ALSG 05-17-2018 This video is posted online with the following chapter markers: Chapter 1. Introduction & Web Updates Chapter 2. Using Active Learning Equipment Chapter 3. Resonance Board Chapter 4. Little Room Chapter 5. Support Bench Chapter 6. Essef Board Chapter 7. HOPSA Dress Chapter 8. Discussion Description of graphical content is included between Description Start and Description End. Transcript Start [Music] Fade up from black. Animation: Text for TSBVI transform into braille cells for TSBVI. [Music face out] Fade to black. Chapter 1. Introduction & Web Updates Kate: Hello, welcome to the final Active Learning Study Group webinar for the 2017‑2018 school year. And we're so glad that you're here joining us today. I have just a couple of things we're going to run through before we get to the main portion of our event. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Co-Host Content: center photo: Figure 2: Photo of Patty Obrzut center text: Patty Obrzut, Penrickton Center for Blind Children Description End: First off, I want to be sure and say hello to Patty Obrzut, our co‑host, who is here from the Penrickton in Michigan, Patty, are you there alone or do you have Jessica and others, with you? Patty: You're breaking up a little bit on my phone, I'm here with Jessica, our OT. Kate: Hi, I'm glad that you are here with us. I wanted to let you know, a perfect way to segue into it. [ Slide end: ] We do have dates set for our webinars for next year. I want to put those up and share them with you so you can be jotting them down in your calendar. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Webinar Dates Content: This is the last webinar of this school year, but we hope you’ll join us again next year! Save the dates: • September 27, 2018 • January 24, 2019 • April 18, 2019 Description End: Only three active learning study groups next year, in September on September 27th, on January 24th and on April 18th. [ Slide end: ] What's going to be so wonderful about these three webinars is that Jessica and Patty are going to be heading down to Texas in June and they're going to get into the studio and do the recording, so you'll be seeing a lot of them next year. And that's going to be very exciting. So we're not just hearing their lovely voices, but we also get to see them in action. Really looking forward to that. I'm awfully excited about it. Charlotte: Can I just add, we've made those links live so you can go ahead and register for those three webinars on the website. It's always a good idea to do that ahead of time so they don't get away from you and they get on your calendar and just a reminder you have to register for each one separately. Kate: Yeah, you do. I believe there will be one on the comprehending hand, early development and [indiscernible] And those are going to be really, really great webinars and I-- I want to make sure that if you have OTs and PTs and speech language therapists in your teams that haven't been attending these, they really should see these, whether they join in live or view them archived. So let me just jump on over to that little slide and tell you that as always, all of our Study Groups will be recorded and archived, usually about a week, two weeks after the fact. Up on our website. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Active Learning Newsletter Content: center graphic: Figure 4: Screenshot of the newsletter mailing list sign-up page center text: http://www.activelearningspace.org/ Description End: Another thing that you can do so you are sure to know when stuff is coming out, available to look at, you can subscribe to the active learning newsletter. Just requires your email address, first and last name, you don't share this with anyone. What's nice about this, you'll get maybe a once a newsletter from Charlotte that will give you all what's new and fabulous on the active learning space website, information about training might be in there. Just a variety of nice things, it's a good way to stay on top of what's happening in active learning and our world. Charlotte: Yes. Kate: Which is very good. Okay. [ Slide end: ] I wanted to talk a little bit about another thing that we've been doing, which is redesigning our website, hopefully you'll get a chance to go in there and look around. I wanted to give a shootout to a couple of people. First of all, Marybelle did the design for the new logo, we're really excited about that. She's the parent of a boy in San Antonio who uses an active learning approach and so we love that that's there. Also thank you to Trisha Borg and other people at Narbethong giving us a lot of feedback on the website. We tried to incorporate as much of that as we could. There is also a survey, I put the link in the chat box. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Redesigning Website Content: center graphic: Figure 5: Screenshot of new website Description End: If you can take a minute to fill that out, we are using your suggestions. It helps us to know what you would like to see. There's also another thing that I wanted to call your attention to on the website that's new, spending time later on your own, on the home page we've added a getting started block with a link to a-- to be able to look at you can navigate the site, kind of got a lot of information, now it's a little overwhelming for us. [ Slide end: ] But it's a nice way to sort of look at where to begin, where to go next. Like a roadmap, if you will, of the whole thing. Kate: Downloadable ‑‑ Charlotte: Exactly. PDF, and Kate has something about another really exciting development going on. Long, long coming, but we're finally there and as of June 1st, we will have the-- the first of a series of online self‑paced courses. On active learning available to everyone. They are available for credit. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Active Learning Modules Content: center graphic: Figure 6: Introduction to Active Learning Principles Description End: The first of that series is called introduction to active learning principles. And it will, I think, go through-- just another way to go through the material that's on the website but in a very guided way. [ Slide end: ] So I think that you guys will want to definitely access that for your own training or to share with others. I know a lot of folks are-- of-- in Texas were experimenting with doing sort of a flipped learning where we take, you know, part of the modules and then come together as a small group and have a little discussion about it. So that's kind of fun. And it's also a nice way to help family members, paraprofessionals, even your administrator learning more about active learning when they may not have a lot of time to like get loose and go to training and stuff like that. Charlotte: Yeah, and we're going to continue to create those. Kate: Yes, I'll be working pretty much exclusively on that next year. Hope to have