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Michael is a 10 year old student who is eager to learn about new subjects. Though Michael has limited vision and movement, and does not speak, he shows regular attempts to communicate through non-symbolic methods and gestures. As part of our work with Michael, we will be collaborating with Michael's IEP team, including general and special education teachers, occupational therapists, and speech therapists to help Michael develop a communication system and continue to show progress towards his goals. In this plan, find suggestions for assistive technology and instructional strategies that we are looking to implement.

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Due to Michael's need to develop a communication system, Michael could use tactile symbols to aid in communication and through touch. Though Michael has limited mobility, he does have movement in one of his hands and arms.

Tactile symbols are a form of literacy for emerging communicators, and are particularly in the Deaf Blind community, and as an alternative for students who cannot see picture symbols on a PECS board or cannot read braille yet.

The teacher and paraeducator could start out by creating tactile symbols that are related to stories and general education curriculum being discussed in Michael's classes. It would be important to develop concrete symbols, and eventually work towards helping Michael to identify parts of objects as symbols

Michael could also be taught to use a tactile symbol board to eventually ask for things that he needs in addition to his non symbolic communication gestures.

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Building Daily Calendar with Tactile Symbols

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Building Daily Calendar with Tactile Symbols

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While working with Michael to develop a tactile based communication system, teachers as para educators could work with him to practice developing a calendar-based communication system. Practicing methods, similar to the ones found in this video would allow Michael to practice associating particular tactile symbols with his daily routine Over time, this could allow him to communicate where he is going and what is happening in his day.

Developing this skill is important because it gives Michael greater predictability over his day and allows an easy access point to begin practicing his communication system using standard and repeatable vocabulary. This is important for Michael because it uses his sensory input and provides him a response mode using symbolic communication.

For some additional examples of tactile calendars and how to make them,view the resources on this link from the Perkins School for the Blind: https://www.perkins.org/resource/partial-and-tactile-calendar-system/

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Tania Builds Daily Calendar with Tactile Symbols and Sign Practice (complete version)

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Because of Michael's mobility needs, he will need to have a desk that is more responsive to his needs. A standard flat classroom desk may further inhibit him from being able to use his respond and use his mobility to engage in general education curriculum.

Michael could use a desk, such as the example found above to adjust to his height and angle the table to reduce strain from reaching to engage with with tactile symbols, manipulative, or other tools that he may be using during the school day. Additionally, the shape of the desk is more conducive to a mobility device that his parents or the school may provide for him to get around during the school day.

This will be important because it removes additional barriers in the way of Michael creating a communication system. If Michael needs to strain to be able to move and manipulate any switches, tactile symbols, or gesture towards adults in the classroom, it will make it more difficult for him to learn and develop his communication system. This low-tech approach to manipulating seating and positioning to the correct height and angle for a particular task will remove this barrier and allow greater access to education.

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While Michael is not identified as a student who is DeafBlind, innovations and tools used within the DeafBlind community may be another tool to help him develop a communication system. The Pro-Tactile language would allow adults working with Michael to tell him what they are doing during his day. A teacher or para educator could slowly teach Michael to use and understand Pro-Tactile while he is developing a sense of literacy through tactile symbols.

Michael's biggest hurdle to using Pro-Tactile would be through establishing reciprocal conversations. Given that he is limited to mobility on just one arm, he may find responding difficult and possibly frustrating. For this reason, it would be important to allow Michael time to respond and to model and reinforce the gestures he would need to make to communicate. Adults working with Michael could be trained to understand and respond to modified Pro-Tactile signs that are suited to Michael's level of mobility. Over time, Michael may be able to use pro-tactile as a language to communicate his needs and possibly to engage with classroom curriculum.

This would likely require collaboration between related service providers offering support with occupational and physical therapy, in addition to specialists in the DeafBlind community to tailor a system that Michael could use.

Additional information on ProTactile and it's benefits can be found in this article from the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

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Michael does not currently have a method to communicate his academic learning. Despite his current inconsistent responses, we believe that Michael has the potential to engage in his general education settings using a communication system that is tailored to his needs. We must address his physical need of having classroom seating and a desk that removes additional barriers to his non-symbolic communication. In this plan, we have identified an example of a desk that could be modified to Michael's needs that would reduce strain to engage and manipulate any tools that are given to him to complete work in the classroom. Additionally, tactile symbols are a way to give Michael a symbolic form of language and communication that does not require the use of his voice or vision to see a PECS board. We can start off by using tactile symbols that Michael can identify with to talk about his day and give him prompts to ask for what he needs. Over time, this can develop into a more robust system where Michael can talk about his day, create a schedule, or use tactile symbols that align with general education curriculum to engage along-side his peers. Simultaneously, Michael can be taught to use Pro-Tactile signs to both receive and respond to information. Though Michael is legally blind and has limited mobility, Pro-Tactile can still be used to communicate with Michael about things happening in the classroom. Michael's mobility may require modifications to Pro-tactile communication to allow him to respond. To be successful, this communication method must be taught, reinforced, and practiced consistently through the support of teachers, para educators, occupational and physical therapists, and specialist in working with students who are DeafBlind and have limited mobility.

With these tools and instructional supports in place, Michael can develop a communication system that will allow him to meet his needs during school and in a post-school setting. In spite of other supports he may need, creating a communication system will allow Michael to become more resilient and support an ultimate goal of greater independence as he matures.