Early Literacy:Early Literacy:Perkins Panda Perkins Panda Early Literacy:Early Literacy:Perkins Panda Perkins Panda

Tom MillerTom MillerEducational Partnerships ProgramEducational Partnerships Program

Perkins School for the BlindPerkins School for the Blind

Early Literacy

•What is Literacy????

Early Literacy

• “Literacy in its most basic form is the ability both to understand and to express one’s feelings, desires and experiences to others.”

Perkins Panda Resource Guide, p. 7, 2002

Early Literacy

• How does literacy develop?

Early Literacy

• “Experiences are at the heart of literacy development.”

• Perkins Panda Resource Guide, p 6, 2002

Early Literacy Language development Hierarchy

Verbal Symbolic BehaviorVisual Expressive language: WritingVisual Receptive Language: ReadingAuditory Expressive Language: Speech

Auditory Receptive Language:Comprehending the Spoken Word

Inner LanguageVisual/Auditory Symbol and experience

EXPERIENCEMyklebust, Psychology of Deafness, 1969

Early Literacy

• How might visual impairment and/or additional disabilities affect literacy development?

Early Literacy

• Primary issue is the loss of incidental learning– ACCESS to the full sensory experiences of life which enable us to build an understanding of the world.

Early Literacy

• What is our role as parents, caregivers and professionals in literacy development?

Early Literacy

• As families, caregivers and professionals our primary role is enabling the child to “read the world.”

• Rosenketter, Learning to Read the World, p. 4, 2004

Early LiteracyThe Perkins Panda Early Literacy

Program is designed to encourage:

• Connections between caregiver and child

• Literacy opportunities which focus on play and social interaction

Early Literacy• To enable the child to read the

world you need:• PRESENCE– being there when child

reaches for a toy, smiles, and responding with acknowledgement, pleasure, and verbal labels.

• Rosenketter, Learning to Read the World, p. 6, 2004

Early Literacy• Music and songs create a fun

opportunity for being “present” with your child.

• An opportunity for movement, concept development and social interaction.

Early Literacy

• TIME– to notice and expand on the child’s efforts, to explain actions and words, and to share, label and jointly experience everyday activities.

• Rosenketter, Learning to Read the World, p. 6, 2004

Early Literacy

• Opportunities for literacy learning exist within all our day to day experiences with our child.

Early Literacy

• WORDS– well chosen to encourage child’s efforts, words combined with waiting for the child’s first communication attempts via whole body movements, gesturing, vocalizations or pseudo-words.

• Rosenketter, Learning to Read the World, p. 6, 2004

Early Literacy

• Literacy is more than words.

• Literacy involves the ability to “read” and communicate one’s needs and desires through objects, symbols, pictures, sign, gestures, or print.

Early Literacy

• PRINT– acknowledge and expose the child to the many forms of print (symbols, pictures, Braille) in their day to day life.

• Rosenketter, Learning to Read the World, p. 6, 2004

Early Literacy

• Successful literacy development connects objects, words, symbols, or pictures to the child’s experiences.

• Literacy gives meaning to your child’s world and connects them to others.

Early LiteracyINTENTION– repeatedly and emphatically emphasize the lifelong importance of (for both adult and child) of words and print.

• (tangible symbols; objects; pictures, Braille)

• Rosenketter, Learning to Read the World, p. 6, 2004

Early Literacy

• Key message is:• “ Language works. Print,

objects, symbols, braille are fun. They make my life better.”

• Rosenketter, Learning to Read the World, p. 6, 2004

Early Literacy• Literacy development is grounded

in our interactions with the child with visual impairments

andIn how we make everyday experiences and concepts accessible.