it all completed and ready to go by January of 2019. Exciting. Charlotte: Before we switch over to the prerecorded part, I just want to acknowledge how exciting it is to see people from all over the United States as well as other parts of the world. It's always great to see you all write in the chat box where you are from and what you are doing. We're very excited. It's nice to see the site and the community take on a life of its own. Kate: Yeah, yeah. Charlotte: As we mentioned, we're going to switch to the prerecorded part. That enables us to try to get rid of some of the technical glitches which is why we do it ahead of time. We will be on here monitoring the chat box and then we'll come back at the end to discuss any questions that you might have. All right, here we go. Chapter 2. Using Active Learning Equipment [ Video start: ] Charlotte: We start nearly every one of our webinars by reminding you that Active Learning is an approach and not a piece of equipment. We still believe that, but we also want to spend some time today looking at different pieces of equipment, or what Dr. Lilli Nielsen called “Perceptualizing Aids”. We are going to focus on the major pieces of equipment today, namely the Resonance Board, Little Room, Support Bench, Essef Board and the HOPSA dress. When people think of Active Learning, they often think of specific pieces of equipment, rather than a whole approach. While the equipment itself can be a helpful tool to promote development with visual impairments and multiple disabilities, it is critical to understand that it is only one piece of the whole picture. If you would like to understand more about the different pieces of equipment, or perceptualizing aids, we recommend that you read “Early Learning Step by Step”, which can be ordered from LilliWorks. There are also two DVDs on Perceptualizing Aids, which are also available from LilliWorks. They take you through each piece of equipment, including what it is, what its purpose is, and how to use it. We see here a quote from Dr. Nielsen, in her book “Early Learning Step by Step, saying that, quote, "Movement is a pre-requisite to learning," unquote. She goes on to say that when a child is motorically active, he learns that certain movements lead to certain results. As a child moves, things happen-- a string of beads moves when he touches it, a piece of wood makes a noise when he bangs on it. These movements are initially unintentional, but they become intentional through repetition. In other words, the child likes the sound she heard, so she tries to figure out how to make it happen again. Our job as educators, parents, or therapists is to create an environment that both facilitates and inspires movement. We want to be sure that children are positioned optimally, so that they can move as independently as possible. Many learners with visual impairments and significant disabilities become quite passive, waiting for an adult to make something happen. Our goal is to encourage all children to be actively engaged-- exploring and experimenting, comparing and playing. In order for this to happen we may need to use specific pieces of equipment to help facilitate independent movement and exploration, as well as ensuring that there are interesting objects and materials available within reach to compare and experiment with. Dr. Nielsen reminds us that, “In order to devise appropriate environments from which the child can learn, it is necessary to know as much as possible about what the child already is able to do, and in which direction his interest is heading.” As teachers, we know that, as in all instruction, it is imperative that we start with assessment. What can the child currently do? There are a number of sources to use to get at this information. We recommend the use of the Functional Scheme assessment for students who are functioning below a 48-month developmental level. This is a tool that was developed by Dr. Nielsen and it is also available through LilliWorks, and it is geared toward students who are sensorimotor and early pre-operational level learners. It is also important, if the student has CVI, or Cortical Visual Impairment, to understand where he or she is on the CVI Range, so that appropriate adaptation of materials can be done. If the child does not have language at an age when some language should have developed, make sure you know how well the child’s hearing is functioning. The IFHE, or Informal Functional Hearing Evaluation, is a tool that can be used to look at functional hearing. The links to these are included in your handout. A learner’s skills determine activities, all of which are motor-based. It’s important to alternate between fine and gross motor activities throughout the day, and to include at least 30-45 minutes per day of adult-child interactions. The FIELA curriculum has lots of ideas that you can try. Some people say that they don’t know where to start, because their child or student doesn’t move independently. Patty Obrzut, from the Penrickton Center, tells us about a child whose parents said that she didn’t show a response to anything; made no independent movements and showed no preferences for anything. But, knowing that the child was ALIVE, Patty knew that this child was breathing, and that itself is a movement. She positioned the child lying on his back on a Resonance Board, and placed a plate with marbles on it on the child’s chest. Every time the child breathed, the marbles started to roll around. Soon the child realized that his breath was causing this movement, and he started to experiment with his breathing; taking big deep breaths and many quick small breaths. I think this is a great reminder that ANY child can learn, and ANY child can move, if only through breathing. There are 4 basic principles in designing Active Learning environments. First is feedback. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Design Principles of Active Learning Content: • Feedback: Supply strong responses in multiple modes (auditory, tactile, visual) • —Support: Child must be supported so as not to be in pain, typically not bearing weight on their legs fully or even partially • —Richness: Thick with objects so that minor actions are rewarded with feedback. • Variety: Must be changed periodically—probably more often than we are inclined to think. Description End: The environment must supply strong responses in multiple modes; auditory, tactile, visual. So there should be things for the child to hear, touch and look at. The second principle is support. The child must be supported, so as not to be in pain, typically not bearing weight on their legs fully or even partially. We’ll look at some types of equipment, such as the HOPSA dress, which offers support to the child, and allows them to move their legs without requiring them to bear weight on their legs. The third principle is richness, which is related to feedback. The