Charting the Cs logo with black and blue text Charting the Cs Conference 2025: To Literacy and Beyond Cooperation Communication Collaboration EXPERIENCE BOOKS Presentation Date(s) Krista M. Dillman, M.S., M.S., M.Ed. krista.dillman@isd742.org *photos shared with permission Krista and female student standing on the wood floor of a partially constructed wood shed. Krista sitting on the grass with female student on her lap looking down at the grass where red and yellow potatoes are lying. How did I get here? •Started ASL interpreting •Work in Disability Services •1st Masters in Voc Rehab •Teaching DHH/DB students •M.S. in DHH •Completed M.Ed. In DB A aerial view of a path and a road that wind back and forth up a mountain. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND TAKE CHANCES, MAKE MISTAKES, GET MESSY Cartoon of a red haired woman with a lizard on her shoulder inside a school bus. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA Why Experience Books? •Who are they for? •Why use them? •What is the benefit? •How can this be literacy? A close-up of a child's ear with hearing aids. Photo of a small child with blond curly hair. Photo of a girl standing next to a firetruck. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC Experience Books are Literacy •Multisensory learning-Sensory channel assessment and Learning Media Assessment (Miller, n.d.) •Experiential learning •Opportunistic instruction (Krista’s term) •Mechanics of reading Photo of a DeafBlind girl sitting in her wheelchair holding Christmas tree garland and smiling. Photo of teenage boy using American Sign Language to communicate with 3 other people while sitting inside a firetruck. Experience Books serve multiple purposes •Story telling •build memories •sequencing •vocabulary •talk about events •words, braille, pictures to tell a story •develop literacy skills (Hearing First, n.d. ) A close-up of a girl wearing pink hearing aids. A young girl sitting in wheelchair who is wearing classes and a hensinger collar. Two photos of children with Down syndrome, one male and one female. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC Access •hearing aids/glasses on •MORE and ALL - DONE sign/AAC •objects don’t magically appear •use of ALL - DONE basket throughout, model higher language •listen/watch for communication approximations, acknowledge •use student’s communication method, model higher lang. •make time for sign babble, ask questions, encourage more •FM system self advocacy Photo of a long road with an orange road closed sign. Activities •letter of the day, real object •Braille letter, tactile graphic, scanning, follow a line •write letter of the day - metallic or tactile paper on lightbox, OT goal, ProT following my hand, lightbox on/off V/Sign, air writing •find letter on AAC •object as part of Exp Book page or photo w/o background •song for letter of the day or CVI video •songs for movement, PT goals, music, rhythm, proprioceptive Cartoon drawing of a notepad and pencil. Strategies •wait time 10+ seconds •do with not for, staple, write, open glue, cutting •look for on/off, emotions, in/out, big/small, comparing use Total Communication Method throughout •expose to a variety of low/high tech assistive devices - lightbox, scissors, amplifiers, walkers, zipper pulls, braille devices •experiential learning, look for comments ( horsie example) •plan activities to focus on one sense at a time not multiple •sensory breaks - timer, keep working with other senses, time •disinterested in activity, acknowledge the comment, review schedule Krista's left hand and a student's right hand with fingers touching, feeling a braille calendar together. Routines •calendar, ASL listing, Protactile ( ProT ) listing, Voice, AAC (Total Communication Method) •explore object ProT with copresence, looking/telling turn taking •Finger Family song - family members, counting, Total Comm. •end with calendar, use ALL - DONE basket •say goodbye, ProT goodbye hand to hand, leaving on the back, say when you will be back, 7 day calendar ProT Photo of an object calendar system with 3 bins, one with a picture of Krista in the left with a piece of dicem, an iPad in the center, and a piece of foam tubing on the right with the student's iPad communication device to the left of the calendar system. Case Studies-service time Line drawing of an ear with a slash through it. •Molly direct 2 times per week for 30 min - 3 times per week for 60 min, when homebound 5x/wk60 min Line drawing of an ear with a hearing aid on. •Nate began with only indirect 1x/ mo 30 min, but I increased to direct 1x/ wk for 30 min and now 2x/ wk for 45 min Two braille characters. •Kyle began with only indirect 1x/ mo 30 min, but I immediately changed it to direct 3x/ wk for 60 min, 5x/ wk for 60 min when homebound Line image of a school building. •George began with only indirect 1x/ mo for 60 min, but I increased to direct 1x/ wk for 60 and now 2x/ wk for 45 min Case Studies-Paths to Literacy ideas Line drawing of an ear with a slash through it. •M book from Paths to Literacy •M book Line drawing of an ear with a