TRANSCRIPT - Essential Tools of the Trade for Teachers of Students who are Deafblind Ð 1/30/23 >> Shanna: Welcome to the Essential Tools of the Trade for Teachers of Students who are Deafblind: A How-To Guide for Completing Evaluations. This is your Coffee Hour for the day. Again, I'm Shanna Hamilton. I am part of the TSBVI curriculum department. I am lead teacher here at TSBVI and I'm also a certified teacher of students with visual impairments. >>Kaycee: I am Kaycee Bennett on the Texas Deafblind Project as an education consultant. Was one of the co-authors of this publication with Shanna. And our other co-authors are listed on the screen. Debra Sewell, Chris Montgomery, Matt Schultz, Dr. Susie Tiggs, and Bernadette van den Tillaart. >>Shanna: Today we're going to go over some learning objectives, things that you will hopefully you will have in your toolbox at the end of today's session. The first is identify the role in the teaming process of evaluation of a student who is Deafblind. Explain how to use this publication resource as a tool to aid in the evaluation process. Locate digital resources that correspond with the printed book and use them to support learning in order to thoroughly evaluate a student who is Deafblind. We will also be identifying new strategies and tools for the evaluation of the tactile-bodily sense as it relates to access, processing, and memory for the student who is Deafblind. And you will also gain an understanding of new strategies and tools related to the evaluation of tactile language development and the educator's role as a competent communication partner with the student who is Deafblind. So, here's just a little background. Project rationale. We started this project probably about five years ago and I came on to this project about three years ago. Basically, one of the things that's missing is really there's a lot missing in the field of Deafblind education so we're really trying to build this field. One thing that's been missing are evaluations and guidance specifically for teachers of students who are Deafblind. And so, this publication was created to fill the gap. And available information provided in the original ETT book, if you're familiar with that. It has the Functional Vision Evaluation, Learning Media Assessment, as well as the ECC and some other tools specific to TVIs and O&Ms. This book includes more information for students who are Deafblind and new evaluations. So where are we now? Currently there are no formal evaluations to address tactile interaction and tactile language. And we will get into this a little bit more later. But also talking about kind of where we are in the development of the role of the teachers of students who are Deafblind in Texas. >>Kaycee: Currently we have written and created standards -- state standards for teachers of students who are Deafblind. They have been accepted by the state board of educator certification. That was a big win. We were all very excited about that. Now we are currently writing the certification exam and getting all of those ducks in a row to have that. The state board of educator certification is projecting September of 2025 for Texas certification to officially begin for TDBs here in Texas. That's kind of our, you know, projected date that we're getting ready for and this publication was one of the big reasons for it was -- as we're building this profession here our professionals need tools, they need guidance on how to evaluate. And so hopefully this will be a helpful tool for those of you currently or in the future serving in the role of TDB. We do have coursework here in Texas. Texas Tech University offers a program for a graduate certificate in Deafblind education and also a master's degree in Deafblind education. If you're working in Texas and are interested in that coursework and have not done that yet, there is some grant money for that and so feel free to reach out. Our contact information is on the handout and we can get you more information about working toward becoming a TDB. >>Shanna: And if you're not in Texas, I know Utah and Illinois are the two other states that currently offer certifications to be a teacher of students who are Deafblind. >>Kaycee: They both have standards. Utah is the only one you can certify. >>Shanna: Great. So, this is the cover of our book. So, the long-awaited publication for everyone. Essential Tools of the Trade for Teachers of Students who are Deafblind. It's our how-to guide for completing evaluations. The table of contents. We have an introduction section. We have an eligibility section that talks specifically about the eligibility for the State of Texas. We have a Tactile-Bodily Handbook, guidance and templates that we explain a lot of the information that we're giving to you guys, and then we also provide you with a template that you can use in helping you fill out information on your student. We also have how-to charts. A new Learning Media Assessment that includes information about students who are Deafblind. We have three sample reports that you can look at. One is a student who communicates tactually. One is a student who communicates verbally but is at a basic skills level. And one is a student who is more of a typically-developing child or student who has regular communication. And then we have updated interview forms. We have interview forms for parents, families, for teachers and other staff members, and for the student. Some of our evaluations that are included, we have the Functional Vision Evaluation, the Functional Vision Assessment, Learning Media Assessment, communication evaluation, and Expanded Core Curriculum evaluation. >>Kaycee: Many of these you'll be familiar with if you come from a vision background, then you're likely very familiar with the Functional Vision Evaluation, the Functional Vision Assessment, and the Expanded Core Curriculum. If you come from a Deaf Ed background then you're likely very familiar with the communication evaluation. For pretty much everybody here the Functional Tactile-Bodily Evaluation