environment must be thick with objects so that minor actions are rewarded with feedback. In other words, any little movement should produce some kind of feedback. Variety is the last design principle. However rich and responsive the environment is, it must be changed periodically-- probably more often than we are inclined to think. Chapter 3. Resonance Board Okay, let’s start looking at some pieces of equipment now. The first perceptualizing aid we’re going to look at is the Resonance Board. If you only get one piece of large equipment, this is a good one to start with. A Resonance Board is a very inexpensive piece of equipment that can be used to increase the child’s own activity, and is often used in combination with other pieces of equipment, and for adult-child interaction. Play on the Resonance Board helps the child’s spatial awareness, and the drum-like effect of the board helps with auditory awareness and perception. It’s a perfect place to let a child explore different objects, or a place for an adult to either offer objects, or imitate what the child does with the object. While it is preferable to purchase some of the equipment that we’re going to discuss today, Dr. Nielsen herself said that you can make your own Resonance Board. Many people get help from the school industrial arts class, scouts, local woodworkers, and grandparents to build their own. Just make certain that zealous do-it-yourselfers stick with Dr. Nielsen’s design so they don’t over-engineer the board and lose the flexibility of the wooden surface, which is what provides the auditory and tactile feedback. It's also possible to make or purchase a folding Resonance Board, which can be really helpful if you are an itinerant teacher or therapist, or if you have limited storage space. If you do make a folding Resonance Board, be aware that the hinges may break, and it is really important to be sure that you have strengthened them. Many thanks to Sally Cameron from Nova Scotia, who shared step-by-step instruction on how to make your own folding Resonance Board. We’ve posted that on our site. If you don’t choose to make your own, you can also purchase Resonance Boards from LilliWorks. Use a piece of birch plywood that is 4 feet by 4 feet. Along the edge of the underside you apply a wooden strip, which is 2 x 2 cm or approximately ¾ inch. It is very important to apply the strip along the edge and that the strip is not wider than 2 cm. If the board is correctly made, the sounds that the child produces on the sounding board will be transmitted through the fibers of the wood, and will be felt by the child on other parts of his or her body. The sounds will get a prolonged and a reinforced effect, which is important to the child’s motivation for increased activity. Some people worry that a Resonance Board will not be comfortable, as it is plain piece of wood. They may be tempted to put blankets, mats, or pillows on top of it, but that really defeats the whole purpose. A link to the directions is provided in your handout. As I was preparing for this webinar and looking through photographs, I realized that the majority of the Active Learning photos I have include a Resonance Board! As we mentioned, a Resonance Board can be used alone, or in combination with other pieces of equipment, such as a Little Room, an Essef Board, a Support Bench or a HOPSA dress. In this slide you can see 5 examples of a Resonance Board being used in combination with other equipment. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Resonance Board Content: center graphic: Figure 10: 5 photos of resonance boards being used together with other pieces of equipment: (clockwise) Little Room, Ball Forest, HOPSA dress, Activity Wall, Support Bench Description End: The top right shows a child lying supine on a Resonance Board in a Little Room. Below that on the right we see a girl on a Support Bench on a Resonance Board. In the middle we see a ball forest on a Resonance Board on two Essef boards. On the top right we see a girl in a HOPSA dress tap dancing on a Resonance Board, and on the bottom right we see a Resonance Board in front of an activity wall with several position boards. Okay, now we’re going to look at a very short video clip of a child in the Offering phase sitting on a Resonance Board with the support of an adult. Note the way that he vocalizes and responds to sounds that objects make when they fall on the Resonance Board. There is a link to the full video on the Active Learning Space site. [ Video start: ] Audio Description: A title reads, "Jack on a Resonance Board with Cindy." Narrator: Jack moves the ping pong balls some more and picks up another one. Again, he brings it to his mouth. Cindy adds more balls to the paddle drum. The balls are different weights, but comparable objects. Some are heavy golf balls, some are ping pong balls, and some are hollow wiffle balls, which invite comparison as Jack explores them. Cindy: [whispering] [Jack vocalizing] Audio Description: A title reads, "Penrickton Center for Blind Children." [ Video end: ] Charlotte: We invite you to learn more about the Resonance Board through the links in your handout. Chapter 4. Little Room The next piece of equipment, or perceptualizing aid, we’re going to look at is the Little Room. You often see a Little Room used with a Resonance Board. This is one of the more expensive pieces of equipment, and though there are knock-offs, this is one piece of equipment we recommend buying through LilliWorks. It has unique design features that are hard to duplicate in homemade versions that have to do with airflow, increasing child vocalizations, movement and range of motion of arms and legs, ease of observation of child, and more. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Selecting Perceptualizing Aids: Little Room Content: center photo: Figure 11: Child lying on his back in a Little Room on a Resonance Board center text: • Reaching • Scratching • Batting, rattling • Grasping/letting go • Mouthing • Kicking • Spatial orientation • Object concepts Description End: In this environment the child can work on reaching, scratching, batting, rattling, grasping, letting go, mouthing, kicking, spatial orientation, and object concepts. [ Slide end: ] In her book “Space and Self”, Dr. Lilli Nielsen explains that the purpose of the Little Room is to build an understanding of spatial relations, reaching behavior, and beginning object concepts. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Types of Little Rooms Content: center photo: Figure 12: Short Little Room (for small children lying down) Description End: There are different types of Little Rooms, and in this slide we see a short Little Room on a Resonance Board, which would be used with a child who is lying down. The Little Room on the right is taller and is designed for a child who is able to sit up independently. [ Slide end: ] The Little Room can be built in the size that best fits each child. In this slide you see the configurations designed by Lilli Nielsen. