Skip to content
Decorative
The Sooner the Better: A Framework for Training Early Intervention Practitioners on Deaf-Blindness
Menu Symbol Skip to Navigation Back to NCDB Products NCDB Logo

Key Strategies for Improving Outcomes

Audiences: Families, MDT, SC, DSP
Recommended Practices: A4, E3, E4, E6, F2, INS1, INS2, INS4, INS5

This unit provides information on effective intervention strategies for working with infants and toddlers with multiple disabilities, including those with combined vision and hearing loss.

Active Learning

PowerPoint Slides

IN Training (Part 2): Slides 16-17
These slides cover responsive environments and Active Learning principles.

PA Webinar: Slides 61-62
These slides give an overview of Active Learning and link to a video example of a Little Room.

Video

A young boy plays in a Little Room (0:31).
Audio Description
This video from Washington Sensory Disabilities Services features a young girl in an Active Learning space (2:17).

Recorded Presentations

Active Learning: 5-Part Webinar Series
This series presents ideas for moving from assessment to IEP development to delivering instruction using an Active Learning approach (hosted by Penrickton Center for Blind Children, Perkins, and TSBVI).

Website Resource

Active Learning Space
This website presents an overview of Active Learning.

Cues

PowerPoint Slides

IN Training (Part 2): Slides 32-53
These slides cover the importance of using cues and symbols.

PA Webinar: Slides 34-37
These slides give an overview of touch cues.

Hand-Under-Hand

PowerPoint Slides

IN Training (Part 2): Slides 18-19
These slides explain hand-under-hand technique.

PA Webinar: Slides 38-44
These slides discuss hand-under-hand—what it is and how and why to use it.

Videos

Hand-Under-Hand: Kailee
This video from Washington Sensory Disabilities Services shows a provider using hand-under-hand with a young girl (2:20). [Note: Click on the "Videos" tab and scroll to the second-to-last video on the page.]

Wait Time and Pacing

PowerPoint Slides

IN Training (Part 2): Slides 20-21
These slides give an overview of wait time.

Videos

IN Training: Wait Time Transcript Barbara Purvis talks about how children with deaf-blindness need more time to process information (1:31).
Video Transcript
A provider shakes a pom-pom in front of a young boy and waits for him to respond (0:47).
Audio Description

Handouts

Use of Sensory Channels
This one-page form from Washington Sensory Disabilities Services gathers information about which sensory avenues are being used by a child during typical activities.

Participant Learning

Activity 1:
Complete the "Use of Sensory Channels" form for a student with whom you work. Based on the "observed behaviors" you listed on the form, think about what portion of the body might be the best to use to present novel information (e.g., feet, arm, leg, cheek, etc.).

Activity 2:
Select a goal related to wait time or choice making from the IFSP of a child you know and determine how the goal could be worked on throughout the day and in multiple settings.