hearing aid on. •Spring has Sprung book from Paths to Literacy •Spring has Sprung Two braille characters. •Face book from Paths to Literacy •Books for Very Young Children Line image of a school building. •Five Speckled Frogs from APH •Frogs Topic Selection •Student interest - frog •Child Guided Assessment (Van Dijk, n.d.) •Scaffolding known concepts •Time required for a topic •Taking risks in topic selection - yearly, monthly topics, life skills •Grade appropriate topics/literature- Little House on the Prairie A close-up of a toad Considerations •Multisensory lesson design (Paths to literacy, n.d.) •Assembling books, multiple reviews, daily review of topic •Reading with other staff or students, books in library, borrowing •Protactile , ASL, AAC, and spoken language inclusion •Intervener observing, inclusion, turn taking, and turning over •Tar heel reader -depending on vision/hearing B sound book •What is being taught in this Experience Book? •Which sensory channels are being used? •How might this be expanded with other team members? •What can speech, OT, or vision be brought into this theme? Photos of B sound book Photo of a brown cardboard book page with a cut of of a line drawing of the braille letter B, a letter B constructed from a blue pipe cleaner, and a line drawing of the ASL letter B. Coloring sheet page of a line drawing of the ASL letter B, a line drawing of a bird colored purple with a texture underneath, and the print word bird. Black card stock page with 5 white beans glued on and the handwritten word beans. Black yardstick book page with 6 written letter Bs. Cartoon coloring page of a braille letter B and a bunny that is colored green with a crayon with a texture plate below. Black paper with a white line drawing of a gingerbread cookie with the word boy written on the page. Black paper with orange line drawing of a hand with the words sound:bang written below. Black paper with a gold glitter foam shape of a capital letter B and lowercase b. Black paper with six pink handwritten letter Bs. Black paper with a bug made from foam as the body, glitter foam as the wings, pipe cleaner legs and the word bug handwritten below. Black page with 2 blue foam square stickers and one blue foam circle sticker with the word blue written in blue below. Black page with the word ball written at the top in a light yellow color with a circle line drawing below it. In the middle of the ball is glued on a piece of white elastic that has a styrofoam ball at the end. Black page with the words bells, big, and small hand written on it. There are 2 circles next to the words big and small of relative size. Glued on the page are 2 pieces of elastic with jingle bells on them; one big and 3 small. Little House-Winter Days in the Big Woods example Feb - May 56 topics in 29 pages completed19 topics cooking life skills recreation employment academic skills Lots of concept development Photo of a book page that is a drawing of Laura Ingalls Wilder in a red patterned dress looking at flowers with a pine tree in the background. ••••••••• Photo of a book page that contains a log cabin, Laura Ingall's Wilder's Ma, and 2 pine trees with grass all around. Photo of a book page that is a cartoon drawing of Laura Ingalls Wilder as a child wearing a red patterned dress playing with her bulldog Jack in the woods next to the log cabin where they lived. Photo of a book page with cartoon drawings of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Ma and sister Mary picking vegetables from their garden next to their lag cabin. Mary holds her white apron out to hold the vegetables like a bag. Photo of a book page with a drawing of a wooden table covered by a blue patterned tablecloth sitting inside the log cabin and their bulldog Jack sitting nearby. The text on the page describes the weekly chore schedule. Photo of a book page with a drawing of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Pa with brown hair and brown beard, playing a fiddle. There is a candle in the background on the log cabin wall. Mary has blonde hair and wears a pink patterned dress and Laura has brown hair and wears a red patterned dress. Pa wears a white button down shirt and blue plaid vest. *photos shared with permission Example Exp Book Photo of a white woman with long straight brown hair, wearing a red apron and hotheads, holding a cookie sheet pan with cookies on it, glued on a black background page. Tan cardboard page with the words "baking cookies" in Roman bubble letters with blue outlining and black background glued on the tan cardboard in the middle. Photo of book page of a drawing of Laura Ingalls Wilder with brown hair, wearing a red patterned dress, rolling balls of dough to make cookies sitting by the wooden table. Black page with a small clear Ziplock baggie stapled on in the middle. Inside the baggie is a smaller clear Ziplock baggie with yellow playdough inside. Black page with the words "Making butter" in Roman bubble letters with blue outlining at the top. The front of a Kemps whipping cream container is glued on the page with the round pouring spout. Black