Follow the child’s lead

Does the child indicate interest in an activity or interaction? How?

Do adults recognize the child’s interests and respond by sharing attention, encouraging and supporting the child’s interest? How?

Does staff provide appropriate vocabulary to name the child’s interests in a format that is accessible to the child?

Does staff take turns with the child when engaging in an activity or with an object of interest?

Mark your entries and exits from the child’s world with greetings and parting rituals

Do team members greet the child in a way that lets the child know who they are? How?

Do varied members of the team have varied greetings?

Do team members always let the child know that they are leaving?

Acknowledge the child’s emotions and share yours with them

Does staff understand the emotions the child expresses with their face? 

Does staff understand the emotions the child expresses with their arms, legs, head and neck?

Does staff understand the emotions the child expresses with sounds?

Does staff understand the emotions the child expresses with words?

Is staff consistently responsive to the emotions expressed by the child?

Do you let the child know that you are aware of what he/she is feeling? How?

Do you share your emotions with a blind child or a child with low vision? How?

Establish turn taking routines

Does the child participate in regularly scheduled routines involving turn-taking?

Can turn-taking be infused into existing routines that lack it? 

Summary

What Tier 2 Strategies should be added or expanded in the child’s current program to foster feelings of safety?

Proactive Strategies for Fostering Feelings of Success (Tier 2)

Design activities based on the child’s interest

Has the team identified (with the inclusion of parent input) preferred objects, movements, activities and people?

Are these preferences incorporated into every part of the child’s day as much as possible?

Is novelty introduced slowly and sparingly based on these identified interests?

Are non-preferred objects, movements, activities and people minimized as much as possible?

Provide many opportunities for the child to explore and experiment with objects and materials

Does the child spend some time every day in activities and environments where he can play independently with minimal intervention of an adult?

Is the child allowed to explore and experiment with objects in any way he chooses without correction from an adult? (Note: accommodations may be required if the child’s methods of exploration and experimentation create safety concerns.)

When adults are included in activities with the child do they use techniques such as hand-under-hand, imitation, and turn-taking while exploring and experimenting with objects and materials?

Utilize an appropriate calendar system that stays in a defined location

Has the appropriate level of calendar system been set up in a defined location for the child? (See Calendars for Childs with Multiple Impairments Including deafblindness, by Robbie Blaha)

Is the calendar system used throughout the day as the child moves from one activity to another?

Does staff engage in conversations about activities and experiences using the calendar system at the beginning and end of each activity?

Does the child have independent access to his calendar system throughout the day to request or reject specific activities? Introduce topics for discussion?

Provide only the support needed by the child so he/she learns to cope with successes and failures.

Does staff provide adequate “wait time” for the child to attempt an action or response during all activities?

Does the staff know the child’s specific skills to ensure they do not carry out a step the child is capable of completing independently?

Does the staff utilize modeling (especially tactile modeling) when providing necessary support as much as possible?

Respond to distress immediately by increasing support and redirecting.

Does staff change pace, reduce demands or expectations when a child becomes frustrated?

Does staff provide more information to the child?

Does staff increase physical assistance to help the child complete or continue an activity?

Does staff suggest or demonstrate calming strategies when the student becomes frustrated?

Summary

What Tier 2 Strategies should be added or expanded in the child’s current program to foster feelings of success?

Proactive Strategies for Fostering Feelings of Independence (Tier 2)

As much as possible do “with not for” when engaging the child

Are written routines shared among team members to insure consistent steps? 

Is the level of support needed to successfully complete the routine included?

Designate specific areas of the classroom to store belongings and for doing regular activities

Does the child have a designated spot to store their cane or other personal items?

Does the child have an area set aside where calendar conversations take place?

Do instructional routines occur in consistent locations?

Support the development of the child’s expressive forms of communicating

Are all team members aware of the child’s expressive communication forms? What are these forms?

Are all team members aware of how the child’s vision and hearing loss impact their ability to detect and gather information?

As much as possible, allow the child to make choices about activities and the daily schedule.

Does the child have opportunities to make choices within routines and activities?

Does the child have opportunities to make choices about his/her schedule?

Does the child have opportunities to reject an activity or request an end to an activity?

Summary

What Tier 2 Strategies should be added or expanded in the child’s current program to foster feelings of independence?

Proactive Strategies for Fostering Feelings of Connectedness (Tier 2)

Develop a communication system that allows for reciprocal communicative interaction

Are staff and peers able to identify and understand the child’s expressive communication?

Does staff facilitate interactions between the child and peers or other adults so they know what the child is interested in sharing?

Does staff facilitate interactions between the child and peers or other adults so they can share what interests them?

Does staff feel confident in determining when to include peers and others in specific activities?

Acknowledge and record meaningful experiences in books or story boxes to share with others.

Does staff collect objects, pictures and/or other materials from the child’s experiences?

Is the student provided opportunities to coactively make storybooks or boxes from these materials with staff and/or family?

Does staff and/or family take time daily to review at least one of these books or boxes with the child?

Are storybooks or boxes maintained throughout the year and available for the child to access independently?

Build connections through membership in a community.

Does the child have opportunities to contribute to class and family chores?

Does the child participate in class or family traditions, rituals, and special events?

Does the child have a “positive specialized identity” (e.g., the girl who brings cupcakes, the boy who loves to dance, the child who makes silly sounds) that enriches his self-identity?

Does the child make (or could he make) contributions that are perceived as positive by his community?

Summary

What Tier 2 Strategies should be added or expanded in the child’s current program to foster feelings of connectedness?

Conclusion summary for Step 4:

Summarize important findings related to all proactive strategies (Tier 2) being used or not being used in the current program below: