Real-Life Learning Making the Most of Everyday and Special Activities 1

Learning Objectives Participants will: Understand the value of real-life learning opportunities Be familiar with strategies to help build on the educational value of everyday and special activities Learn ways to capitalize on real-life learning activities across home and school environments 2

What is Real-Life Learning? Learning in the moment, doing actual activities- not "seat work" Functional, real-life learning goes beyond schedules and activities of daily living Dr. Barbara McLetchie says, "To live, to love, to work, and to play" 3

Why Engage in Real-Life Learning? Children who are deafblind are more motivated to communicate in naturally occurring situations Children who are deafblind do not generalize knowledge and skills well- learning by doing actual activities suits their learning style Contrived lessons are difficult to make meaningful and engaging for this population 4

What is meaningful? Think in terms of these questions: Will the skills involved in this activity help the learner in the future? Will the learner enjoy her/himself because of this activity? If the learner does not acquire this skill, will someone else have to do it for her/him (i.e. will this increase independence)? 5

Making the Most of Real-Life Learning All kinds of vocabulary and skills can be practiced during activities IEP goals and objectives can be met by capitalizing on everyday and special activities Using schedules, experience boxes, experience books, recipes, and/or journals will allow you to build on activities 6

Schedules 7

Object Schedule 8

Going to School 9

Basic Picture Schedule 10

A More Complex Schedule

Polling Question 1 12

Experience Boxes 13

Going to the Beach 14

Experience Books 15

Taking a Bath 16

Changing a Pad...pc 17

Polling Question 2 18

Recipes 19

Making Pudding 20

Making a Salad 21

Making Pizza 22

Journals 23

Writing about Emotions 24

Great, but I don’t have time… Collecting materials should always happen WITH the learner who is deafblind- that way her/his interests are captured Boxes, books, journals, etc. should be created WITH the learner- this becomes a learning experience in and of itself 25

Great, but I don’t have time… Allow the development of materials to be a planned activity, rich with learning opportunities Keep what you have created and use it over time to continue to build on the memories 26

Capitalizing on Experiences- Communication at Home and at School As human beings, we like to share about our experiences Sending boxes, books, and journals used at home in to school allows your child to share her/his weekend/vacation with staff and classmates 27

Capitalizing on Experiences- Communication at Home and at School Sending boxes, books, and journals used at school home with your student allows her/him to share stories with family members, caregivers, and neighbors This is not the same, and therefore does not replace, adult to adult communication books! 28

Polling Question 3 29

Building Relationships and Fostering Skills The person who is deafblind is empowered to share her/his stories with others Sharing stories about experiences is a means of bonding Sharing emotions increases the power of a story, intensifies the bonding experience 30

Building Relationships and Fostering Skills Using real-life activities helps to motivate learners who are deafblind to learn important skills Taking the time to create schedules, experience books, experience boxes, recipes, and journals broadens the opportunities for bonding and building communication and language skills 31

Remember… Don't rush – seize the learning within the moment Make sure to have what Dr. Jan van Dijk refers to as, "moments of joy!“ – have fun and enjoy! 32

33 Thank You!

References Kennedy, B.M.S., Cote, M., Foster, D., Lester, J., McGowan, P., Miranda, L., Sanders, D. (2013). Progressing from Non-Symbolic to Symbolic Communication and Complex Language. In Open Hands Open Access Intervener Learning Modules. National Center on Deaf-Blindness. McLetchie, B., Zatta, M. To Live, To Love, To Work, and To Play [webcast] Retrieved from Miles, B., & Riggio, R. (Eds.). (1999). Remarkable Conversations. Watertown, MA: Perkins School for the Blind. Real Life Learning, Part 2.” September, presented with Dr. Barbara McLetchie. Intervener Training Series, DeafBlind Central Training, Mount Pleasant, Michigan 34