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Configurations of Little Rooms Content: center graphic: Figure 14: Measurements of 5 different configurations of Little Rooms Description End: As you can see, they are of different heights and lengths. Some models are designed to go over a child’s feet as well, so that when she kicks her legs, she will contact objects that are hanging above her feet. [ Slide end: ] The material in the Little Room must be provided with objects that hang from the ceiling and/or upon the walls, so whatever movements the child makes, he will come in tactile contact with the objects. It's a good idea to observe which qualities the child prefers, and we recommend that you use the Observation Form on our website, or design something similar. There is a link to this in your handout. We’re happy to let you know that one of our colleagues in Quebec has translated the form into French, and that is available on the site. We could easily fill more than one entire webinar just focusing on the Little Room, as there are so many points to discuss! One point that we really want to stress, is the importance of filling out the form or using your own form to look at the child’s existing skills, interests, and goals. The objects in the Little Room should match these! For example, some children may be working primarily on grasping, in which case you will want to select items that are easily grasp-able. Another child may be more focused on pushing objects to make sounds. This would call for a different set of objects. The objects should be well thought out, and be placed to chosen to support a child’s individual goals. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Choosing Objects for a Little Room Content: left-side text: Match child’s interests and skills! Objects should: • Be of pleasure to the child • Be graspable • Have tactile and auditory qualities • Vary in weight and temperature • Take into account the senses of taste and smell right-side photo: Figure 15: Collection of kitchen items, including measuring spoons, metal strainers, wooden spoons, wire whisks, and measuring cups Description End: Dr. Nielsen recommends that objects should have the following qualities. They should be of pleasure to the child, grasp-able, have tactile and auditory qualities, vary in weight and temperature, and take into account the senses of taste and smell; be visually inspiring, inspire him to play counting games, be changeable in shape, be comparable, as well as, present in such quantities that child has the opportunity to choose, combine his experiences, and play various sequence games. While we’re looking at this slide, I also wanted to point out the way that the objects are hung in the Little Room. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Choosing Objects for a Little Room Content: left-side photo: Figure 16: Items hanging from ceiling of Little Room, including toothbrushes, bracelets, hairbrushes, beaded necklaces right-side text: Description End: First of all, you can see that they are bunched, so that there are two toothbrushes, multiple bracelets, two hairbrushes, etc. [ Slide end: ] Hanging more than one of the same object together allows the child to compare them, as well as bang them together and explore their properties. I also wanted to point out that the items are hung fairly densely. This is an important part of Active Learning, namely that the environment is RICH and varied, so that wherever the child reaches or moves, she will come into contact with something that will invite her to reach out and explore. Finally, I wanted to call your attention to the way that the objects are actually hung. Note that elastic is used, and it is strung through plastic tubing, which makes it stronger and less likely to get tangled with the other elastic as the child plays in the Little Room. You can find a video on the Active Learning Space site showing you how to string the elastic through the tubing and then adding a wooden dowel to hold it in place. One question people often ask is how often the objects should be changed. Dr. Nielsen recommends changing objects when they are no longer exciting for the child. She also notes that it’s important to leave the child’s preferred object and not to change all of the objects at once. If you have been using the observation sheet I just mentioned, you’ll know which items the child is playing with most often and in what way she is using them. After several trials, if a child is not showing interest in a particular object, you can think about changing it. In the best of all possible worlds, each child would have his own lid, with objects that are of specific interest to him and addressing the skills he is working on. This also helps with germs. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Little Room Lids Content: center photo: Figure 17: Little Room lids arranged in cubbies Description End: In this photo from Penrickton Center for Blind Children, you’ll see the way that Little Room lids are stored in cubbies. [ Slide end: ] Another question that often comes up is how to put a child in a Little Room. Patty Obrzut has created step-by-step instructions, showing how to do this. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Putting a Child in a Little Room Content: center graphic: Figure 18: a) Little Room on resonance board; b) Child lying on resonance board with Little Room tipped up Description End: In the first picture on the left, you can see the Little Room on a Resonance Board. In the photo on the right, you can see that Patty lifts the Little Room up and lays the child down on her back on a Resonance Board. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Putting a Child in a Little Room Content: center graphic: Figure 19: a) Lowering the Little Room over a child; b) Child lying on resonance board in Little Room Description End: Next, Patty demonstrates how to lower the Little Room over the child. You can see the child is inside playing. [ Slide end: ] You then reverse the process to take the child out. The weight of this configuration of Little Room is about 40 pounds, but, as you can see, the adult never needs to lift it off the ground. This step-by-step sheet is on our website: We're now going to watch a short clip of a young boy, named Jack, in a Little Room. You can watch the full length clip on our website. [ Video start: ] Audio Description: A title reads, "Jack in a Little Room" [teacher, student and music in background] Narrator: Jack has his hands near his mouth. When he moves his hands he becomes aware of the items hanging near his face and hands. He seems to be especially interested in a metal bell, a wooden shaker, and a kickstand plate His grasping takes place in intervals of 2-3 seconds before he lets go. Here he is grasping a