is relevant to you. We'll show you a little bit further down this presentation but we have been studying the work being done in the Nordic countries through the Nordic Welfare Center and they have had just such great information that they've shared about using this tactile-bodily sense and looking at tactile, not just as touch with the hands or the fingers but really the entire body perspective and to touch. So, we started by trying to add those pieces into the existing evaluations, into the Functional Vision Evaluation, learning media, communication, and realized it was too separate that way and that it really was its own thing for us to be looking at. And so, it does have its own evaluation in this book. Like Shanna said, the guidance and the template show you how that can all go together. The template's like a report so it will walk you through exactly how to report on those things. It does have its own how-to chart, which we'll look at, and has its own handbook, which is very thick. But we will show you a little bit of what that looks like in a moment. >>Shanna: Yes. So, the first thing we'll look at is the Tactile-Bodily Evaluation. Kaycee. >>Kaycee: This evaluation is into four major sections. Bio-behavioral states and neurological readiness is the first one. That includes determining the bio-behavioral states and looking at the orienting reflex. Under the memory piece, a lot of that was supported by the tactile working memory scale out of Nordic Welfare Center. They were so gracious and let us use so much of their material to learn from and to even include, which you'll see in a moment. And so, we look at working memory competencies and potentials for these students who are Deafblind that we're evaluating. And then the next one is looking at social interaction. Under that same tactile-bodily umbrella, looking at social interaction including the five components. Noticing, affirming, naming, serve and return, beginnings and endings. Within the handbook there's a whole bunch of information going more in depth on those different areas and the how-to chart walks you through how to actually evaluate those things. And then the Tactile-Bodily Communication Language Evaluation. For that we used the circle model which is out of the Nordic Welfare Center. I recognize a lot of names on this call so many of you may have -- may be well familiar with how obsessed that we are with this book. But there's a book called if you could see it you can support it from the Nordic Welfare Center. There it is. Shanna's showing it. It's brilliant. And the circle model is captured within that publication, and they gave us permission to reprint that in this. So, the next slide we'll show you a picture of what that looks like. So, this is the circle model from the Nordic Welfare Center. And so, what we did is we took this model that they have here and we outlined it in being able to explain what each of these things mean and then we made a how-to chart that gives you really just the questions that you're answering and what exactly you're looking for in that student to be able to evaluate in these areas and report on those things. >>Shanna: Good? Yeah. There's a Functional Vision Evaluation and Learning Media Assessment. One of the questions is who is responsible for conducting the Functional Vision Evaluation and Learning Media Assessment. So that is still the responsibility of the TSVI, the teacher of students with visual impairments. And we also are asking what is the TDHH's role in supporting this evaluation. Kaycee, if you want to talk about that? >>Kaycee: Sure. For a student who is Deafblind, there is not an evaluation that can be done in silos. We have to work together and team for every single area because their hearing and their vision affect everything. And so, we've got to work together. So, for these Functional Vision Evaluation and Learning Media Assessments of course the TSVI will have the lead role in evaluating these areas but the teacher of the Deaf and hard of hearing has got to be actively involved and the teacher of students who are Deafblind where you have one obviously will be heavily involved in these areas. Because we really can't talk about how a student is using their functional vision. We can't really talk about their literacy and the way that they are learning and accessing materials without talking about their access as a whole, their language as a whole, their communication mode as a whole. And that can't be done by themselves. We have to work together across all areas. So, there's a lot more in-depth information in the publication about teaming and working together and how to actually make that work. And obviously for the TDB, you know, how to be that team lead and facilitate those things. That one's functional vision. And then kind of just the same flipped for the communication evaluation. The communication evaluation is the lead person, that evaluation will be the teacher for Deaf and hard of hearing but not by themselves. Hopefully now, even for students who don't have visual impairments they're not doing it by themselves. Hopefully the speech language pathologist is actively involved. In the case of students who are Deafblind we also need that teacher for students with visual impairments to be actively involved, evaluating, communication mode, language development, functional hearing, all of it together. And then of course the TDB, if you have a TDB on staff. >>Shanna: Yeah. And if you internally are having a moment where you're like how am I going to do this? Don't worry. The book definitely will outline and explain these different evaluations. So, like for myself, because I'm a TSVI but I'm not a TDHH and I'm not a TDB, you know, the communication evaluation section of this publication is really beneficial for me to read and look into as well as the how-to chart. Because it helps explain how I can support the TDHH or the TDB or also work with the speech language pathologist in how to make sure that the right accommodations are being given to that student, not