Inclusion for Students with VI In PE This video is posted online with the following chapter markers: Chapter 1. Blindness & Student Development Chapter 2. Making It Meaningful with Interaction & Support Chapter 3. Instruction - Verbal, Physical, Practice Time Chapter 4. Tactile Graphics and Braille Chapter 5. Environment, Equipment and Content Chapter 6. References Description of graphical content is included between Description Start and Description End. Transcript Start Chapter 1. Blindness & Student Development [Music] Fade up from black. Animation: Text for TSBVI transform into braille cells for TSBVI. [Music face out] Fade to black. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Inclusion for Students with Visual Impairment in Physical Education: Precautions and General Accommodations Content: Facilitated by: Kristine Seljenes, CAPE, Phys Ed Instructor, TSBVI Scott Baltisberger, VI Education Consultant, TSBVI Outreach Description End: Scott Baltisberger: Good afternoon, everybody. This is Scott Baltisberger with Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired outreach department and welcome to our webinar for today, inclusion for students with visual impairment in physical education. [ Slide end: ] And we've got with us here today a special guest, this is my old friend and colleague Kristine Siljenes who is the special education teacher here at TSBVI. Kristine Seljenes: Hi, Scott, thanks to having me today. This is my first video presentation so I'm feeling a little bit nervous. Bear with me, everybody. I'm exactly sure where I'm supposed to look. Red dot, okay. I'm going to dive right into it. The first slide I wanted to talk about the difference between blind and visually impaired. What is it? Blind, no functional vision. Visually impaired, some usable vision. Technically visually impaired could mean no vision at all. Very variable range of conditions, but basically in my mind I know if the student is listed as visually impaired they're probably going to be using their vision at some level. The effects of vision loss may vary greatly on the human development. It can effect the affective domain, cognitive domain and the motor domain. I like to think about the affect TVI approximate being the student, the cognitive being the knowledge they have acquired as to their motor skills and movement. And movement skills, how they are actually moving through the world. It can be very varied. The big takeaway, every student is unique. There's no one size fits all approach. You're going to have to get to know who your student is, you will have to find out what's going to work for them and it will change depending on what activity it is you're doing with them. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Where Do You Find Info on Your Student? Content: o Interview Student/Family o Meet Service Providers (TVI, O&M Instructor) o Read Reports o Eye Exam, Adapted PE, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Functional Visual Evaluation/Learning Media Assessment (FVE/LMA) Description End: So where do you find information on your student? You are going to interview the family, you're going to interview the student. You're going to get to know what do they like to do, how do they like to talk about what they like to do, what things do they to do as a family. That will give you an idea of the skills to work on. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Medical Considerations and Safety as a Priority Content: o Some eye conditions may have precautions o Retinal Precautions and Ventricular/Ocular Shunts o Glaucoma o Photophobia/Light Sensitivity Consider hazards within every activity. Plan ahead! Be aware and modify for safety. Description End: You will want to meet with the service providers. You have the teacher of students with visual impairments, you have the O&M instructors, and they are going to be able to give you information, the TVI it be able to give you information on how the student learns and accesses information. The O&M instructor is going to be able to give you information on how that student is moving through the world and how they navigate different places. There's multiple reports that you might use that can give you information. The eye exam is going to give you the latest eye what the student can see, what their visual acuity is, if they have any field restrictions, which means they may be missing information from the peripheral. The adaptive physical education report, if they have that, is going to give you any information as to motor skill deficits. Physical therapy, occupational therapy will give you more information as to their gross motor or fine motor movements. And the functional visual evaluation, which is something that the TVI would do, gives you basic how the student learns and accesses that information, how they use their vision and the learning media assessment, the LMA, will give you information on how they access that information best. [ Slide end: ] Next up I want to talk about some medical considerations that you want to be keeping in mind. It's going to be individualized for the student as well too, but there are certain things that I will look for if I have a new student on my caseload such as retinal precautions or shunts, ventricular or ocular and retinal precautions are going to give me a huge cue in physical education. I need to be aware of avoiding blows to the head. I need to be aware that repetitive jumping could potentially endanger the vision that the student has and forceful jumping may not be something for that child to do. Another condition that can have some contraindications, glaucoma has issues of pressure in the eye and power lifting, exertion could increase that pressure. You want to be aware if your student has that condition and determine if that is something you're going to have to be mindful of. Another common condition that we can see sometimes with our students is photophobia or light sensitivity. And you know, it's really common in physical education classes that you might have going in from the gym out to the track, back inside and while that may seem like an easy transition, it can be quite challenging for someone with photophobia because their eyes will not adjust to the light, so they will suddenly not be able to use the same kind of vision they had inside. It may take them much longer to adjust. Some common accommodations you might do there that might work is if they're allowed to wear sunglasses or a hat that will help with that transition. Sometimes some students benefit from using those in interior spaces as well too. There is a handout that's included as well too that says eye conditions and common adaptations and considerations. It's by Nancy Levek. It has several two pages' worth of eye conditions and accommodations that you might consider using for your class. Chapter 2. Making It Meaningful with Interaction & Support So next up I have a video that's going to show you what is going to make it be meaningful. [ Video start: Students speaking outdoors at a track & field meet.] >> What makes me feel included in my gym class is...  >> when my peers and friends include me  in whatever activity they're doing,  and I'm not just left on the sidelines!  >> when I'm working out in the weight room...  >> when my coach... explains and helps me!  >> I get first pick on a team!  >> When I get to participate in running sports...  >> I am able to compete and have fun with my friends. >> When people, like, cheer me on  during some of the games that we play. >> When I excel and help my team in sports that have been modified, so I can participate within the group. >> When... they have the right equipment for me  and my friends agree to help me. >> When the teacher modifies their activities so that way... I am able to do it, instead of just having me do something else. >> When the people ask me if I want to play. >> When they ask me, first, if I want the modification... Sometimes, you know, I'd rather, you know, decide for myself if I need it. >> Don't say that I can't do something...  just because I'm blind, because... well... I can!  >> Trying to figure out what they want to do--  What they feel comfortable with--  and trying to do things that make that possible,  and let them be with the other group. [music] [ Video end: ] Scott: Okay. Hey, Kristine, so before this is all really cool information, but before we dive any further into it I want to talk a little bit about what we were envisioning as a format for this and the audience. Kristine: Sure. Scott: For this webinar. Because I think physical education, when I was a TVI, when I was a teacher of the visually impaired in the districts school districts, I found that was an area that is sometimes overlooked or not served maybe as adequately or as successfully as it could be. I think sometimes as teachers we think of PE as not being as much an important topic as academics. But as you know, of course, I'm sure you will agree that PE offers wonderful opportunities for educational development and personal development for kids. So it's real important to have this available for our students who are blind and visually impaired. And I think so looking at this webinar, I think this would be really good to show if you guys out there who are TVIs or O&Ms or APE teachers, this would be a really nice video to share with PE teachers, with parents, with teachers in general to kind of give them some information about how do you go what are some of the issues with vision, what are some of the accommodations for vision, what are some resources? You will get into the resources a little bit here and I want to point out that video you showed, that nice thing that you showed, so you have links for all those and there's a whole series put out by-- Kristine: Dr. Laura Lieberman. Scott: That has really neat stuff in it. Kristine: We'll show some of those in a little while and I have a whole second webinar that I'm going to be doing next month that will highlight several more of the videos that she's created. Scott: But one more thing I wanted to point out to everybody out there in TV land that if you had Kristine is here and she's a font of information about education of students with visual impairment in physical education. So if you have any questions or any comments, please feel free to write them into the chat there and I'll make sure that Kristine gets them. So right now I'll turn you loose again, Kristine. Kristine: All right. Scott: So have at it with more information about PE. Kristine: Yes. All right. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: 3 Main Reasons They Are Behind in Motor Development Content: o Lack of incidental learning o Lack of motivation to move o Lack of the self-confidence to move Positive Experience, Exposure, and Practice is needed in class! Source: Leiberman, Byrne, Mattern, Watt, and Fernandez-Vivo, 2010 Description End: Another topic I wanted to just address as well too is that sometimes you'll get a student that is blind and visually impaired and they are just not moving at the same level as their peers and there are three reasons why they may be behind in their motor development and those are due to lack of incidental learning, lack of motivation to move, and a lack of self confidence to move. Incidental learning occurs a lot at a visual level. You know, the student looks over, the child looks over at their parent moving and the parent gives them a small piece of information verbally, but they're watching how their body is moving, they're watching how they're standing, they're watching and getting a lot of information they wouldn't be able to get if they weren't able to see those movements. [ Slide end: ] The motivation to move can often come again when a child is looking for their toy, they will see that bright object that's in the distance and that's going to motivate them to start coming up on their arms and using their upper body strength to be able to look where their family member is, look where the toy is and then start to crawl over. For a lot of our students, they did not have as much of that motivation unless there was intervention early on where the visual toy was replaced by a toy that made sound. And a lot of intentional instruction came in to replace that missing visual information. A lack of self confidence to move is also seen. You know, it is not that uncommon for the students to grow up with a protective family or people that are just oh, let me just do that for you. I know that's hard for you to do. And while that may be our first inclination because we want to be kind human services, it can really take away that opportunity of learning for the student. So it can lead to this idea that they aren't actually capable of doing it because they have never really been given enough time to practice it. Scott: Yeah. I think that's a real important consideration because I think sometimes you do see with this population of blind and visually impaired children that they're not confident in their movements or they don't necessarily initiate a lot of movement. It's not because they can't move or they're not able to learn to move, it's just like you're saying, just experiential background is kind of limited for them. Kristine: Right. Scott: So very important for them to get PE in order to address those issues. Kristine: It really is. And you were talking about sometimes physical education is overlooked and it really is one of those areas that through being more confident movers, you're going to create more confident adults that are going to be more willing to go out in the world and find life experiences. And that's it's really that important. That's how I think about it. They really need to have a lot of positive experiences in movement and they need to have a lot of exposure in doing different kinds of movements and recreational movement activities and they just need a lot of practice, you know? That's something that they don't necessarily get afforded as much time as they need. Taking away positive experiences in movement is important. I have seen a lot of students here at the School for the Blind that will come in and they will be pretty shy, reserved, kind of maybe hold their head a little bit more down. And then they will come into some of our athletic programs and be able to understand more how to move their bodies and just really kind of grow into just these confident young adults that I really just see how effective their participation in athletics had on their whole personality and outlook on how to move about in life. So it really, really is important. All right. We've covered kind of what is the difference between blind and visually impaired, some medical considerations, why they might be behind in motor development. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Now What? Description End: Now what? How are you actually going to work with them in physical education class? [ Slide end: ] First you want to build a relationship with that student. They need to know you are somebody they can trust. They need to know you are somebody that follows your word. That you're going to create an environment for them that's going to be safe. And one way that you're going to do that is to create a culture of classroom safety. You need everybody to take care of each other. And you need to teach all of your students that they're going to have to be mindful of the fact that somebody in class is not going to see that ball flying through the court. They're not going to see the backpack laying right by the front door, those kinds of things that they might not have had awareness of before, those are the kinds of things I'm talking about when I talk about classroom safety. Like making sure that there's not just a random trip hazard everyday that that kid is walking into making them feel slightly defeated before they've even begun trying a new, more challenging movement. I have another video here as well too. You want to really pre-teach some of the expectations to the peers that are going to be in the class as well too. We're going to go ahead and watch a little clip of an O&M instructor, Carolina Gonzalez. She is working with some of our students in our elementary program that were interacting with girls from a local charter school and the girls from the charter school are getting a lesson in the proper guide technique. [ Video start: ] Carolina: Good morning. Students: Good morning. Carolina: So, today we're going to practice how to guide somebody that is visually impaired. And you guys have a lot of experience. So, we're going to show this the right way and the wrong way. Or the wrong way and the right way. Alright? Alright! So, I need two volunteers. [clap] Juan Carlos, compremos? Juan Carlos: Yep. Carolina: Alright!  And... your name. Rachel! Alright. So, Rachel...  Hi Juan Carlos, I'm Rachel. Hi, my name's Juan Carlos, nice to meet you. Carolina: Alright, so Rachel show him where the chair is-- the wrong way. Juan Carlos: [shouts] NO! [laughing] NO!  