shaker and bringing it to his mouth. [ringing and rattling sounds] Narrator: As he encounters a variety of objects in this space, he is developing an awareness of spatial relations. [bell ringing] Narrator: As Jack moves his arms, his left hand touches something and he discovers items a bit further away from his face. He taps his mouth with his finger. He then starts to kick his feet and discovers that there are more items hanging above his legs. He alternates between mouth and feet for a time. Jack moves both arms and legs, as he continues to explore the many interesting items in his immediate environment. He is vocalizing as he does this, and the Resonance Board provides increased tactile and auditory feedback as he moves and experiments with sounds. [ringing and rattling] [vocalizing] Narrator: Jack lifts both legs up and brings them back down again a number of times. This movement helps him to develop gross motor skills, while he also works on fine motor, and cognitive skills. [ringing and rattling] Audio Description: A title reads, "Penrickton Center for Blind Children." [ Video end: ] Charlotte: I’ve seen seen that video many times, and I always love watching how very engaged and busy Jack is in the Little Room! We’re going to see two more examples of Little Rooms. This time you’ll see children sitting up in them. We’ll start with Anna. [ Video start: ] Audio Description: A title reads, "Anna in a Little Room." [Radio playing] Audio Description: Anna sits on a resonance board, in a little room. Around her, plastic and metal items are suspended at head height on elastic cord. With both hands, she brings a large plastic ring to her mouth. At the same time, she tugs on a metal cup using both her feet, holding it almost on the resonance board. She explores the plastic ring with both hands, and puts her finger through a large metal ring attached to it. She bangs on the wall behind her with her right hand. She bangs on the resonance board with her right hand. She continues to hold the plastic ring in her left hand, and the metal cup between her two feet. She bangs on the resonance board with her right hand. Her feet release the metal cup. It springs upward, tapping her forhead. She smiles, changes her grasp on the metal ring, from left to right hand, turns to her left, and pushes against the wall behind her. Anna: [Indiscernible] Audio Description: She bends down, and pulls the plastic ring, almost to the resonance board. She sits up straight, and pulls and squeezes the plastic ring with both hands. She reaches behind, and taps on the wall with her right hand. She releases the plastic ring and turns to the wall. Her forhead taps a small pan with a lid. She holds it in her left hand. Her right hand taps a large patch of artificial turf on the wall. [tapping] [metal tinkling] Audio Description: Anna brings the metal lid to her mouth. She holds the pan in her left hand, and the lid in her right hand. She bangs the pan against the wall. She reaches with her right hand to explore other items. She grasps a wooden tube with both hands and brings it to her mouth. She stretches the elastic cord and the tube slides down. A title reads, "Penrickton Center for Blind Children." [ Video end: ] Charlotte: And finally, we’ll watch Jordan sitting up in a Little Room. [ Video start: ] Audio Description: A title reads, "Jordan in a Little Room." [student and staff voices] Jordan: [verbalizing] Audio Description: Jordan sits on a resonance board, in a little room, facing the camera. Around him, plastic and metal items are suspended, at head height, on elastic cord. He grasps a set of castanets in his right hand and pulls them to his mouth. His left hand grips a metal table spoon throughout the video. Jordan: [verbalizing] Audio Description: He releases the castanets in his right hand. He grasps a different set of castanets and a toothbrush, and brings them to his mouth. Jordan: [verbalizing] Audio Description: They fall away. He grasps another toothbrush, and brings it to his mouth. Jordan: [verbalizing] Audio Description: The toothbrush falls away. He grabs it again, and brings it to his mouth. He explores the toothbrush handle and bristles, with his tongue and fingers. The toothbrush falls away. He grasps a set of castanets with his right hand. Jordan holds the castanets, and brings the metal spoon to his mouth. He sits motionless. The castanets slip from his right hand and he startles. He reaches his right hand out and grasps two toothbrushes. He keeps the metal spoon in his mouth. He releases the toothbrushes and grasps the metal spoon with both hands. Jordan: [verbalizing softly] Audio Description: He releases his grip with the right hand, and holds the spoon in his mouth, with his left hand. Jordan: Ah... ah! Audio Description:A title reads, "Penrickton Center for Blind Children." [ Video end: ] Chapter 5. Support Bench Charlotte: We’re going to switch now to the next perceptualizing aid, which is the Support Bench. If you have a child who is at least 2-years-old and is not yet sitting, using the Support Bench can be a good idea. Many students with visual impairments do not get enough tummy time and often resist being positioned this way. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Selecting Perceptualizing Aids: Support Bench Content: left-side text: • Coordinating movements of arms/legs • Developing spine • Strengthening back & neck muscles • Sitting without support • T actually exploring • Spatial orientation Note: The child must be at least 2 years old chronologically, but not able to sit up independently (Early Learning Step by Step, p. 97) right-side photo: Figure 20: A boy on a Support Bench with his hands in a tub of water and his bare feet in a tub of dirt Description End: The Support Bench helps the child develop and strengthen back and neck muscles, and to learn to coordinate the movement of arms and legs that are necessary for sitting without support. Having materials placed under arms/hands and legs/feet allow for tactile and spatial exploration. [ Slide end: ] Note that the child in this picture-- our friend Jack-- is not bearing weight on his legs, and the Support Bench gives him the ability to move his legs freely. In addition, being positioned in prone on the Support Bench gives him the opportunity to use his hands together at midline. Let’s watch a clip now of Jack on a Support Bench. [ Video start: ] Audio Description: A title reads, "Jack on a Support Bench with Patty." Jack: [verbalizing] Patty: That's work lifting that head up. Jack: [verbalizing loudly] Narrator: Jack puts both hands in the water, splashing, vocalizing, and then bringing his hands to his mouth. [rocks tumbling] Jack: [verbalizing] Jack: [verbalizing] [rocks tumbling] Jack: [verbalizing] [rocks tumbling] Narrator: He becomes very excited banging in the water and lifts his legs up out of the dirt. [rocks tumbling] [splashing] Audio Description: A title reads, "Penrickton Center for Blind Children." [ Video end: ] Charlotte: Wasn’t it great to see how much he was using his arms and legs while positioned on a Support Bench? Okay, let’s look, now, at a video of an older student using a Support Bench. In this clip, we’ll see Kassidy positioned on a Support Bench on a Resonance Board. You’ll see that there is a mobile over her legs, as well as items for her hands to explore. Watch the way that Patty observes her and places items so that Kassidy can more easily explore them. [ Video start: ] Audio Description: A title reads, "Kassidy on a Support Bench." [metal vibrations] Audio Description: Kassidy, a teenage girl, is positioned in prone on a support bench, which is on top of a resonance board. Kassidy holds a vibrating tool in each hand. Patty, is on her left side and holds a small metal bowl in a position where Kassidy can touch it with the vibrator. [vibration stops] [metal vibrations] Audio Description: New, video segment. [wood and metal vibrations] Audio Description: Patty places a metal cup on the resonance board, and then leaves the screen. New, video segment. Patty holds a ceramic plate for Kassidy to touch. [ceramic vibrations] [wood and ceramic vibrations] [metal vibrations] Audio Description: Kassidy loses her grip on the vibrators, and they fall in a metal bowl. Patty: They're both down. Audio Description: Kassidy moves her hands in the bowl, and appears to be trying to grasp the vibrators. Patty: You trying to get them. Audio Description: Patty places the vibrators in Kassidy's hands. [metal vibration stops] Patty: The other one's up here. You want it to this hand. This hand [Indiscernible]? Got it? Okay. [metal vibrations] Patty: You let me know if you want to do something different. [metal vibrations] Audio Description: Kassidy loses her grip on one vibrator. Patty positions it for her to grasp it. Patty: It's right here. Audio Description: Kassidy grasps the vibrator. [metal vibration stops & starts] Audio Description: Kassidy the vibrators on the resonance board. [wood vibrations] Patty: What! Both of them! They're both trying to run away from ya. [wood vibration stops] Patty: There you go. You got to open this hand if you want it. [Indiscernible] [metal vibrations] Audio Description: A title reads, "Penrickton Center for Blind Children." [ Video end: ] Chapter 6. Essef Board Charlotte: The next perceptualizing aid we’re going to look at is the Essef Board. Many children have little leg strength and problems with balance that may be related to poor trunk control. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Selecting Perceptualizing Aids: Essef Board Content: left-side text: • Moving legs/feet • Strengthening legs • Balancing right-side photo: Figure 21: 4 photos of an Essef Board being used: with wall ladder; child seated on it; and two with swing Description End: The Essef Board can be used in a variety of ways to increase movement in legs and feet, strengthen leg muscles, and allow the child to work on balance, in both sitting and standing positions. [ Slide start: ] Described by speaker The pictures in this slide from top-left, moving clockwise, show it positioned next to a wall ladder, outside with a child sitting on it, beneath a net swing, in front of a hammock swing on a stand. [ Slide end: ] An Essef Board is basically two pieces of wood with 6 springs sandwiched between them. It has holes in the corners, so that it can be hung from a wall, or attached to a frame. We’re going to look at a bunch of different ways it can be used, either alone, or in combination with other equipment. In the next clip we’ll see Zain in a swing, with an Essef Board positioned where he can push off with it. The Essef Board helps him to strengthen his leg muscles, and motivates him to kick to keep the swing moving. There is a longer clip on the Active Learning Space site. [ Video start: ] Audio Description: A title reads, "Zain with an Essef Board." [laughing] Audio Description: Zain lies on a hammock swing, his knees and lower legs hanging over the edge. Beneath his feet is a rocking, wooden tray with wooden rods. Zain: Ozzie. [laughing] Ozzie: Just goofing... Is that-- do you like the swing? Zain: No. Audio Description: New video segment. Ozzie: Whoa! [wood dowels & beads rattling] Audio Description: Positioned in front of his feet is an Essef Board with strings of beads. Zain pushes off the Essef Board and rocks the wooden tray. [rhythmic drumming] Ozzie: Do you want that one a little away from your face? Those beads. Zain: No. Ozzie: No, you like them there? Okay. Audio Description: A title reads, "Penrickton Center for Blind Children." [ Video end: ] Charlotte: Next we see a young girl sitting on an Essef board. She is working on balance and strengthening her core. [ Video start: ] Audio Description: A title reads, "Kayden Sitting on an Essef Board." [hand bells ringing] Kayden: [verbalizing] Interactive Mat: Hi! Hi there. [music playing] Kayden: [verbalizing] A toddler girl sits on an Essef board. In each hand she holds a hand bell. Beneath her feet is a mat that plays music and an electronic voice. Interactive Mat: [tones] Step on a circle to play. [music playing] Audio Description: She explores the handbells with her mouth. Interactive Mat: [tones] A turtle. Audio Description: Kayden presses down on different parts of the mat. Interactive Mat: [tones] Four. [tones] Five. Shake your body-- Saxaphone [tones] [various tones & hand bells ringing] Audio Description: Kayden raises her hands and bounces on the Essef Board, then raises her feet. Interactive Mat: Violin! Find the hippo! Kayden: Yess... yess. Audio Description: Kayden slides to the corner of the Essef Board. She twists and almost loses her balance. She uses her hands and pushes with her feet to keep from sliding off the board. Interactive Mat: [tones] A rabbit! Audio Description: A title reads, "Penrickton Center for Blind Children." [ Video end: ] Charlotte: In the next video we see Zain using a sand tray, which is resting on two Essef boards. [ Video start: ] Audio Description: A title reads, "Zain Using a Sand Tray on Essef Boards." Audio Description: Zain is seated with his hands in a sandtray, balanced on two Essef Boards. Zain: [Indiscernible] Karen: They're on there. They're on there-- are you gonna find them? Where are they? Zain: [Indiscernible] Karen: They're on here. Audio Description: The tray has a mound of kinetic sand Karen: Whoa! There's a one! Audio Description: His teacher, Karen, embeds ping pong balls and plastic shapes in the sand. Zain's feet are in an inflatable tray, containing gel beads and marbles. Karen: See if you can find 'em. Look around. Audio Description: New video segment. Zain: [laughing] Karen: [laughing] Audio Description: Karen places a plastic ring on the sand, in front of Zain's left hand. Zain rakes it off the tray. Zain: [Indiscernible] Karen: [Indiscernible] You can find it. Audio Description: Karen presses a plastic ring into the sand. Zain: [Indiscernible] Karen: Nope. Audio Description: Zain bumps a ball and it rolls away. Zain: [laughing] Zain: Ha-ha, they're there! Audio Description: Karen presses a ball into the sand. Zain rakes it off the tray. Zain: [Indiscernible] Audio Description: Karen presses a plastic triangle into the sand. [Indiscernible] Karen: Yeah, there's lots of balls. Audio Description: Zain rakes it off the tray. Karen places several balls near Zain's left hand. Zain rakes a ball and a plastic ring off the tray. Zain: [giggling] Audio Description: Karen tries to cover a ball with a plastic square. Zain rakes the square off the tray. Karen & Zain: [chuckling] Zain: [laughing] Audio Description: New video segment. Zain: [Indiscernible] Karen: Yeah, you got to reach out and find them. Audio Description: Zain has both hands on the tray. Karen places more balls and other shapes near his hands. Zain: [Indiscernible] Karen: What did you find? Audio Description: Zain rakes a ball off the tray. Audio Description: New video segment. Audio Description: A closeup view of Zain's feet in the inflatable tray with gel beads and marbles. Zain: [Indiscernible] Karen: Where's all the sand? Zain: Umm! Karen: [laughing out loud] Zain: [laughing] [Indiscernible] Karen: Yeah, they're there. Yay, you got one. Audio Description: A title reads, "Penrickton Center for Blind Children." [ Video end: ] Chapter 7. HOPSA Dress Charlotte: The last piece of major equipment we’ll look at today is the HOPSA dress. HOPSA stands for “Hold Up for Standing Activities”, and is another device that works on leg strength and balance. The HOPSA dress can be used either on a static hook or a track. It lets the child begin to do some bit of weight bearing, without having to support his or her entire weight. It allows the child to turn and move, using feet to explore tactilely, which is important in orientation and mobility. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Selecting Perceptualizing Aids: HOPSA Dress Content: left-side text: • Moving legs • Bearing own weight • Balancing while standing • Achieving ability to walk • T actual exploration with feet/hands • Spatial orientation right-side photo: Figure 22: Student in a HOPSA dress with his feet on an Essef board, next to a pegboard Activity Wall Description End: It also frees up the child’s hands and arms in an upright position, and allows the child to learn to use them in climbing and establishing balance. [ Slide end: ] In this video clip, we see a young boy in a HOPSA dress who is balancing on an Essef Board. At first his arms are tucked inside the HOPSA dress, but then he realizes that he can use them to stabilize himself to stand up on the board. [ Video start: ] Audio Description: A title reads, "Vincent Using a HOPSA Dress and Essef Board." A boy in a HOPSA dress is suspended above an Essef Board with his knees bent, and feet flat on the board. He leans forward and stands upright, tentatively balancing, bracing his shoulder against an Activity Wall. Kate: Very good Vincent. Audio Description: Vincent leans forward and pivots above the Essef Board, bending his knees. He keeps both arms inside the HOPSA Dress harness. Vincent places both feet on the Essef Board, and leans backward, then forward before standing upright, briefly. He attempts to stand again several times, centering himself and practicing balancing. He attempts the stand again, leaning forward and his body pivots. He bends his knees and rests in the harness. Vincent places both feet on the Essef Board, centers himself and attempts to stand. He takes his left arm out of the harness and reaches out to touch items on the activity wall, standing upright. A title reads, "Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired." [ Video end: ] Charlotte: In our last video today, we going to look at one more clip of Vincent in the HOPSA dress. This time you’ll see him playing in water, beans and rice, and a bath mat, using his feet. [ Video start: ] Audio Description: A title reads, "Vincent Using a HOPSA Dress." Vincent is suspended in a HOPSA dress over a tub with shallow water and different balls. He explores a squishball with his feet, grasping the ball with his toes, and lifting it out of the water. New, video segment. He explores a bathmat, rolling the edges up with his feet. New, video segment. Vincent gently uses his toes to explore a tub of rice and beans. A title reads, "Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired." [ Video end: ] Charlotte: There are more videos on the Active Learning Space site of children using the HOPSA dress, and all other perceptualizing aids. We add new videos frequently, so be sure to check back for more examples! [ Video end: ] Chapter 8. Discussion Well, welcome back folks, I hope you all enjoyed what was put together this week. Charlotte: Yeah, my head is sort of spinning because we covered a lot of territory in this hour. We always kind of try to figure out what we want to say because we want to get everything, but we hate to rush it. So please do go ahead and spend some time looking at each of these things on the site as you have time. We have lots of questions and good conversation that's coming through the chat box. And so maybe we'll take some time to-- to look at some of those. Kate: Yeah. One that's just come in from Ellen is: Can we use these films in our trainings. Please do use them, use them, use them. That's what we built out there for. And, you know, anything that's on any of the videos on the Active Learning Space website, I encourage you to use. Especially tap into Patty's expertise as your presenter because really most or much of what she typically covers in her two‑day introduction to active learning workshops, that content is on the website. It's just cut up into small little batches. So using that new guide we developed, the online modules also use the content from that website and those videos, so through those you can really try to get a lot of-- of video footage and stuff to do training with. And I think our intent is at some point in the near future, to create a page on the website where you can go and easily find all of the videos, links to all of the videos that are available in one place. So if you are doing training, you can quickly get to those videos. Charlotte: As we said, there are a lot more examples coming down the pike, so keep on checking back. I want to give Patty a chance to say something if she wants to and Jessica. You have put a lot of great comments in the chat box, Patty. I think one of the things that Patty was pointing out that I really loved was someone asked about content related lessons and Patty was sort of saying, hey, look at the way Zane is kicking the Essef board, that's physics and motion. I was looking at Vincent in the end in that HOPSA dress, that's