Selected Strategies to Support Interactive Reading for Learners Who Are Deafblind

Attention and Active Engagement

The success of any activity depends on the instructional leader’s ability to capture and keep the learner’s attention throughout the session. A variety of strategies allow a reading partner to gain and support a learner’s attention and engagement. For individuals with vision and hearing differences, this begins with identifying their preferences and interests and integrating them into the activity (Hartmann, 2016). An instructor can accomplish this by allowing the learner to assist with text selection, providing reading material aligned with identified interests, or including extension activities that broaden the learning beyond the text. Integrating input from multiple sensory areas, such as through touch, vibration, music, and rhythm, into the interaction further enhances attention and engagement (Villas Boas et al., 2016). Additionally, communication throughout the reading is essential; together, the learner and their reading partner can comment, make predictions, or simply summarize the text at multiple points in the book.

Child-guided and Systematic Instruction

It is essential to determine the instructional approach that best meets a learner’s needs during interactive reading. Both child-guided and systematic instructional approaches are effective strategies to increase language and literacy skills in learners who are deafblind (Ferrell et at., 2014). The components of child-guided instruction for learners who are deafblind include establishing trust, responding to the learner’s communication attempts and emotional state, using shared communication forms, and applying coactive techniques (Nelson & Bruce, 2019). By comparison, explicit and systematic instruction is intentional and utilizes behavioral principles, such as prompting and reinforcement, to further develop the individual’s skills and abilities (Pullen & Cash, 2017). Using this approach, the instructor designs well-defined learning objectives that target specific skills. 

Vocabulary Development and Repeated Reading

Understanding vocabulary is essential to comprehending any text. Direct vocabulary instruction and repeated readings of texts that include discussions about repeated words can increase vocabulary acquisition and enhance comprehension (Pullen & Cash, 2017). For learners who are deafblind, vocabulary should be highlighted and discussed using multiple communication forms, including speech, visuals (print, pictures, and drawings), and with movement and tactile means (manual sign, gestures, and actions from the text).   

Drawing and Writing

During interactive reading or afterward, drawing and writing can effectively promote vocabulary development. Illustrating the events in a story also serves as an extension activity to reinforce concepts explored in the text. Learners may benefit from expanding representations used in both drawing and writing to include pictures or objects. Co-constructing written materials with the learner engages both participants beyond the interactive reading session. These materials may serve as a starting point for developing experience books centered on shared activities related to the text that incorporate vocabulary and key concepts from the original material. 

Touch and Tactile Skills

During interactive reading, maintaining touch with one another and the material effectively sustains attention, shares information, and promotes comprehension. This includes using tangible symbols, which are tactile representations of words or concepts that share visual, auditory, or tactile features with what they represent (Rowland & Schweigert, 2000). Sharing and exchanging these symbols throughout the interaction builds and strengthens the relationship between the learner and their reading partner (Tanner et al., 2021).

Comprehension

Measuring what the learner understands from the interaction should occur throughout the shared experience, not just at the end. Comprehension is linked to how well the learner understands the vocabulary in the text. For learners who are deafblind, this also involves carefully choosing the representations and sensory channels used to depict the vocabulary. Reading partners should integrate comprehension questions throughout the interactive reading exchange so that the questions posed connect directly to the information, rather than appearing as a disconnected list after reading. Additionally, measuring understanding can include simplifying the text, highlighting key concepts while reading, asking prediction questions before reading, and using personalized reading materials to help the learner make stronger connections with the text.

Summary 

Interactive reading includes distinct strategies that reading partners can include to support meaningful participation for a learner who is deafblind. Intentionally and thoughtfully incorporating the strategies described in this article into routine literacy activities improves the shared experience and enhances the learner’s ability to extract meaning from the reading material. It is crucial that reading partners always consider the individual learner’s unique needs and ensure they have access to the material and environment through multiple sensory channels. 

Please enjoy this video of an instructor and student co-constructing a book about a shared experience using drawing, which allows students to share experiences they enjoyed with others and to reminisce.

References

Brum, C., & Bruce, S. M. (2023). Instructional strategies to support shared reading with learners who are deafblind. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 41(3), 504-516.

Ferrell, K. A., Bruce, S., & Luckner, J. L. (2014). Evidence-based practices for students with sensory impairments (Document No. IC-4). University of Florida, Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform Center. http://ceedar.education.ufl.edu/tools/innovation-configurations/ 

Hartmann, E. (2016). Instructional strategies: A universal design for learning approach. In S. Z. Sacks & M.C. Zatta (Eds.), Keys to educational success: Teaching students with visual impairments and multiple disabilities (pp. 204–226). AFB Press; Perkins School for the Blind.

Nelson, C., & Bruce, S. (2016). Critical issues in the lives of children and youth who are deafblind. American Annals of the Deaf, 161(4), 406–411.

Nelson, C., & Bruce, S. (2019). Children who are deaf/hard of hearing with disabilities: Paths to language and literacy. Education Sciences, 9(134), 1–16. 

Pullen, P. C., & Cash, D. B. (2017). Reading. In J. M. Kauffman, D. P. Hallahan, & P. C. Pullen (Eds.), Handbook of special education (2nd ed., pp. 523–536). Routledge.

Rowland, C., & Schweigert, P. (2000). Tangible symbols, tangible outcomes. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 16(2), 61–78.

Tanner, L., McGlade, A., & Irwin, M. (2021). Engagement and inclusion of individuals with a dual sensory loss and learning disability in the assessment process-staff perspectives. Practice, 33(2), 199–135.

Villas Boas, D. C., Ferreira, L. P., de Moura, M. C., Maia, S. R., & Amaral, I. (2016). Analysis of interaction and attention processes in a child with congenital deafblindness. American Annals of the Deaf, 161, 327–341.