PRINCIPLES AND STRATEGIES OF TEACHING AND DESIGNING IEP (LDSHC)

Principles and Strategies of Teaching and Designing IEP

Learners with Blindness

1. Expanded core Curriculum

The term expanded core curriculum (ECC) is used to define concepts and skills that
often require specialized instruction with students who are blind or visually impaired
in order to compensate for decreased opportunities to learn incidentally by observing
others.
Nine Areas of the ECC
Assistive Technology - is an umbrella term that includes assistive and adaptive tools
as well as instructional services that can enhance communication, access, and
learning. It can include electronic equipment such as switches, mobile devices, and
portable notetakers; computer access such as magnification software, screen
readers, and keyboarding; and low-tech devices such as an abacus, a brailler, Active
Learning materials (e.g., Little Room®), and optical devices.

Career Education - provide students with visual impairments of all ages the
opportunity to learn through hands-on experiences about jobs that they may not
otherwise be aware of without the ability to observe people working. They also learn
work-related skills such as assuming responsibility, punctuality, and staying on task.
Career education provides opportunities for students to explore and discover
strengths and interests and plan for transition to adult life.

Compensatory Skills - include skills necessary for accessing the core curriculum
including concept development; communication modes; organization and study
skills; access to print materials; and the use of braille/Nemeth, tactile graphics, object
and/or tactile symbols, sign language, and audio materials.

Independent Living Skills - include the tasks and functions people perform in daily life
to increase their independence and contribute to the family structure. These skills
include personal hygiene, eating skills, food preparation, time and money
management, clothing care, and household tasks. People with vision typically learn
such daily routines through observation, whereas individuals with visual impairments
often need systematic instruction and frequent practice in these daily tasks.

Orientation and Mobility (O&M) - instruction enables students of all ages and motor
abilities to be oriented to their surroundings and to move as independently and safely
as possible. Students learn about themselves and their environments, including
home, school, and community. O&M lessons incorporate skills ranging from basic
body image, spatial relationships, and purposeful movement to cane usage, travel in
the community, and use of public transportation. Having O&M skills enables students
to acquire independence to the greatest extent possible, based on their individual
needs and abilities.

Recreation and Leisure - Being unable to observe others reduces awareness of

recreation and leisure options. Instruction in recreation and leisure skills will ensure
that students with visual impairments will have opportunities to explore, experience,
and choose physical and leisure-time activities, both organized and individual, that
they enjoy. This instruction should focus on the development of life-long skills.

Self-Determination - includes choice-making, decision-making, problem solving,

personal advocacy, assertiveness, and goal setting. Students with visual
impairments often have fewer opportunities to develop and practice the specific skills
that lead to self-determination. Students who know and value who they are and who
have self-determination skills become effective advocates for themselves and
therefore have more control over their lives.

Sensory Efficiency - includes instruction in the use of vision, hearing, touch, smell,
and taste. It also addresses the development of the proprioceptive, kinesthetic, and
vestibular systems. Learning to use their senses efficiently, including the use of
optical devices, will enable students with visual impairments to access and
participate in activities in school, home, and community environments.

Social Interaction Skills - include awareness of body language, gestures, facial

expressions, and personal space. Instruction also includes learning about
interpersonal relationships, self-control, and human sexuality. Almost all social skills
are learned by visually observing other people. Instruction in social interaction skills
in school, work, and recreational settings is crucial. Having appropriate social skills
can often mean the difference between social isolation and a fulfilling life as an adult.

2. Tactile books and instructional Materials

Tactile books are a great way to foster the development of literacy skills with any
child who is visually impaired, including children with other significant disabilities.
These can be used at home for enjoyment, to support understanding and
anticipation of activities or as an independent leisure skill.

3. Braille
It is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including
people who are blind, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on
embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers
and smartphone devices.

4. Braille Technological aids

It is assistive technology which allows blind or visually impaired people to do
common tasks such as writing, browsing the Internet, typing in Braille and printing in
text, engaging in chat, downloading files, music, using electronic mail, burning music,
and reading documents.