science. There are a lot of ways if you think about it you can be teaching ‑‑ Kate: Well, like in the Little Room where the kiddo gets the toothbrush and plays with it or gets the spoon, those are working towards Expanded Core Curriculum skills of independent living. Charlotte: Exactly. Kate: You know? I think the thing that I really want to emphasize is that active learning is a total approach and you can take any content and if you use your creativity and know what you are targeting and you know what prerequisite skills the child may need in that area, you can turn any activity into an active learning activity. The equipment that we shared today, all of that can be used within an activity for the child to have time to do independent exploration or for the child and you to interact together, like we saw with Cindy and Jack on the resonance board or Patty and Jack playing around the support bench. You know, you need to-- I just want you so much to get that it's not just a piece of equipment. It's not just a box of materials. There is a whole very rich approach that Lilli developed that-- and that is captured a lot in her FIELA curriculum as well. Patty, I'm going to shut up because I would like to hear what you all have to say about that. Charlotte: To follow up on that, it's really important to look at how objects are chosen in relation to a child's skills. For example, all of the Little Rooms are not-- all objects in a Little Room are not the same. They are really chosen specifically looking at a child's development. Kate: Yeah. Charlotte: So Patty is writing in the chat box. Somebody asked about the HOPSA dress and how it's attached to the ceiling. You can use an eye hook or a swing set. We are trying to put together more about that on the site because that question comes up a lot. Patty: Hi, Kate, can you hear me? Kate: Yes. Patty: Back to what you were saying about content, I just want to reflect back on, it's so important to do a developmental assessment and look at what the skills are and follow it back to those basic skills that that child is capable of learning and then building on those skills. You guys do a great job on, I know, the pathways of early learning at Texas. I'm pointing out those basic steps and how they go to science or even hanging multiple objects from the Little Room can be tied to math. Does the child understand one or two or three. Then someone also asked about group-- do we have videos of group active learning activities. That one I haven't recorded yet, even though we do them all the time. Just easily thinking of carving pumpkins, we do that one every Halloween. There will be someone in the HOPSA dress, you know, pushing pumpkin, get under their feet while somebody else is on the support bench squishing pumpkins on their hands, while other kids are sitting at the table poking pieces of pumpkin in and out of a pumpkin while we have other kids sitting on the ground rolling pumpkins like balls. They are all working on an activity at the same time but at their developmental level and doing active learning at the same time. Charlotte: Thanks, Patty. I was just thinking about Trisha in Australia also shared a really wonderful group activity. There's a photograph on the website of four children arranged in a circle, all on a support bench with their hands all in a central kind of a-- kind of a ball pit. Yeah. So it's a really nice way to look at, you know, this is a social opportunity, a chance for communication and interaction, as well as the motor skills that are being worked on. So again, as Kate said, a lot of this is about your own creativity and again building on what Patty said, looking at the child's developmental level. It's not that there's a one size fits all. Just a way to approach learning. Kate: And the other thing on equipment, which we were focusing on heavily today is each piece of equipment is designed for a specific purpose. And so you shouldn't just say automatically, well, every kid is going to go in a HOPSA dress, every kid is going to go on a support bench, every kid in a Little Room. They might not need to go in all of those. But you need to have specific skills and goals in mind when you select the equipment. It needs to match what you want to work on. That kind of goes back to the request he that we had about CVI and isn't all of the stuff in a Little Room overwhelming for a kid with CVI. Well, one, there is a whole thing on CVI and there are things where you can perhaps-- enrich the environment [indiscernible], but when they're in the Little Room, that's not the best environment to work on visual skills. You are working on tactile skills, on spatial perception skills, on concept developments. So, again, knowing what it is that you are trying to do, matching the right equipment and the right materials to-- to the skills and the preferences of your student is-- is really critical. Charlotte: picking up on that, kit, I really love that video of Sam playing in the kinetic sand with ping‑pong balls, what a fabulous surface to use for any number of activities, right? Kate: Right. Charlotte: It's not about those ping‑pong balls only. Kate: Yeah, put anything. Charlotte: I nice way to position. Exactly. Exactly. Kate: I just wants to mention this because I knew that somewhere there was information about the panels that you put in the Little Room and guidance on that, I couldn't remember specifically where it was. Patty, of course, knows it all, she knows-- she reminded me that in the book, Space and Self, Dr. Nielsen goes into the selection of the panels that you pick for a Little Room. I know that first couple of-- of years or so maybe even in using a Little Room, I didn't necessarily think about what panel I put in. You know? Charlotte: Uh‑huh. Kate: I think that's very, very important because each one is targeted for a specific thing. Charlotte: Thanks for adding that. I just put in the chat box also a link to our upcoming trainings. In addition to the webinars, there are a lot of other things going. Kate: We have a lot going in Texas. [ Laughter ]. We are bringing Patty done. Charlotte: And we are taking Patty up to Perkins over the summer as well. Patty is going to be able to be at home for a little while in Michigan in November. [Multiple voices]. Anybody who wants to go to Michigan for a training and see Penrickton, that's happening. We try to add things whenever they are coming up. If you are offering some kind of a training that's open to the rest of the world, you know, please do shoot us an email and we'll add it to our list. Well, I think that's it. So we hope to see you all back here in September. Meanwhile, do explore the site and feel free to send in your questions or ideas. We love that our community is growing. And-- and great to have all of you here today. [Silence] Fade up from black. Animation: Text for TSBVI transform into braille cells for TSBVI. Fade to black.