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TITLE 19EDUCATION
PART 7STATE BOARD FOR EDUCATOR CERTIFICATION
CHAPTER 235CLASSROOM TEACHER CERTIFICATION STANDARDS
SUBCHAPTER GSPECIAL EDUCATION CERTIFICATE STANDARDS
RULE §235.135DeafBlind Standards: Early Childhood-Grade 12

  (18) acquires devices and materials that are required for each lesson;

  (19) obtains, operates, and maintains assistive technology related to vision and hearing; and

  (20) adapts materials to accommodate for multi-sensory needs.

(f) Learning Environment. The teacher of students who are DeafBlind understands individual and group motivation and behavior in order to create a positive learning environment that encourages social interaction, active engagement, and joy of learning. The teacher of students who are DeafBlind:

  (1) understands the array of learning environments within different service delivery models;

  (2) understands the importance of competent communication partners who can interact with the learner who is DeafBlind to match his/her mode of communication;

  (3) understands how to facilitate a multi-modal learning environment by using the learner's functional hearing and/or vision, while also promoting the bodily/tactile sense, as prime components of information gathering and expression;

  (4) understands the potential for elements in the environment to be perceived as stressful by the learner who is DeafBlind and the impact that may cause to his/her biology;

  (5) assists others in the development of trusting relationships and in becoming competent communication partners with the learner who is DeafBlind;

  (6) facilitates communication and interaction to provide social and environmental access for the learner who is DeafBlind;

  (7) makes appropriate adaptations to enhance the learner's auditory, visual, and tactile functioning in a variety of environments;

  (8) uses appropriate assistive technology to promote the learner's access, participation, and independence;

  (9) selects, adapts, recommends, or implements classroom management strategies that reflect understanding of the individual learner's needs;

  (10) promotes an environment that allows learners to orient themselves, move safely, and interact positively with peers;

  (11) promotes an environment that feels predictable and safe for the learner who is DeafBlind;

  (12) reduces or eliminates unnecessary visual, auditory, and tactile clutter in the learning environment; and

  (13) adapts the learning environment by considering the impact of the elements of the learning environment (e.g., glare, lighting, auditory input, seating position) on the learner.

(g) Instructional Delivery. The teacher of students who are DeafBlind emphasizes individual student potential and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage the learner's feelings of connectedness, success, and independence in order to promote development of critical-thinking and problem-solving skills in both the academic and expanded core curriculum to the greatest degree possible. The teacher of students who are DeafBlind:

  (1) understands how to create learning experiences to make content meaningful for each learner who is DeafBlind;

  (2) understands co-active teaching principles and practices that support the competencies of the learner who is DeafBlind;

  (3) understands attachment theories of human learning that support the importance of reciprocal emotional involvement and basic trust;

  (4) understands the importance of learners who are DeafBlind having control and influence over their own lives as an essential aspect of well-being;

  (5) understands the developmental phases of dyadic interaction between the adult and the learner who is DeafBlind;

  (6) understands the developmental phases of triadic interaction in the shared partnership between the adult, the learner who is DeafBlind, and the external world;

  (7) understands how to support the development of positive self-esteem in the learner who is DeafBlind;

  (8) understands visual, auditory, and tactile adaptations that enhance social/communicative interactions between the learner who is DeafBlind and others;

  (9) understands the use of augmentative communication devices and other assistive technology that are appropriate for the learner who is DeafBlind;

  (10) understands various instructional strategies specific to and/or adapted for learners who are DeafBlind;

  (11) understands the development of language and literacy in the communication mode(s) of learners who are DeafBlind;

  (12) understands the basic principles of orientation and mobility for learners who are DeafBlind;

  (13) understands how to adapt and scaffold the general education curriculum for learners who are DeafBlind;

  (14) understands curricula specific to and/or adapted for learners who are DeafBlind, including all areas of the expanded core curriculum;

  (15) applies co-active teaching strategies with the learner who is DeafBlind in daily routines, as appropriate;

  (16) applies tactile learning strategies in functional and play activities, as appropriate;

  (17) provides opportunities for the learner's increased proprioceptive and kinesthetic awareness during daily routines and planned activities;

  (18) provides opportunities for the learner to develop confidence by making choices;

  (19) provides the learner with opportunities for self-advocacy;

  (20) creates opportunities for learners to initiate conversations in their preferred communication mode about their topics of interest;

  (21) determines and uses optimal proximity for access between the learner and communication partner(s);

  (22) determines optimal proximity of the learner in relation to others that will enhance participation in group activities;

  (23) identifies him- or herself and uses salutation rituals in the mode appropriate to initiate and end interactions;

  (24) acts as a bridge in order to provide access to information about the environment, other interactions, and events taking place around the learner who is DeafBlind;

  (25) provides opportunities for the learner who is DeafBlind to observe (auditorily, visually, or tactually) conversations or interactions between others;

  (26) provides opportunities for co-created topics of instruction based on the learner's mode of communication and interests;

  (27) provides multi-modal opportunities in order to support the organization of events and the formation of mental images and holistic concepts for the learner who is DeafBlind;

  (28) uses scaffolding within the context of academic and functional routines to provide consistent and predictable experiential instruction for the learner who is DeafBlind;

  (29) develops and implements communication systems appropriate to the mode and developmental level of the learner who is DeafBlind;

  (30) uses formal language and literacy systems, as appropriate, to provide visual, tactile, and/or auditory access;

  (31) selects and prioritizes receptive and expressive vocabulary that is meaningful and motivating to the learner;

  (32) develops strategies to encourage the learner to use multiple static and dynamic modes/forms of communication;

  (33) provides multiple opportunities to use and expand vocabulary through frequent and natural conversations;

  (34) modifies existing literacy materials to adjust for the learner's language level and reading media;

  (35) designs and makes low-tech communication devices that are appropriate to the learner's needs;

  (36) selects and/or adapts assistive technology devices as tools for communication or to meet other learner needs;

  (37) provides opportunities for the learner to use augmentative communication devices in a variety of environments and with a variety of communication partners, as appropriate;

  (38) uses naturally occurring events for the learner to use and practice communication skills;

  (39) recommends appropriate positioning to optimize visual, auditory, and tactile functioning;

  (40) implements strategies to accommodate for and to improve the learner's visual, auditory, and tactile functioning based upon evaluation results;

  (41) supports spatial orientation strategies for the learner who is DeafBlind;

  (42) supports mobility techniques appropriate to the learner who is DeafBlind;

  (43) supports the learner who is DeafBlind to develop his/her awareness of kinesthetic and proprioceptive sensory systems as they relate to the body in the environment;

Cont'd...

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