Carolina: [chuckling] That's not very safe. Oh, no! What can you do? Juan Carlos: Thank you. That's much better. Rachel: [giggling] Yes... Juan Carlos: [laughing] Rachel: Here's the chair. Juan Carlos: Thank you. [applause & cheering] Carolina: Now, show Juan Carlos where the mat is, again. Tell him what you're doing. Rachel: We're going to the mat. Juan Carlos: Alright!  Thank you! Narrator: Use the human guide technique when the child who is blind, needs assistance traveling from one place to another. If the child uses a cane, he or she can utilize the cane for travel. As the name, 'human guide' implies, the child with visual impairments is guided by another person. The guide should first ask the child if he or she would like to 'take an arm,' or 'take an elbow.' The child uses the back of the hand to find the human guide's hand and gently slide to the elbow. The child holds the guide lightly, just above the elbow, and then walks a half-step behind, following the guide's movements to the desired location. Small children may need to take the guide's hand or wrist. Most people who have been visually impaired, for even a brief time, are able to follow a guide easily. Some children prefer to be informed of upcoming stairs, or they may prefer a brief pause. But it is typically not necessary to announce turns or stops, because the guide's body movement provides that information. It is highly recommended that every parent, teacher, and para-educator take the time to simulate the visual impairment that is experienced by the child or children with whom they work. This opportunity will help them understand what a child needs, in terms of verbal and physical support. [ Video end: ] Kristine: What I really loved about that video with the O&M instructor is how they made it really fun. The students might be nervous. It might be the first time they've interacted with somebody who is blind or visually impaired. And you have to kind of work with that energy and make them feel comfortable. You want to teach all the students in the class how to do proper guide techniques, so if they're helping that student, that's going to help with that classroom safety I'm talking about. That student knows they're going to be able to travel with one of their peers, and that peer is going to know how to walk with them so they're not crashing into equipment or into walls or, you know, just that they'll be able to travel safely. Scott: Yeah. And you're going to talk more about using peers to help with to work with the visually impaired student in the classroom. I think that's just a really great resource for PE teachers to have. Before you go on, I wanted to read a comment. We had a comment from Brittany Wheeler. And Whitney says I could not agree more with the necessity for incidental learning in the VI population. Our students need practice and positive experiences to learn body movements and awareness, sports and games. The students have to be exposed to these experiences just like their sighted peers. Kristine: Yes. Scott: Yes. The thing about being in PE, the thing about just the school experiences and being connected to your peers, I mean, PE and sports are a huge part of life growing up. I mean, even if you don't like PE, you have to do PE. And sitting around and griping about your PE coach or whatever, it's part of the experience. Having those opportunities-- Kristine: For sure. Scott: Very important. Okay. Kristine: You know, it is fun because the students-- we are able to offer so many athletics here at our school as well too that the students here are able to have that experience and be like, "Oh, I want to do athletics, not be in PE class!" Which we try to make PE be a full experience of all kinds of different learning opportunities and I will regularly try to let them know, like, hey, you know, I'm teaching you a bunch of different things and you're not going to love everything, but I want you to know what they are so in the future when you're an adult and you're trying to figure out what to do with your Saturday afternoon you will have some movement opportunities and experiences that you can pull from that you might want to seek outing to do as an adult. And they hear it, I think, I hope. [laughing] [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Instruct Peers Prior to Activities Content: Teach asking permission before touch and guide technique. Description End: One big thing, as well, too is with the instruction for the peers is teaching them to ask permission before touch. You know, it can be very common to be like oh, let me help you, let me get that for you. Part of that protective tendency that we can have in general as human services. You want to ask permission. [ Slide end: ] Sometimes they don't want that support. In the first video that I showed where I was talking about what's going to make it meaningful, I love one of the children says, you know, I want you to ask me what I want to have because sometimes I don't need it. And that's true. Sometimes the students, for one, are already going to know what's going to make them see the ball better or be able to move more confidently and you're going to need to check in with them and check in throughout the year because that list will grow and you're going to help them with that list hopefully too as y'all are figuring out what's going to make PE and movement more accessible for them. Moving on, five areas of focus for success in physical education. I want to touch upon interaction and support, communication, environment, equipment, and content. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Interaction: A Supportive Community Content: o Create a culture of acceptance o P.E. is accessible for the student that is VI o Fear is normal... Address it! o Provide guided experiences for peers/paraprofessionals supporting the student that is VI Description End: So the first part, interaction and support, talking about a culture of acceptance. You really want to make sure everybody that's in that room with the student buys in that PE can be accessible for the student. At the end of the day it might not look exactly the same, but if people are in that room and they're saying oh, that student is definitely not going to be able to do this at all, that's really kind of going to set the tone. So you're going to want to spend some time saying hey, we're going to play this game, we're going to make sure that a student is going to be able to participate as well too. We're going to figure it out together how we're going to do it. Fear is normal, right? I touched upon earlier that sometimes the peers in the class have never met another person that's blind and they don't really know how to come and interact with them. They're afraid they're going to hurt them. That's normal. [ Slide end: ] But providing opportunities for guided experiences, they're getting support, they're getting feedback on how they're giving information to the student that's blind and visually impaired as well as giving opportunities to practice under blind foiled and kind of understand what that information is when you don't have the vision to help filter is important for them to know. And throughout especially in the beginning you're going to want to give them a lot of feedback on how they're doing with that interaction. You're one PE teacher in a general PE class. There are typically 50 to 70 students typically. That's not going to be you all the time with that student. You want to make sure all the peers that are in there are going to be able to help get that lesson and help give that student the practice time that they need and deserve. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Interaction: A Supportive Community Content: • Foster Understanding o Experiential: peers/paraprofessionals wear blindfolds in P.E. • Promote Awareness o Highlight athletes and sports designed for blind or visually impaired • Support Self-Advocacy o Student should receive positive feedback for advocating for needs Description End: A supportive community. You're going to want to foster understanding. I talked about having the peers or the paraprofessionals wear blindfolds and having some opportunities to experience vague versus specific verbal instructions. You're going to want to promote awareness. Another big element in growing the self confidence of the student that's blind and visually impaired is letting them know that hey, there are athletes out in the world that are at a professional level completing in para-athletic sports. [ Slide end: ] There are team U.S.A. goalball team. There is swimmers, Brad Schneider. There are a lot of really cool athletes today that are out there competing doing some pretty incredible movement work out there that it's not off the table for them to have that if that's a goal and a desire that they have. Scott: Yeah. I know just about any sport you can think of there's an adaptive version of it or there's an adapted way to participate in that sport, including things like archery, golf, dragon boating, of course. There's a lot of different just about anything that you look at, people with visual impairments are able to participate in. Kristine: It's true. The third part is self advocacy. And this is really important as well too because the biggest advocate for that person is really going to be that student themselves. That's going to be a skill that you're going to want to foster and support throughout that child's education. They really need to get a lot of positive feedback when you do hear them talking about what kind of accommodations that they need. That can be hard to do, especially teenagers, children, they kind of want to fit in. They don't want to stand out from their peers and they already have a condition that's making them be different from their peers and then to have to talk about that they're not gaining the information or that they need all this special stuff is going to be really hard for them. And really just teaching them how important it is for them to advocate for it because that's how they're going to access that information which they have a right to have access to. It's not something to be ashamed of. That's what they need to be able to learn and that's okay for them to ask for it. Then there's also the idea of you say hey, do you want to do this skill and they say oh, I don't like that. And you have to take a minute to say why don't you like it? And then sometimes you'll find out they don't actually know what it is. They don't like it because they don't want to try it because they're afraid they're going to fail at it and it's easier to say oh, I don't like that versus I have tried that and I know what it is and I have attempted to do it more than one time and I actually genuinely don't like it. So you just have to kind of find that fine line of paying attention to why they're saying they don't like it because a lot of the times it's because they just don't know what it is. Scott: It goes back to the self confidence. Kristine: Self confidence, trying to fit in, you know, like all the peers say oh, we don't like to do that thing or oh, I know what that basketball game is about. But then when you ask them more questions you realize they really only have some of the concepts surrounding what basketball is. And you're going to want to be doing check ins with them, which I'll talk more about later as well too. Getting back on task a little bit. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Interaction: Peer Partners Content: • Provide Clear Instructions for Safe Support o Game setup and rules ▪ How to modify and how to keep safe/accessible o Regular check-ins with student that is blind or visually impaired Description End: Peer partners, you will want to make sure that those peers understand how to give clear instructions for safe reports. Obviously in the class some students will be better suited to be peer partners than other students and that's part of when you're paying attention in the beginning and you're giving that feedback to the supports in the class. You're checking in to see which ones are hearing the instructions that you're giving and really able to apply them with the student that needs that lesson. You will do regular check ins with both the student who is blind and visually impaired and the peers. Make sure everybody feels okay. Make sure that they're able to keep it safe and properly support the student. [ Slide end: ] Again, I want to touch a little bit more on self advocacy. It is such an important for our students as well too. Make sure that while they're learning different activities and you are putting accommodations in place that you're helping them really understand what do they need and what do they not need. If the student has grown up in a very protective environment they're going to need all the supports in the world. And they might need that in the beginning because you want to lead them into the activity with confidence and then kind of pull back those supports as you recognize that they have mastered some of the basic levels of those skills. And then continue to peel away the support as able to do safely so that they can become more independent in doing those movement activities. Scott: I'm going to read another comment that's in the chat. This is from Gina Douglas. And Gina says, I am new to a school where I have a student with CVI in second grade. His classmates get excited when he comes to class and everyone wants to be on his team or be his partner in activities. They are also so understanding when we modify activities so he can participate. It is great to see the culture my school has established. Thank you, Gina, for sharing that. Kristine: Yeah, that's so good to hear. That's wonderful. Sounds like you're doing all the right stuff. I love to hear that. Another area I wanted to touch upon as well too is paraprofessionals that may be assisting in your PE class. Sometimes the students will come with a paraprofessional that's traveling with them most of the day and those paraprofessionals are so valued, they are so important and often not given enough credit for how hard they're working throughout the day. In PE class we want to be mindful to make sure that they are providing an inclusive experience for the students versus isolating them more. Sometimes there can be a tendency for the paraprofessional to kind of be a wall between the student and the peers or the student and the teachers because the paraprofessional is taking all the lessons and teaching the lessons and/or taking all the turn taking with that student. It's important that the student themselves are given the support they need and that the paraprofessional understands what your PE goals are, what the learning outcomes are for that activity that you're doing. I find the use of task analysis sheets that breaks down skills into each step and then highlighting what steps it is that I want that student to focus upon or sometimes I will use picture books that have pictures and the order of stretches and body weight exercises that I might be doing. And that gives that paraprofessional just that extra step of being able to see what the stretch or exercise is and I can write like how many repetitions they're supposed to be doing and I'm structuring that activity so the student is going to be able to do the stretches and exercises in the same order. They're going to get the same kind of basic description of what those exercises are and that paraprofessional is going to know what that exercise basically looks like without me having to give a full demonstration right at the beginning. Another thing you can use is making sure the paraprofessionals are aware of the IEP goals for the students that they may be working on. Sometimes they will have adaptive physical education goals. Sometimes they will have physical therapy goals. I will always try to work closely with the physical therapists and make if I see a physical therapy goal it is also getting worked on within PE class and/or just making sure we're working co he's Siffly together on a skill instead of coming at it from different directions. The students that are working with a paraprofessional still need to get regular opportunities to interact with you or the physical educator themselves and they need to have regular opportunity to be interacting with their peers. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Interaction: Paraprofessionals Content: o The student that is blind or visually impaired must still receive daily opportunities for: o Direct Instruction from physical educator o Direct Interaction with their peers in activities Description End: They need to know oh, they can properly run down the field with their peer that wants to do that activity with them. They need to know and have those opportunities to learn with sometimes supervision, our paraprofessionals have an important job with helping with behavior management, helping with all kinds of safety skills. So it's not saying that the paraprofessional goes away, but the paraprofessional does allow for those moments of the student that is blind and visually impaired to have that play experience with the peer as well too. [ Slide end: ] Chapter 3. Instruction - Verbal, Physical, Practice Time Next up, I'm want to talk a little bit about communication and accessing the lesson. We're going to talk about types of instruction. We're going to talk about pre-teaching, tactile graphics and Braille. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Communication: Accessing the Lesson Content: o Types of Instruction o Pre-Teaching o Tactile Graphics and Braille Description End: We're going to touch about verbal communication. I talked about with the peers, it's going to be precise, clear. You will be checking for comprehension frequently. I talked a little bit about sometimes our students don't want to stand out or be different from their peers, so there's going to be a lot of times, you say you know what a basketball is. Oh, yeah, I know everything about basketball. [ Slide end: ] And you say okay, cool, and you start the game and they clearly don't know everything about basketball. So by asking them to describe how many players are on a team? How many nets are there, how many like checking and getting them to give you a description of what it is that they know can kind of let you see some holes that may exist in the knowledge that they have about a skill because they may for one think that they do know everything about that game because they are putting together the puzzle of what something is without the visual elements. So sometimes there are just gaps of information that are missing. I had some high school students the other day, I took the bowling alley pins and I brought them forward and I put them up in the triangle shape and I let them go through and tactilely feel all the pins. They said oh, I knew there was 10 pins, but I thought they were all in a straight line. I didn't realize they were in a triangle. So it's little things that you have to kind of backtrack and just check and make sure that they do have that information about so that they have that full picture of what something is. Let's see, where are we? Breaking the skills down into manageable steps. A lot of the times you're going to have to take an overhand throw and you're going to have to work on one element of it at a time. There's the windup arm, there's the twisting torso, there's the opposite foot. You're going to have to maybe teach them those individual parts before they can practice the whole movement. You're going to want to teach them about the whole movement as well too, but by breaking it down into more manageable steps you're allowing them to kind of process that information and build that picture as they're learning all the elements of it. Allowing some time for processing. I'm saying a lot of words at you, you guys are listen, you're trying to hear what I'm saying as well as taking it all in too. You're also seeing me wave my hands around like crazy. But you have to give that student that is blind and visually impaired some time to hear your description, interpret what it is you mean, apply it to their body and then do that movement. You're going to have to wait after you give them information, give them a chance to try it, and give them a chance to try it again before you come in and give them some more feedback sometimes. They need that time to kind of just really take in the information that you're giving. Scott: Yeah. I think with the physical education having such a physical component and largely for most of us a visual component. It's hard for us to imagine that sometimes it will take a little bit more time for someone who is blind, visually impaired to simulate what you're telling them and describing and really figure out themselves what they know and what they don't know and what questions you may need to ask. Kristine: Yeah, for sure. Next up, physical guidance. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Instructions: Physical Guidance Content: o Tactile Modeling o Allow student to feel another person perform the movement • Physical Guidance o Student’s body is manipulated into positions • Co-Active Movement o Instructor and student moving together Description End: There are three main ways that we will utilize here at the school. Tactile modeling, which is allowing a student to feel another person performing a movement. Physical guidance, where the student's body is manipulated into positions. And co active movement where the instructor and the student are moving together. [ Slide end: ] I have a video that's going to talk about all that so I'm going to let the pictures speak for itself. [ Video start: ] Narrator: Most children with visual impairments need verbal instruction accompanied with tactile teaching. Verbal instruction alone may take a long time and leave the instructor and child frustrated. It is also not as likely to produce the correct form of the skill being taught. Partner verbal instruction with tactile modeling, coactive movement and or physical guidance. These three instructional techniques help children who cannot see a demonstration to better understand the movement or action. The use of these techniques can make a demonstration of complex physical skills accessible to children who are visually impaired. [music] Tactile modeling means an exhibition of a motor skill presented tactually. As shown in the video, the child feels the instructor who executes the movement. Tactile modeling is a great way to incorporate peer instruction. Let children teach children. Tactile modeling not only demonstrates actions to children who are blind, it also increases the visibility of an action for children who have low vision. Tactile modeling is a common tool used to teach the component parts in the task analysis and is effective for static and dynamic activities, such as jumping rope, yoga, shotput, goalball, swimming , and many others. While using task analysis, have the child touch the model during each part. [music] Often, a child comprehends a skill much better when he or she feels the instructor or peers do the movements. This works best when the child is smaller than the instructor or peer In coactive movement the child is positioned so that his or her moving body part touches the instructor's same moving body part. This is similar to tactile modeling, but the entire body part experiences the movement as opposed to parts of the body and the child is going through the motions at the same time as the instructor. Please note, as with any physical education technique, the instructional strategy should always be noted in lesson plans, progress reports and IEPs. [music] Physical guidance is an important component of the instructor's lessons because there are some physical activities for which tactile modeling and coactive movement will not work. Physical guidance is an ideal teaching technique and its use can improve performance. Please remember that all methods of tactile teaching must be coupled with verbal explanation or appropriate sign communication for children who have a dual sensory impairment. When physical guidance is used, it is imperative to discuss its use with the child before doing so. Some individuals who are blind are sensitive to being touched or to being urged along by an arm or elbow by another person. Indeed, one of the first principles to guiding a person who is blind is to never push or grab. This sensitivity to being pushed is not unique to people with visual impairments, but is broadly human in nature and probably stems from a need for the locus of control to remain within each of us. Thus physical guidance can be appropriate and effective, but the child must understand that he or she can ask the instructor to use tactile modeling, if preferred. When teaching physical skills to individuals who have no significant intellectual or cognitive difficulties the general rule is to consider tactile modelling, first, and then move to physical guidance if that is a preferred method for the child. The child should have a choice, but the instructor can also assess what method is most appropriate for a particular skill or activity. [ Video end: ] Kristine: All right. I think that's a really great video that captures really kind of big bulk of what we do in physical education here at the school. We have to come in with quite a bit of tactile modeling for our wrestlers to understand the movement