The I-M-ABLE

(Formerly the “Functional Approach”)

I-M-ABLE

•Individualized•Meaning-Centered•Approach to•Braille •Literacy •Education•the “Functional Approach”

Essential Elements

Individualization*

Engagement

MotivationSuccess

Different At Risk Learners

•Adult learner who is adventitiously blinded

•School-aged learner, adventitiously blinded

•Learner with mild –moderate cognitive impairment

•Learner with severe to profound cognitive impairment

•Learner with multiple impairments including physical impairments

•Learner with deaf-blindness

Emphasis on:•Assuring early determination of literacy

medium•Providing early exposure to braille – a

braille rich environment•Creating stories in print and braille that

are based upon the child’s prior experiences

•Beginning formal reading instruction with whole words rather than letters

•Selecting individualized reading vocabulary words that engage the learner

Emphasis on: (cont.)

•Teaching efficient hand movements when reading

•Incorporating Language Experience Approach Stories

•Utilizing “whole-to-part phonics”•Incorporating writing with reading•Moving towards functional uses of

reading and writing

Whole words not letters

•Letters are more abstract and don’t have implicit meaning – we don’t speak in letters

•Words or phrases = meaningful units•Words with which students have had

experience provide for instant comprehension when reading

•Words have distinct features which can help with identification, including tactually distinct letters within the words

Design of Research Study•Design of Practice Guide •Solicit applications from teachers•Select ten TVIs to participate (based upon

student criteria)•Convene TVIs for a two day workshop in

the use of the I-M-ABLE Practice Guide•Collect Baseline Data•Begin implementation•Mentoring/website/observations

DPI Funded for July 1, 2011 start date

•Study was approved by the NCCU IRB.

•Permission forms obtained for all participants

Design of Practice Guide – Initial Draft

•Section 1 - Introduction to I-M-ABLE •Section 2 - Getting Started •Section 3 - Helping Students Select

Key Vocabulary Words or Phrases for Reading

•Section 4 - Introducing the Key Vocabulary

•Section 5 - Teaching Students to Track

Design of Practice Guide (cont.)

•Section 6 - Creating Key Vocabulary Stories•Section 7 - Teaching Phonics, Letter

Recognition and Contractions•Section 8 - Helping Students Write Their Own

Stories•Section 9 - Expanding the Student’s Reading

and Writing Vocabulary•Section 10 – Collecting Baseline Data•Section 11 - Record Keeping Forms

Design of Practice Guide (cont.)

•References and Bibliography•Appendix A – Hannah’s Story

Teacher selection/Child criteria

Student with whom you will work • is legally blind and on the APH Quota

Registration•is 8 to 18 years of age•has additional cognitive impairments

(mild to moderate)•(may have other disabilities -- physical

disability, on autism spectrum, etc.)•has a primary literacy medium as

reported on the APH Quota Registration of N(non-reader), A(Auditory) or B(Braille)

Teacher selection/Child criteria (cont.)•has not demonstrated success in reading

(not all letters of the alphabet learned, not currently reading more than a few words consistently, inconsistent performance on words and letters)

•may or may not know how to write braille letters on any device

Teacher Incentives

•Flip Video Camera•Califone Talking Magnetic Card Reader

and starter pack of 50 magnetic cards•APH Word Playhouse•Two workshops

▫One October 17-18, 2011 – Initial training▫One January 27, 2012 – follow up training

•Paid attendance at NCCVIB – in March•Ning Website (private social networking

with Chat and Discussion Board features)

Student Incentives

•Teachers explained that they would be using their own special words to learn braille

•Students were told they would be able to be videotaped

•Students were told they would be able to use a card reader to help them learn their new words.

Participants

•Ten Teacher-Student pairs•Selected from 14 applications•Received interest from 25 individuals•Settings of instruction

▫Two resource; eight itinerant – ▫One special school (developmental center);

others all public school settings▫Eight counties represented▫Mountains to coast participation

Teacher characteristics

•Training programs:• 7 different training programs represented

• Years of Experience ▫0 – 30 years; mode 12 years

•Date passed Literary Braille Course▫1978 – 2011; mode 1999

Student Characteristics

•Age range▫8 – 14 years old ▫Youngest just turned 8

8 – 2 9 – 1 10 – 0 11 – 2 12 – 2 13 – 1 14 - 2

.

Student Characteristics (cont.)