only during the evaluation process but then afterwards and how that all -- how everybody is working together in a multidisciplinary approach to the student's education. So, and if you are a TDHH, same with the FVE, LMA. You're going to get all that really good information. It includes new information specific to the student who is Deafblind. >>Kaycee: Another exciting part of this publication is within the Expanded Core Curriculum section. We did create a Deafblind Expanded Core Curriculum. Here in Texas the Expanded Core Curriculum for students with visual impairments is mandated. It's legally required here that it is worked on, evaluated. For students who are Deafblind or Deaf and hard of hearing. We have an Expanded Core Curriculum, we have two, actually, but they are not mandated. And so, there's kind of that difference. And because it's not mandated a lot of times people don't even know about the Expanded Core Curriculum for students who are Deaf and hard of hearing. There's one that was created out of Iowa and there was one that was created in Canada from APSVA. And we used the ECC for students with visual impairments and then we used the APSVA version for the Deaf and hard of hearing at ECC and looked at what is missing. The ECC is not a standalone. It's you did this one, you did this one, what is missing? What do we need to do in addition? And so, we looked at those things and came up with -- there's seven areas and it has -- it outlines questions to consider for the committee and evaluating team to consider. And there's also a little chart that shows which areas overlap with which existing ECC area, whether it is Deaf or hard of hearing. That's all included in the Deafblind ECC. There are a couple of questions. Does the Deafblind ECC correlate with the TSBVI evals kit? No, this is looking specifically for students who are Deafblind. And, again, it's the in-addition piece to what is already in existence. And then the other question is why is it not mandated for AI, which is Deaf and hard of hearing. They have not mandated it. It is not in our legal framework. You know, I don't know that that is on the docket to happen either. It is for VI and it is not for Deaf and hard of hearing. But it is best practice to use it for both disciplines and then now hopefully this will be a helpful layer to ensure that those Deafblind specific expanded core items don't get overlooked for our students. >>Shanna: And this publication does specify each ECC. So, we do have the ECC for VI. We have it for TDHH and we have it for Deafblind. So, you're able to see them all in isolation but then you're able to cross reference them and see how things -- how there are similarities and then how there are major differences and how that Deafblind ECC fills in the gaps that the other two don't address. We're looking at having a combination of both of your distance senses being limited and so it's different than if you had one or the other. So, this Deafblind ECC hopefully will give you some other things to consider when you're looking at programming for your student. >>Kaycee: Yes. And it includes things like co-navigators or interveners and things that you won't find in the separate ECC categories. Someone asked where we find the Deafblind ECC document. It is actually a chapter within this new publication, so you'll find that within the publication and then it's also in the digital files of the publication as well. >>Shanna: Yes. And side note -- I guess this is more of a personal preference. One of the areas I found the most interesting on a personal level was the stress management. We talk about self-determination and advocacy, like you can see on the screen here now. But I think coming up with really concrete ways of managing the stress of having a loss in vision and hearing is really important for these students in order to have that self-determination and advocacy skill is also to manage their own stress. And so that's something that kind of just stuck out to me as the Deafblind ECC was being created. So here is just a little clip of our guidance doc. This is one of the chapters in our publication, guidance for completing evaluations. And this is a little screenshot about the eligibility statement for students who are Deafblind. This is, I believe, the one specific to Texas. And so, this might not apply where you are currently but we do give you an example of what's required in the State of Texas and kind of the language that we use here. In the guidance, kind of how I mentioned earlier in the table of contents, this is going to give you more of a deep dive into every section of each evaluation. You're going to get the purpose behind the evaluation. You're going to get the how to, like how to actually complete this, and a lot of really good detailed information about why it's important and necessary for our students. >>Kaycee: We mentioned the handbook but it started as a section in this guidance, the Tactile-Bodily Handbook did. Because it was so in-depth and so lengthy, we actually pulled it out and made it a separate chapter so it didn't make this guidance so overwhelming. But basics within this guidance document and then the -- all of the other evaluations also are included in this guidance document. So, you can go through and they directly correlate to the how-to charts. If there's something in a how-to chart that you need more information on, it directly relates back to the guidance document so you can read more in depth about that area. >>Shanna: The next chapter or section in our publication are the report templates. It's basically a skeleton outline that is based off the guidance document but with all of that extra information pulled out of it so you can use this as a template, as a guide for completing these evaluations with your student. Some districts, some states have their own templates or their own required, you know, ways of reporting information, so maybe you can use this, maybe you can't but you'll at least be able to see how an entire report is laid out and includes every