and poses to get into when they are pinning somebody down. When I'm teaching how to do something like an overhand throw I'm letting them feel my arm do the windup, I'm letting them feel my torso twist. And I'm always going to remember to ask, hey, can I show you what I'm doing? Hey, can you reach over and see what we're doing? Let's do it together. Can we try this thing? I'm asking permission always before I'm reaching out and gaining access to physically manipulating them, as well too, and really pairing it with that verbal instruction at the same time that we're doing the tactile movements together. Scott: And I think this is where having the having the peer tutors and the teaching paraprofessionals kind of giving them feedback on how to do these techniques that will be helpful for PE teachers in the general education setting. Kristine: Right. And you can as you get to know because you maybe need to be a little conscious of where they're touching you on your body. You can guide their hands to the parts of your body that you want them to be check outing as well too. And you know, let them know I want your hand to stay here and give them that information so that you make sure that it's appropriate information in accessing touch. Scott: Hand-under-hand guidance. Kristine: Yes. Hand-under-hand is something we use a lot at the Texas School for the Blind where we are asking for permission, hey, can I show you something? I'm going to place my hand under their hand and guide them over to equipment or to a body part or whatever it is I'm showing them and giving them the opportunity to be able to pull back and say oh, I'm not ready if they need a moment to process that sensory information they're getting. Scott: Very important technique in general for blind students and people have worked a lot with blind children are aware of hand-under-hand, but a lot of times it feels more kind of the first go to technique for people not familiar with working with blind children which is if I wanted to teach Kristine I would grab her hand and start to manipulate it. What could be felt as very intrusive and her focus would be on my movement rather than her own movement. Whereas if I ask her can you follow hi hand, Kristine? We do this? You get a lot better information that way. Kristine: And there are times I talked about you're kind of going you're kind of going between the verbal instruction, the tactile modeling, the physical guidance and the could active movement. You're kind of moving around all of those skills giving the varied information and instruction to see what is going to work for the student that you're working with. And there are times that with the physical guidance you are doing hand over hand more so, but even if I'm doing hand over hand with a student, I'm never like grasping their hand very hard. I'm still thinking about the principle of hand under hand where they can pull away. So even if I'm holding to to them, I'm holding on just enough to be able to manipulate their body, but if they need to pull back I'm not holding them so tight that they can't get free from me. They know they can pull away if they just need a moment to whoa, I need to slow it down or whatever it is that they need. I am I do try as much as possible to be mindful of my touch with the students as much as I can. And that is just very important to be respectful because especially their hands, you know, there's a there's a woman named Barbara Miller who would talk about the hands is like the student's eyeballs. You would never reach somebody's eyeball and say here, look at this! I love that idea and I think about it, try to think about it frequently when I'm teaching physical education because it's true. You know, it's easy for us to be like, come on, let's go do this thing. You have to be like, hey, come with me to do this thing. It's a huge difference in how that person is going to feel about that experience and that is an important thing to consider always. When you are giving the instruction and you're going to give them supportive practice time, you're going to give them feedback on how they're doing, you're going to give them a lot of time to practice. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Instructions: Supported Practice Time Content: • Provide Additional Time for Practice • Allow Processing Time o Wait and then wait some more! • Use the Whole-Part-Whole Method Description End: You're going to give them time to process that information. You're using that whole part whole. I talked about that earlier when you're talking about what the whole skill is, you're breaking it down into the steps you're working on and showing them and having them practice that whole skill as well. [ Slide end: ] You're utilizing a lot of repetition as needed for them to be able to just really find the little idiosyncrasies of the movement and giving them those opportunities, especially for students that may have cognitive impairments in addition to a visual impairment, it can be really useful to provide more structure around those activities. I talked about the stretching picture book that I used with some of my paraprofessionals where they're doing the stretches in the same order and the exercises in the same order. For some of my students I will even have it to where on Mondays the first thing we'll do is a stretching activity. And that is what they do on Mondays. And I may change what the stretches are throughout the year are so that they learn a variety of stretches, but I kind of structure the whole program of their curriculum to where they know Mondays we're doing activities in the weight room, Tuesday we're doing activities in the big gym, gross motor movements, obstacle courses or game skills. Wednesdays we're doing outdoor games and activities. And kind of setting up some structure so that they can have that repetition that's needed to kind of just calm their understanding of what's going to happen when they come to PE class. Lots of success on a daily basis. Next I want to talk a little bit about pre-teaching and that is the advanced introduction of key terms and concepts. And that can be very important for our students as well too. Letting them be a little bit ahead of the curve when a lot of the times they're spending time catching up to their peers. Giving them time to process concepts and understanding vocabulary surrounding a game unit that's coming up. Basketball, they already have had a time to get Braille list of all the different basketball positions and they already have, you know, some idea of what the court is laid out like, can give them a lot of time to ask questions where there might be some missing links between information. It can provide a framework for new knowledge and provide movement information. You can use the time with pre-teaching to give them time to practice a skill before they're doing it in a group with their peers because they just want to do it the most with their peers and be able to have to be able to have that time beforehand to just get some of the questions and incorrect movements out of the way so that when they're doing it with their peer they already have a foundation for where they're going. Consider allowing the student to practice these key skills and movements and have some time in a private setting, especially teenagers. You know, they are extra sensitive to being different from their peers and if they're constantly being, "Hey, let May he oh show you how to do this," then all the peers are sitting watching them, that can be embarrassing for them. And you want to be able to have you want to have the relationship with that student to be able to have the conversation,"Hey, if you need us to work on this at a different time, let me know." And have that established and know that going in to each activity with the student, you're kind of going to get a feel as you get to know the student how they best like that information to be given to them if you're going to do it in the group, which they may be fine with, or maybe not. And then you're going to give them that feedback outside of the group setting. Scott: I think, again, think about general education, physical education teachers. When I was a TVI, I taught academic subjects or academic skills in an academic setting. I wanted my students to know the skill before they used it in the gen ed class so they were ready for it when they got there. So I think the same thing with PE what I hear you saying is it would be really nice if there were an opportunity for the PE teacher to say we'll be working on such and such a skill next week or next month. Would you have some time, either the adaptive PE teacher, the orientation and mobility instructor, the teacher of visually impaired. Somebody would maybe take the student aside and maybe pre-teach those skills before they have to sort of get into the mix with everyone else. Chapter 4. Tactile Graphics and Braille Kristine: Right. And that is something that you can access the service providers that are supporting that student. The TVI can help. If can you give them some information as to what game units you're planning in the future and what kinds of information you want the students to have, they can get that Braille material for you, for that student to be able to review, and the orientation and mobility instructor can also be somebody that is utilized to help orient the student to a court or to activity area that they're going to be using as well too. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Tactile Graphics and Braille Content: Figure 2: A tactile graphic map o Court and Equipment Orientation o Use tactile models o Walk student around the court o Allow student to tactually explore the equipment used • Provide Game/Skill Descriptions in Braille • Collaborate with the Service Providers (TVI, O&M, APE, PT, OT) Description End: Tactile graphics and Braille, I have a video I'm going to skip ahead to because it kind of shows you what it is I'm talking about, if we can go to the video. [ Video start: ] Narrator: To orient a student with VI to basketball use a tactile board. The board will teach the student the concept of the court, such as location of the three point lines, foul lines, and the center of the court. Here Chris is feeling the tactile board for basketball. Tip two. Goal orientation. Walk the perimeter of the court with the student with VI to further orient him. Then show him how high the backboard and rim are compared to his height. Let the student with VI feel the rim, net, and backboard to understand the dimensions and texture of each. Use a cane or hockey stick if the child is not tall enough. [ Video end: ] Kristine: So, you saw a little bit about tactile graphics and Braille and kind of see what that orientation is about. I want to talk a little bit quickly now because I do have a little bit more I want to get through, but also leave some time for you to ask questions and if we don't get through all the material today I will touch upon it again in the next seminar I'm doing next month. Chapter 5. Environment, Equipment and Content Environment, you want it to feel safe for everybody. The orientation I was talking about, giving them it time to explore the equipment in the gym areas that are around. You're thinking about using doesn't language, offering information using consistent language, offering information like the exit doors to the track are on the northside of the gym, the water fountains on the south hallway. Establishing areas as you can. Always doing a warmup on the mats that are always in the north end of the gym. Little areas like this that you can infuse in to where there is consistency, moving the same direction when you're walking on the track, everybody goes clockwise. So that the student walks in to an activity and they can be more independent. It can build their confidence and allow them to be able to do certain things more independently. Vice-versa would be every time y'all go on the track, they never know which direction people are going to be moving, so they don't really know how to jump in on their own, because they have to wait and get information from somebody else on which way am I even supposed to go. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Environment – A Clutter Free Zone Content: Figure 3: A wooden board with black tape delineating the edges. • Reduce Visual Clutter – “Less is More” • Delineate Spaces Example: Place mat around stationary boke Increase visibility and remove trip hazards and head level obstacles Description End: Thinking about the environment and reducing visual clutter. And just physical clutter. I talked about the backpack being left by the door that Susan will walk in and trip over. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Environment – A Clutter Free Zone Content: High Contrast Choose high contrast colors Example: between ball and court Example: bright yellow spot on a dark blue floor Figure 4: A blue gym floor with yellow dots on it Figure 5: A red and white target against a black background. Description End: Also somebody earlier made a comment about a student with CVI. A student with CVI has fluctuating vision, but also has a hard time processing visual information as well too. If they come into an environment that's full of a lot of clutter it will be really hard for them to focus on one item item like a ball. So I'm going to pull away a lot of the extraneous, unnecessary detail so that the things they're seeing is the ball, is the visually most focal point in the room if that's what I want them to be chasing after. Delineating spaces, doing things you see here this picture of a balance beam that has the tape around it is really allowing that balance beam to pop in the environment so they know where their feet is going because they can see it a lot more. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Environment Content: • Glare, Lighting, and Positioning o Sun and Glare o Student/Instructor Positioning Description End: Using high contrast, you will be using high colors. I have the yellow spots on the blue Matt. It's easy to see them coming in. The ball on the left, it's a dark colored ball on the light floor. The target is bright red and white, oversized target that they can throw towards. Thinking about those kind of things. Also considering glare, lighting and your positioning. If they're facing you and the sun is behind you and they're squinting and they can't really see what you're doing and it's just really hurting their eyes to even try to follow the construction, they're not paying attention and you're going to have to consider those kind of factors as you're moving. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Environment Content: • Use Tactile Markers o Something that can be felt that helps identify student’s location ▪ Example: a textured plastic square on the wall across from locker rooms or a 3D sticker on a student’s locker Description End: Tactile markers, something that a student can feel and be able to identify where they're at in space. You can also do it, you see in this picture a piece of tape going around a handrail on an indoor track we have. We have a continuous handrail and etch time they do a lap if they're trailing on the handrail they can feel the tape because they know the physical marker I've done one lap around the track and they can go and keep track of how many laps they've been doing. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Equipment Content: You and the student must work together to determine what works best. Some examples: • Beeping balls, sound sources at targets (such as person clapping) • Student feels equipment while you explain the parts and purpose • Using a tee instead of a tossed ball Description End: Also if a student is it hitting a ball off a tee, for example, they can have two spots down where their feet are going to be so they know where their feet need to line up before their swinging that bat and hitting the ball. They can also be tape with string underneath for a court line so they can feel where the baseline is on a tennis court. They can feel where the line is for a goalball. And just giving them a little bit more information where they are in space. Equipment, it's one of those things you really have to know who your student is. Obviously I can say give them a beeping ball, put a sound source at the target such as a person clapping. Some students don't like the beeping sound so that takes out all the of the beeping devices. Sometimes you can put a plastic bag around a ball and that gives you a little bit more sound of the ball moving around as well too. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Equipment Examples Content: Figure 9: Three goalball balls. Figure 10: A beep baseball. Figure 11: A sensory Nerf ball, cut open to reveal noisemaker inside. Surrounded by scissors, tape, glue, a Sharpie, and an Exacto knife. Figure 12: The electronic components for a beep baseball set. Figure 13: A collection of pool floaties, multi-colored oars, and a blue target. Figure 14: A ball on a black tee with a purple bat next to it. Description End: You have to kind of explore. Here I'm going to flash through some pictures of some equipment we have and then there is a handout that has links to what all of these equipments are. The top right red ball is a beep kick ball. It's a really nice ball that has a little bounce to it. You can kick it really hard. It makes a nice beeping sound if the kids can handle the beeping. You see on the bottom, that's the left, I believe, that's the go balls that is a wonderful support that is designed for persons that are blind or visually impaired. And there is the taped court line. And there is ball with a ping pong ball with pellets that rattle. They have cues to know where they're serving. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Equipment Examples Content: Figure 12: The electronic components for a beep baseball set. Figure 13: A collection of pool floaties, multi-colored oars, and a blue target. Figure 14: A ball on a black tee with a purple bat next to it. Figure 15: A brightly colored basketball set created on trashcans. Description End: Next are some sound source boxes you can get from American Printing House for the Blind. And there is a beep baseball base in the center that has a beeper inside of it as well too so the students after they hit a ball off of a tee the ball would make a sound and they can hear a base activate and they know where they're running towards to get to their base. I use tape at the bottom right you see pictures of tape just to kind of make high contrast for the trash cans we're using for a basketball lesson. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Equipment Examples Content: Figure 16: A beep tennis set. Figure 17: A tandem bicycle. Description End: Tandem bikes, awesome, you can get one for under $300 at Walmart now. That's pretty accessible, I would say. I mean, it's still $300, but that is pretty awesome. [ Slide end: ] Lastly, I wanted to touch upon content. And don't worry, I know I've rushed through that equipment as well too, but if you stick with me and come to the next webinar, I do intend to go sport by sport and really kind of show you equipment and show you modifications for each sport, which is why I went really fast today. Content, you want to think about who is the whole student, where are they going? What kinds of things do they want to do with their family and what do they have access do in their community? Where are they at in currently accessing their curriculum? And what does that student need most? There are lots of things that they're going to be learning and need and you're kind of going to have to focus it on where are they going? What are they going to be able to use for their lifelong leisure? What skills and strengths do they need for a career? Do they know what they want to do? Do they know what kind of skills they need. Do they need to pick up things if they want to work in a grocery store? Thinking of all those things. Expanded Core Curriculum covers a lot of different areas, one of which is recreation and leisure, which I feel physical education really kind of touches upon. A lot of recreation and leisure skills that our students when they get out into the world as adults they're going to want to know what they can do in their free time because they're going to have free time and hopefully they're learning some movement skills that they can do. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Content Content: • Teach the TEKS (make them accessible)! • Include games for the B/VI in your curriculum o Examples: Goalball, beep kickball, beep baseball Figure 18: A student approaches a beep kickball on the field. Figure 19: Students play goalball. Photo Credit: Diana DeRosa/MacMillan Photography Figure 20: A student plays beep baseball. An instructor signals the end of a play. Description End: What else are you going to teach them? You're going to teach them the TEKS. You're going to take it accessible. You're going to teach them all the things they should be learning in whatever grade they're in, but how to make it be something that they can play. While volleyball may not be the most accessible support for them to play, they still may have a cousin or a sibling that is on the volleyball team in high school and they need to know what that game is and how that game is structured even though it might not be something that they're going to play. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Content Content: Include role models of athletes that are Blind/VI (help normalize Paralympic athleticism) • Lex Gillette (Track and Field) • Matt Simpson (Goalball) • Brad Snyder (Swimming) Figure 21: Lex Gillette in mid-air during a jump. Figure 22: Brad Snyder swimming. Description End: Role models, you want to be able to infuse in to their curriculum as well too athletes. I have mentioned a few here. Lex Gillett, amazing track and field athlete. Matt Simpson for goalball. Brad Snyder for swimming. And be able to have the sports and games they will be in too. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: References Content: • Dr. Laura Lieberman’s Inclusion Video Series o Videos feature the following sports: tennis, beep kickball/baseball, volleyball, wrestling, basketball, soccer, track, swimming, and cross country. Description End: Chapter 6. References Next up I have a series of references that talk about the Dr. Laura Lieberman series as well too so you can see all the videos I showed you today. There are some things to some sports camps that are available. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Additional References Content: • Sports Camps for the Blind o The Camp Abilities website o The Camp Abilities YouTube Channel o United States Association for Blind Athletes Description End: There is also my contact information up ahead as well too. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Reach Out for Support! Content: Kristine Seljenes [seljenesk@tsbvi.edu] (512) 206-9159 Description End: I hope you had a good time. I hope I had good information. Scott, did you say there was time for Scott: We have a little bit of time if anybody has some questions or wants to make some comments in the chat, we still have a couple of minutes left. [ Slide end: ] And yes, on your handout all that information that all this information that Kristine just kind of rifled through at the end that's all in there, all the links for the videos, all the links for the equipment. And we are going to have another video next month, it will be a continuation of this one. Kristine will go into more detail about specific accommodation for specific sports. We do have Kathy Britsch wanted to know will this video be available later for our PE teachers to watch since she was unable to sit with me today? If so how will that be accessed? And our outreach team said yes, yesterday, the video and handout will be archived in TSBVI online learning. So you can go back and review this video any time for free in the future. And I want to point out one more thing right before we go is that our mission as Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, as our new superintendent pointed out at the beginning of the year, our mission is not to just serve the students who are enrolled at this school, physically enrolled at the school. We actually look at ourselves as serving the 11,000 plus students in the State of Texas. So some of you guys, you may be aware of what outreach does. We come out and we'll work with you on specific students, collaborate with you and design programs for the students in the school setting and we can do the same thing. Kristine would be willing to more than happy to come out and if you have questions about a student in PE to work with them in helping to individualize a program-- Kristine: Always. I always try my best to answer emails of questions, because I understand that it can be a little overwhelming, a little daunting. But don't worry, don't fret. We're here to help. Reach out. We're here to give you support. Scott: Yeah. So please feel free to contact Kristine or contact myself and I'll contact Kristine for you. So thanks a lot, everybody, for being here today. I really hope we see you again next month when we have our next webinar. And happy Tuesday. Kristine: Happy Tuesday. [Silence] Fade up from black. Animation: Text for TSBVI transform into braille cells for TSBVI. Fade to black.