are often subtle.  Observe carefully, interpret, and respond.

These features of sensory key is that infant can perceive

develop predictable care-giving and play routines

follow the infants lead (interest, focus of attention, and level of communication).

Imitate the infants sounds or actions and add little more

create opportunities for the turn taking by pausing and prompting the infants turn

provide opportunities for making choices

these tactile key is an object signals

Use of sensory cues

• Typical interactions involve speaking in a high-pitched voice; isn't repetitions; using short, simple phrases and senses; displaying exaggerated facial expressions and intimations; and touching, gesturing, and pausing to allow the infant to take the turn.

• The use of consistent touch key is, or tactile signals make a contact with the infants body, is essential.

• Object is -- objects associated with a particular activity -- are also important

How to establish turn taking

Infants and toddlers who are deaf blind need interaction that establishes turn taking for communication.  Each time the child makes a movement or sound respond in a way that is meaningful to the child, and treat it as an attempt to interact, as in the following example:

place the child in a situation where movement is likely to occur, such as on a waterbed.

When the child moves, respond by gently rocking the child on the waterbed.

Stop your movement in wait until the child begins to move again.  Respond immediately, then stop in wait again.

Work to establish a "game" pattern with the child, so he or she moves intentionally to bring about your response; respond immediately each time and in wait.

To establish more formal communication turn taking, director child's attention to a joint activity that is frequently occurring routine, such as changing a diaper or eating.

Consistent use of cues

Infants who are deaf blind man understand the meaning of signs more easily if the signs are produced in the flexible ways.  Infants who are deaf blind are more likely to produce signs if they are introduced to signs, just as children who here will produce spoken words they have heard.  Signs are most readily learned when they are: useful: motivating: easy to make: easy to understand.

Children who are deaf blind may attend a variety of preschool programs in the community: programs for typically developing preschoolers, such as Head Start or private schools; programs for preschoolers who are visually impaired; programs for preschoolers who are deaf; or programs for children with a variety of disabilities.  Whatever the setting, many preschoolers who are deaf blind need specific encouragement to interact with other children and to support their participation in the preschool routine.

Selecting a program

• Identify the philosophies of specific preschool program.  Some preschoolers who are deaf blind do well in developmentally based, cognitively oriented programs.

• Identify what particular preschool program expects other children.

• Identify supports the deaf blind preschoolers required to participate in the selected preschool setting.

• Evaluate the preschool environment for the child's perspective.

• Identify specific strengths and interests of the preschoolers who is deaf blind, for instance, enjoying active play, following routines, and signing, and use them to develop activities that encouraged social interaction and promote other skills.

• Identify the particular supports that the preschoolers who is deaf blind will need to participate in the preschool routine.

• Provide the preschool staff with consultation and training.

Planning the program

• Organize the physical environment to encourage the child's movement, exploration, and involvement in activities.

• Develop daily routines.

• Oriented deaf blind preschool work to the physical environment.

• Develop name signs for significant adults and children in the program.

• Use an object or tactile schedule for daily activities.

• Identify and provide activities and toys that encouraged children to interact with each other.

• The children how to interact with each other.

• Develop small group activities according to deaf blind preschoolers interests and strengths.

• Have an adult provide nonintrusive help to facilitate the deaf blind preschoolers participation in activities and interaction with other children.

• Because preschoolers who are deaf blind may often need more time to complete tasks then do sighted children.

• Develop a "buddy" system with sighted classmates.

• Adapt activities so the preschool or who is deaf blind can understand them.

• Model interaction and communication strategies for other preschoolers and adults.

• Provide simple answers to the other children's questions about the preschool or who is deaf blind.

• Establish clear expectations for behavior in participation in the activities.

• Give positive feedback.

• Provide opportunities for making choices.

• Provide opportunities for solving problems in play with children.

Practical tips on play

• Deaf blind children love to play as much as anyone; however, many toys and activities may be intimidating and confusing to a child with vision and hearing impairments.  Some practical methods for approaching play are the following.

• Use hands-on demonstrations.

• Teach confirmation.

• Get the best materials

• Integrate new and familiar materials

• Choose a defined play space

• Teach a search pattern

• Determine whether child is finished

• Choose easy to manipulate toys

• Gained the child's visual attention

• Establish routines

Using the strategies presented in this section can do much to encourage the development of communication and positive social attraction for young deaf blind children.