single assessment that we have in this publication. >>Kaycee: Yes. We did put them all together on purpose. It starts with what you're seeing on the screen now. It just has the general information about the student name, date of birth, age, all that stuff. And then at the very, very end it has like the signature page where everybody would sign. They have headings about which section you're in. That way if, like Shanna is saying, you do need to submit just your Functional Vision Evaluation independently into your system, you can do that. You can cut it and put it into there. But we did include it as one document because we are recommending in a best practice world that we are looking holistically at this entire report, the media, communication, and the Expanded Core. They're all together. That somebody is not picking out and reading just one portion, that they're reading this as a holistic document. We know in our current time in the real world that is not always going to be available. They're not going to always have systems in place for that yet. And so, we did create it where it has the heading so that you can see the clear start and finish of each section and have the report template that you need for your discipline area if you're needing to submit them separately. >>Shanna: Okay. And so, what you see on the screen now is a screenshot of one of the pages of our Functional Tactile-Bodily Evaluation how-to charts. This is -- this one on the screen is particular to the bio-behavioral state and neurological readiness. This is how all of our how-to charts are set up. You're going to find the behavior in the far left-hand column. You have guiding questions in the next column to the right. To learn more on this topic -- and we gave links so if you purchased the digital version you'll be able to directly click the link. It will take you to that document. If you purchase the print copy, you have a QR code in the book that you can scan and it will take you to all of your additional resources. And so, all of these, to learn more on this topic, will be in the additional resources section. Any way you purchase the publication you're serving all of these additional resources. And we can talk about that more a little bit later. To the next column to the right, possible educational implications. And then your far-right column would be recommendations that we've provided. So just to give you an example, this first one across the top, we're looking at what tactile-bodily information strategy or category is the student most interested in. So, if you are familiar with the van Dijk approach to assessment you might be familiar with the terminology of appetites and aversions. Appetites would be what is the student most interested in. One of our most guiding questions we provided is the student interested in soft touch, deep pressure, vibration, et cetera. We gave the van Dijk approach to assessment and we gave another article about bio-behavioral states. When is a student ready to learn. So, if you are unfamiliar with that information about what a bio-behavioral state is, you can use that additional resource to help you. Then if you're looking at the possible educational information, we have staff will need to understand the student's tactile-bodily appetites to be able to support their needs for interaction with those objects. So, if you know that a child really enjoys soft touch, that might be an approach that you use in order to communicate with that student and provide educational information to that student. The recommendations. Staff can plan lessons around the appetites and create interesting topics for the student. So that's just one example of a way you can walk through this how-to chart. Kaycee, do you want to add more on it? >>Kaycee: Yes. Just that in some of the other areas, specifically within this Tactile-Bodily Evaluation, some of the terminology that's in that far left column may be brand new and so what we really try to do is make that second column the guiding questions. To clarify and to give examples of exactly what you're looking for. So, you should be able to pick up this how-to chart and look through that second column, the guiding questions column, and be able to answer those questions about your student and have the information that you need to write your report. That's the goal. And the far right two columns are more of the kind of why are you doing this and what are you doing the do with this information. But, yes. The goal is many of you are itinerant and very busy and we wanted something for you to pick up and have right there in front of you exactly what you're looking for and how to do this evaluation. >>Shanna: And, you know, this obviously isn't an exhaustive list so it's just a recommendation. It doesn't mean it's going to work for your student but just to get you thinking on the right track and kind of open up your mind and perspective of what that might look like for the student that you're assessing at the time. Then we have our additional resources. And don't worry. It doesn't really look like this screenshot anymore. We have taken everything out and everything is now in individual PDF. Like I said before, if you have the print copy of the book, you'll get a QR code in the book that you can scan. It will take you to all of your additional resources. All of these are single PDFs so you're not going to necessarily to different websites and all of this thing. You're just getting the actual document that we want you to look at. We've been given permission by all of these authors to use these things free of cost to you. So hopefully you find them beneficial and are able to use them. I know y'all don't have a lot of time but if you ever do have time to get into additional reading, we tried to provide you with the most current and updated information specific to students who are Deafblind. If you're in the digital resource, a lot of these -- there is a link in the publication that you can click instead of a QR code that takes you to all of these additional