Learners with Low Vision

Totally blind – receives no useful information through the sense of vision (Braille)
Functionally blind – learns primarily through the auditory channel (Sounds)
Low vision – uses vision as a primary means of learning (Bigger learning materials)
 Learners with Hearing impairment / difficulty hearing

1. Hearing aids
A small electronic device that you wear in or behind your ear. It makes some sounds
louder so that a person with hearing loss can listen, communicate, and participate
more fully in daily activities. A hearing aid can help people hear more in both quiet
and noisy situations. The four primary types of devices are:

Behind-the-ear (BTE) - hearing aid hooks over the top of your ear and rests behind
the ear. A tube connects the hearing aid to a custom earpiece called an ear mold
that fits in your ear canal. This type is appropriate for people of all ages and those
with almost any type of hearing loss.

In-the-canal (ITC) - hearing aid is custom molded and fits partly in the ear canal. This
style can improve mild to moderate hearing loss in adults.

In-the-ear (ITE) - hearing aid is custom made in two styles — one that fills most of
the bowl-shaped area of your outer ear (full shell) and one that fills only the lower
part (half shell). Both are helpful for people with mild to severe hearing loss and are
available with directional microphones (two microphones for better hearing in noise).

Receiver-in-canal (RIC) – a type of hearing aid where the receiver sits inside the ear
canal. The tube is nearly invisible, and the receiver is very small. They’re typically
smaller than a BTE and appropriate for mild to moderate hearing loss.

2. Auditory training
This is commonly given to learners with residual hearing to get them acquainted with
sounds. Three levels auditory training include detecting, discriminating and
identifying sounds.

3. Speech reading
This process involves understanding spoke message by paying attention to the
speakers lip movement, facing expression, eye movements and body gestures.
However, this approach has many limitations such as faulty interpretations on lips.
Even the best speech readers detect only up to 25% accuracy of what is said
through visual cues alone. It has to be coupled with contextual piecing together of
ideas.

4. Sign language
Filipino sign language (FSL) is the national sign language of the Philippines. It has
own grammar, syntax and morphology that based on the manual of hand signals
supplemented by body and facial gestures.

5. Cochlear implants
A small, complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a
person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing. The implant consists of
an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second portion that is surgically
placed under the skin (see figure)
6. Assistive listening system
They work as amplifiers directly connected through a radio link form the teacher form
the learners to the learners. It also reduces unnecessary noise or background sound
for the learners to stay focused only the speaker.

7. Other techniques such as Speech –to-text translation, use of television or

video with captioning/ subtitling and other computer technologies.

Learners with communication Disorders

Vocabulary building
It includes development of graphic organizer, memories, repetition, word walls
vocabulary journals and using context clues.

Argumentative and Alternative communication (AAC). This includes ways that

someone communities besides talking. People of all ages can use AAC if they
means have trouble with speech or language skills.
Argumentative means to add to someone speech. Alternative means to be used
instead of speech. Some people use AAC throughout their life. Others may use AAC
only for a short time, like when they have surgery and cannot talk. There is a lot time,
like they have surgery and cannot talk. There are a lot of different types of AAC. No-
tech and low-tech options include of things like gestures and facial expressions,
writing, drawing spelling words by pointing to photo, pictures or written words. High-
tech options include things like using an app on an iPad or tablet to communicate
and using a computer with a “voice, sometimes called a speech generating device.

Discrimination activities
These activities are developed to help learners produce and discriminate between
similar sounds. This could be alone through creating stories, drawing larger symbols
or alphabets, visualization of sounds through mirror modeling , and producing
sounds in front of a lighted candle.
Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Social stories
These are used to teach learners with autism about the social behavior that’s
expected in specific settings like the supermarket, doctor’s surgery, playground and
so on. A social story can be created for almost any social situation. It has narrative
made to illustrate certain situations and problems and how people deal with them.

Applied behavior Analysis

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a therapy based on the science of learning and
behavior. Aba helps us to understand how behavior works is affected by the
environment, and how learning takes place. The goals is to increase behaviors that
are helpful and decrease behavior that are harmful or affect learning.

Picture exchange communication system

The picture exchange communication system or PECS, allows people with little or
communication abilities to communicate using pictures. People using PECS are
taught to approach another person and give them a picture of a desire item in
exchange for the item.