The document summarizes the agenda and discussions from an Advisory Committee meeting about connections for individuals who are deaf-blind. It includes: 1) Welcome and introductions from staff and committee members. 2) Updates on events and projects around the state facilitated by the Center for Blind and Severely Sight-Impaired (CBSS), including a family picnic, training opportunities, and policy changes. 3) A presentation about a demonstration project at Delrey School implementing a multi-sensory literacy approach in partnership with CBSS.

1. CONNECTIONS
BEYOND SIGHT AND SOUND
Advisory Committee Meeting
April 24, 2015

2. Agenda
I. Welcome, Introductions & Update Roster
II. Connections –
Around the State
Updates from CBSS
III. Delrey Demonstration Project Update
BREAK
IV. Mini-Grant Information & Presentations

3. Welcome!
- Introductions (Staff and AC Members)
- Roster Updates
“Connecting -- the walk & the talk”
In about 15-20 seconds…
• Share your name and affiliation.
• Share what “footwear” symbolizes you
and your work in the deaf-blind community

4. Connections
• Across the State & District
What’s happening with you –
in your school, community,
county, district, area….
• From CBSS
What’s happening with us –
updates from CBSS…

5. Tri-Area Family Picnic
“A Day at the Farm”
Sunday, May 17, 2015
1 – 4 pm
FREE EVENT for families
in Maryland, DC, & Virginia
Hidden Brook Stables
6790 Dorsey Lane
Woodbine, Maryland 21797
Register  www.CBSS.UMD.edu
Update  Family Activity

6. Update  Training
Summer Institute 2015
Cortical Visual Impairment:
A Focus on Phase III Learners
Dr. Christine Roman-Lantzy
June 22-24
University of Maryland
College Park
Register  www.CBSS.UMD.edu

7. Update  Policy: HR 4040
What is this?
• Alice Cogswell & Annie Sullivan Macy Act
• Amendment to IDEA
• Impacts the rights of students who are deaf or deaf-blind
Why this matters…
• CBSS is the DC & MD Deaf-blind project –
Policies that impact this population are connected to our work
• Could make interveners a “related service”
• Training and preparation of interveners will be needed
Impact on children, families, providers, and practice?

8. Delrey Demonstration Project
An update from Sara Kempler, M.Ed.
Update  Partnerships

9. A Multi-Sensory Approach to Literacy:
A Partnership Between
Connections and Delrey School
Sara K. Kempler, M.Ed.
April 2015

10. “Converting” the Classroom:
A Collaborative Effort
• Connections – Sandy
– 2008, Sandy came out and assessed a student’s vision
– Continued discussions with Sandy had me considering that many of our students
demonstrated characteristics of CVI
– We started a list of students, Sandy did some assessments, and two staff members were
trained to do CVI Range
• Connections – Donna
– 2013, Delrey School and Connections formed a partnership
– Donna and I consulted to transform my classroom into a demonstration multi-sensory
classroom
– Consulted on a regular basis to foster the partnership
– Increased staff understanding of a multi-sensory approach

11. “Converting” the Classroom:
A Collaborative Effort
• Consultants Paula Hamilton and Jen Keenan
– Literacy and Common Core – how to create materials that are accessible to
the students, yet still address content, literacy, and the Common Core
standards
– Helped increase classroom staff involvement
• Classroom Staff
– Buy-in is vital
– Staff works as a team to plan units, centers, and make materials

12. Who are my students?
• Visual Impairment – Primarily CVI
– Must consider the characteristics of CVI
• Color
• Complexity
• Movement
• Light
• Latency
• Threat and Touch Visual Reflexes
• Novelty
• Field Preferences
• Visual-Motor
• Currently I have no students with strict Ocular VI,
but previously we used Braille exposure as well

13. Who are my students?
• Orthopedic Impairments
• Hearing Impairments
• Medically Fragile
• Sensory Processing issues (in addition to vision)
• Sleep Issues
• Seizure Disorders

14. What accommodations do they need?
• Highlighted text
• Simple Backgrounds

15. What accommodations do they need?
• Lamps, Light Boxes,
Lighted Materials
• Time – Wait, Wait, Wait….

16. What accommodations do they need?
• Familiar Materials –
use the same materials each day
• Movement or
properties of movement

17. • Staff attention to students’ difficulty
in using their hands and eyes together
• Staff attention to Field Preferences
What accommodations do they need?

18. What was different for my classroom?
• Typically Developing Daycare students included in class time
– Had to consider the needs of ALL
– More students to address
• Processing Difficulties
– I found that having textured vocabulary cards, textured books, and props to
accompany the book was too much for my students to process – they would
tune it out and start refusing to touch things
• Therapies are increasingly integrated into classroom – but we still have pull-out
therapies as well (working to change that!)
• Classroom Layout – need immense amounts of space

19. What I’ve Learned
• Literacy is not just reading and writing
• Focus on symbols, language, pictures, anticipation, two-way
communication, and deeper understanding of concepts

20. What I’ve Learned
• Making choices and predictions are important parts of self-
expression, communication, and literacy

21. What I’ve Learned
• Enriching the students’ experiences during the process of reading
is part of literacy

22. What I’ve Learned
• Classroom Centers are a fantastic way to add depth and additional
content areas to the classroom (e.g. Social Studies, Science)
• Pocket Charts with Common Core “I Can” statements can help
focus the centers’ learning objectives – these standards do not
necessarily change each week, as the centers do

23. What I’ve Learned
• Getting buy-in from the other staff – especially the classroom staff
– is vital to success

24. What I’ve Learned
• It’s a process – takes time, can’t make all changes at once
• Sometimes reality steps in and interferes with what I want to
accomplish – or how I want to accomplish it – must be flexible!

25. Classroom Centers – Math

26. Classroom Centers – Language Arts

27. Classroom Centers - Science

28. Classroom Centers - Vision

29. Break
See you in 10-15 minutes 

30. Mini-Grant Projects
What are the Mini-Grants?
• Field-initiated mini-grant projects
• Up to 4 grants for up to $500 each
Why do they matter?
• Priority on students with deaf-blindness and/or CVI
• Promote innovative practice that improve child outcomes
When is the next application deadline?
• Fall 2015 (information & forms on website)
Presentations…

31. Use of Objects to Enhance
Literacy and Concept Development
Carla Brown (Teacher of the Visually Impaired)
Heather Harmon (Deaf Blind Intervener)
Montgomery County Public Schools
Mini-Grant Presentation

32. Team:
• Parent
• Special Education Teacher
• Paraprofessional trained as intervener
• Speech therapist / DHOH Teacher
• Teacher of the Visually Impaired
• Orientation and Mobility Specialist
• Occupational Therapist
• Physical Therapist
• All school personnel

33. Why include real objects and experiential learning?
• Team identified:
• Incomplete information was being received from vision and
hearing.
• The student showed increase interest and attention in activities that
included stories about her experiences.
• There was a need to link objects and experiences to curriculum
across all areas.

34. The team met to coordinate themes and to identify
experiential learning that linked to curriculum.
Preparation for experiences
Experiences with real materials and objects
Experience books
Experience and story boxes

35. Theme: Spring
(e.g., weather, how things grow,
growing fruits and vegetables)
Classroom
Social studies: Growing food

36. Preparation for experiences

37. Experiences with real materials and objects

38. Vocabulary (cooking tools)

40. Pictures/objects
Story in student’s own words
Technology:
recorded sound,
eBooks
video of activity
Experience books

41. Experience and Story boxes

42. What we learned…
• Experiences were the most important; experience boxes allowed the
student to use the objects to “tell” the story of what happened and to
review the activity
• Stories that had actions that the student could experience were the
most relevant.
• Experiences with the objects allowed more efficient picture recognition.
• Community travel was key.

43. What we have planned…
• It feels that we just started!
• Explore technology options.
• Develop experience books for upcoming transition.
• Continued team communication to coordinate experiences and use of
real objects throughout the curriculum.

44. Thank you to Connections Beyond Sight and Sound!
This grant has given us momentum to explore new ways to
help our students with deaf blindness!

45. Use of Objects to Enhance
Literacy and Concept Development
Carla Brown (Teacher of the Visually Impaired)
Heather Harmon (Deaf Blind Intervener)
Montgomery County Public Schools
Q&A and Discussion

46. Innovative Instructional Strategies and
Accommodations for High School Students
with Additional Learning Needs
Angie Geffen (Special Educator)
Paige Gardner (Special Educator)
Maryland School for the Deaf, Frederick Campus
Mini-Grant Presentation

47. Innovative Instructional Strategies and
Accommodations for High School Students
with Additional Learning Needs
Angie Geffen (Special Educator)
Paige Gardner (Special Educator)
Maryland School for the Deaf, Frederick Campus
Q&A and Discussion

48. Utilizing Today’s Technology
for Better Curriculum Access
Lisa Gastelle (Speech Pathologist)
Cyndy Steffenhofer (Special Educator)
Maryland School for the Deaf, Frederick Campus
Mini-Grant Presentation

49. Utilizing Today’s Technology
for Better Curriculum Access
Lisa Gastelle (Speech Pathologist)
Cyndy Steffenhofer (Special Educator)
Maryland School for the Deaf, Frederick Campus
Q&A and Discussion

50. Next AC Meeting…
November 6, 2015
In the meantime, let’s keep Connected!
www.CBSS.UMD.edu