resources. >>Kaycee: Shanna briefly touched on this but the authors gave us permission to not only share these with you but to actually store them. And so, what that means for you is that the links will not break. They are kept all in one Google folder by TSBVI and so all of these links go to the direct PDFs and not the websites. Like when we got a new TSBVI website, lots of links broke that we had shared everywhere and we know that happens with lots of different organizations as they grow and develop and create new things. And so, everybody was so -- all these authors were so gracious and let us house these so that we could ensure that this publication lasts you a long time and that you have access no matter what changes happen around the internet. >>Shanna: And one of the -- a couple of the other things that we've provided in these additional resources is that we've made the Learning Media Assessment forms that you find in the publication, we've actually made them a fillable PDF so you can fill those out just in PDF format. You don't have to worry about like, you know, scanning your print copy and making your own. That's the same with the interview forms. So, all of those are fillable PDFs. If you wanted to share that with a staff member or just have it up on your computer as you're talking to a parent or you're talking to another staff member or even your student, if they're able to answer questions for you, those are all fillable PDFs. So, and then because we've had permission to house all of these things if, for some reason, there is an update or on TSBVI's end we're updating something, those additional resources will be updated pretty regularly to stay current. So, you should always, every time you visit that resource you should be getting the most updated version. So, this portion is just where and how to purchase it. We have -- like Kaycee mentioned, we have our new website. So, if you go to tsbvi.edu, this is now the face of our online store. If you are looking at this top bar, we're under statewide resources, curriculum publications. I'm going to click on that so you can see how we go through it. Curriculum publications, you can click on free publications. We do offer some free ones. This is not one of them but you have some other ones you can look at. If you want to learn more about our curriculum department you can click there or if you scroll down you can visit the curriculum store. By clicking on that it will take you to the store. You can do an online search. You can see I have searched essential tools, conversations without language. All of those things. Or if you scroll down, we do have our featured publications and you can find it here. Essential tools of the trade. The print book is currently available at $150. You can view the details. It gives you a little bit of information about the product and how you can add it to your cart. And then we are working on making the digital copy fully accessible with a screen reader. We're running into a few issues with some of the charts and how they read with JAWS and some other screen readers but it's almost ready to go. So, if you have time and you want to wait for the digital version, that one will be up for sale shortly and it's going to be a little less expensive than the print book. I believe it will be listed for $120 instead of $150. Just so you are aware of that. Was there anything else, Kaycee, that you wanted to say about that before we end? >>Kaycee: I don't think so. I just wanted to show in the meantime the Texas Deafblind Project website for some of the other resources. I'm going to share my screen. Sorry, I edit the website so you get this fun extra stuff that I can't make go away. Okay. So, if you are on the home page, it's TXdeafblindproject.org. And then you can go in to resources and topical resources. You'll see assessment tools is the first section and there's so many tools. Some that we, TSBVI created, and some that are other partners around the world created. You'll find those there. There's some general information. There's early childhood resources. Educational considerations. Family engagement. General hearing info. IEP development tools. Individual and family perspectives. Information on proficient communicators. Information on qualified personnel. That includes our Texas State standards for TDBs if you're interested. That's the bottom bullet. Sexuality education. Tactile learning and tactile language. This whole section is from the Nordic Welfare Center so that book that we talked about before that Kate dropped the link for is the top bullet. Tactile working memory scale is also in here. They are brilliant people. Check that out if you haven't yet. Transition planning in Texas. And then some general vision info. You can find all of that here. >>Shanna: On the Nordic Welfare Center information, just so y'all know, when you visit their website, you can actually purchase a copy of all of those books for free. So, they will send and ship it for free. It does take a while to get to you from Norway but it's free, so if you just wait it out you can get your copies. And it was a very easy process to do. >>Kaycee: Yes. Shanna shared if you're on the constant contact list you'll get an e-mail notification when the digital version is available. Alex asked how to get on that list. Alex, you're on the list but if you have purchased things from us before, if you have attended trainings with us before, you are on our constant contact list. But if you want to make sure that -- if you're not sure if you're on it and you want to make sure that you're on it, you can absolutely e-mail us. Shanna, if you'll pop up that last slide that has our e-mails on there. You can e-mail myself or Shanna if you have any other questions, thoughts or as you start using the publication if you have questions or want to talk through anything that you find in the publication, feel free to reach out. We're here to support you. We hope that you find it helpful and excited to share it with everybody. We're excited that this is published.