page with light blue fleece fabric glued on in the shape of a pocket with a cardboard dog sewing card inside that has a blue shoe lace to sew with. Photo of Krista wearing a dark gray sweatshirt standing next to a sink of dishes with female student with sandy blonde hair sitting in her wheelchair reaching up to wash dishes together. Krista and the student's hands touch. The cover of an Experience Book titled "Winter Days in the Big Woods" with a cut out copy of the picture from one of the pages of Laura Ingalls Wilder's book. Laura is wearing a red patterned dress looking at flowers in the woods with grass all around. Black page with the words "wash clothes" in Roman bubble letters with blue outlining. Roman bubble letters of the words "washing dishes" on a tan piece of cardboard. White page with 3 hole punch along the left side, Roman bubble letters of the words "find the potatoes" on a black background, and a photo of Krista sitting in the grass with her student sitting on her lap both looking down to the left at red and yellow potatoes on the ground. Tan cardboard page with the word "dirt" in Roman bubble letters with blue outlining on a black background glued to the top of the page. Beneath the word is a Ziplock baggie stapled on the page with a second ziplock bag filled with black garden dirt and 5 large flat Lima beans inside. Photo of Krista's female student sitting in her wheelchair, wearing a white shirt and pink triangular shirt protector, eating mashed potatoes and butter from a spoon. White cardstock page with a photo of Krista's student sitting in her wheelchair next to a table with back paper on top. On the black paper are two groups of potatoes; one red and one yellow. Student is in a small room with a door and blue chair in the background. Krista and female student standing on the wood floor of a partially constructed wood shed. Black page with the letters capital M and capital L on it made from potato shapes cut in the letter shapes printed with paint for Mary and Laura. A quilt with flowers, blue solid squares, a hand print, a foot print, and a pair of silver rings with green jingle bells. *photos shared with permission Image of a poem. Poem Laing, R. D. (1971). Knots. Ringwood, Victoria. Penguin. Retrieved from Poems etc. (rupert.id.au) Opportunistic instruction (Krista’s term) •Sick •Sunny •Rainy •Hot •Cold •Movements •Eye gaze •Reaching •Body functions Photo of a girl blowing her nose into a tissue. Photo of a boy with his nose scrunched up. Photo of raindrops on a window. Communication Matrix •Refuse •Turn away •Close eyes •Obtain •Looking at •Glancing back and forth •Vocalizing •Social •Get attention/greetings •Information •Comments or yes/no questions A diagram of the Communication Matrix with results as an example. Question and Answer time White question mark on black background. References p.1 •Laing, R. D. (1971). Knots. Ringwood, Victoria. Penguin. Retrieved from Poems etc. (rupert.id.au) •Miller, C. (n.d.). Sample learning media assessments. Paths to literacy. Retrieved from https://www.pathstoliteracy.org/sample - learning - media - assessments/ •Paths to literacy. (n.d.). Beyond sight: Enhancing learning with tactile and sensory experiences. Retrieved from Beyond Sight: Enhancing Learning with Tactile and Sensory Experiences – Paths to Literacy •Texas school for the blind and visually impaired. (n.d.). Literacy for little ones - online materials. Retrieved from https://www.tsbvi.edu/statewide- resources/professional-development/publications/literacy-for-little-ones References p.2 •Van Dijk, J. (n.d.). Child - guided Assessment Perkins school for the blind. Retrieved from https://www.perkins.org/resource/child - guided - assessment/ •Wilder, L. I. (1932). My first little house books: Winter days in the big woods. Adapted from the Little House Books. Harper Collins Publishers, Inc. •American publishing house for the blind. (n.d.). On the way to literacy: Five little speckled frogs. Retrieved from https://www.aph.org/product/on-the-way-to- literacy - five - little - speckled - frogs/ •Brauner, D. (n.d.). Interactive alphabet book for the letter M. Paths to Literacy. Retrieved from https://www.pathstoliteracy.org/interactive - alphabet - book - letter - m/ References p.3 •Buchanan, L., Hayes, J., Montgomery, C., Peterson, L., Stagg, S. (2015, September). Concept development and responsive environments. In National Center on DeafBlindness , Open Hands, Open Access: Deaf - Blind Intervener Learning Modules. Monmouth, OR: National Center on DeafBlindness , The Research Institute at Western Oregon University. •Cooper, H. (n.d.). Tactile books for very young children. Paths to Literacy. Retrieved from https://www.pathstoliteracy.org/spring - has - sprung - ideas/ •Cushman, C. (1993). Experience books: A tool for conversation. Retrieved from Experience Books: A Tool for Conversation – Paths to Literacy •Hearing First. (n.d.). Experience books. Hearing first. Retrieved from https://www.hearingfirst.org/what-to-do/road-to-literacy/experience-books Charting the Cs logo with black and blue text Thank you!