•TBI – 1•TBI with mild physical involvement – 2•Autism – 2•Autistic Tendencies ESL, extreme

attentional issues – 1•Physical Disabilities – 1•Speech-language impairment – 1•Second LD – 1•Communication Delay - 1

Baseline Data - Reading

•Letter Recognition ▫7 - 0 letters ▫1 - 6 letters ▫ 2 - 8-9 letters

• Name Recognition▫ o/3 times – 2▫ 1/3 times – 2▫ 2/3 times – 4▫ 3/3 times - 2

Baseline Data – Reading (cont.)

•Word Recognition▫8 - 0 words ▫1 - 2 words ▫1 - 18+ words

•C0ntractions known▫0 contractions – 10 students

Baseline Data – Writing

•Letter writing▫5 - 0 letters ▫1 - 11 letters ▫1 - 17 letters ▫2 - 18-19 letters ▫1 - 18-26 letters

•Writes own name ▫No – 6▫Yes - 4

Baseline Data – Writing

•Word Writing▫5 children - 0 words ▫3–2-8 words ▫1 - 36 words ▫1 - Yes, ? (same student wrote 19 letters)

Baseline Data – TPRI Results

•Word rhyming – 8 – 0; 1 – 3; 1 – 5•Blending Onset/rhymes –

▫ 5 – 0; 1 – 1; 1 – 2; 1 – 3; 2 – 5•Blending phonemes – 7 – 0; 1 – 4; 2 – 5•Remove last sound – 7 – 0; 3 – 5•Remove initial sound – 6 – 0; 1 – 1; 1 – 3; 1

– 4; 1 – 5•One student had all 5’s; one had three 5’s

Amount of Instructional Time

•Varies from teacher to teacher. •Minimum of 2 times per week required.•Some have 5 days a week for an hour a

day minimum. •One has already increased her time with

her student. •Involvement of others is also being

documented.

Fidelity of Implementation Checklist

•Developed to assist teachers in evaluating themselves

•Used by PI and Mentors to observe teachers during lessons and observe using videos taped by teachers

•Will be modified as necessary for future research and for inclusion in the Practice Guide.

What questions have teachers had?•Mechanics – concerning how to share

videos using the flip camera, when to introduce the card reader, how long to make the cards, should they have the student record the word

• Questions about when to introduce different aspects of the approach – when to create stories, when to create tracking stories, when to introduce another word, how many to introduce

•Questions about teaching hand movements -

What progress have we made?

•Teachers began implementing the approach after October 31. Most began from November 1 through the 10th. School year ended June 13.

•All reported increased motivation on the part of their students to learn braille. Some report that behaviors have disappeared – more engagement – liking the card reader and liking the word cards

•Individual progress varied:

Individual progress

•All reported improvements in tracking words even with students who didn’t want to touch braille previously.

•Number of words read at end ranges from four to around 80 to 100 words.

•General patterns in data collection emerging: ▫More time equals more success. ▫More involvement on part of others equals

more success

More comments about progress•Teachers report that their students are

being seen as “readers” now•Two students will move into a higher

category of instructional placement due to this

•All teachers commented that they realized that they needed to have daily lessons with their student

•Highlighting “James”

James(pseudonym)

1st grade8 years old as of December 2011

Etiology

•Congenital Cataracts•Glaucoma•Persistent Fetal Vasculature

Additional Disabilities and Hindrances

•Intellectual Disability•Autistic tendencies•Severe Attention difficulties•English as a Second Language

Previous Attempts with Braille

•Pre – Braille activities•Building on Patterns

Language difficulties and attention issues prevented progress.

Time Served

•Worked 5 hours a week with VI teacher.

•November 1st – June 5th

•Teacher & assistant listened to him read

daily.

Activities•Word cards – sorting and Monster Munch

•Card reader•Stories – Tracking and Short stories

•Student Stories•APH Word Playhouse

First Words Introduced

•“bumpy ball” – a favorite toy, VERY

motivating

•“scratchy” – his term for the velcro

•“ball” – he dropped “bumpy” in his story

•“Mommy”

•“cupcake” – Birthday treat

Major Progress Noted

•Excitement for Braille •Asking for words•Language Development – HUGE!

•Choosing to read for free time

Progress During I-M-ABLE

Nov

embe

r

Janu

ary

Mar

chJu

ne0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Word Knowledge

Words IntroducedIdentifying in storiesIdentifying in iso-lation

Nu

mb

er

of

Word

s

To be continued . . . . . . .

•I will be so happy when I M ABLE to tell you “the rest of the story.”