Communication and Emergent Literacy: Early Intervention Issues

1. Overview of Communication and Literacy Session 1 Early Intervention Training Center for Infants and Toddlers With Visual Impairments FPG Child Development Institute, 2005 Communication and Emergent Literacy: Early Intervention Issues

2. Objectives After completing this session, participants will • define receptive and expressive communication, nonlinguistic and prelinguistic communication, and emergent literacy. • describe the relationship of nonlinguistic/prelinguistic communication to social development and language development. • describe the concepts of literacy and emergent literacy. 1A

3. Objectives After completing this session, participants will • discuss the concurrent and interrelated development of communication and literacy. • describe the three contexts—communicative, situational, and sociocultural—in which communication and literacy develop. • describe how early attachment between children with visual impairments and their caregivers might impact social-emotional development and communication. 1B

4. Objectives After completing this session, participants will • describe why children must develop concepts about the world in order to develop communication and literacy skills, and why children with visual impairments are often delayed in their development of concepts. 1C

5. Objectives After completing this session, participants will • recognize that children with visual impairments may not have incidental exposure to literacy events such as opportunities to observe use of print or braille in daily activities, and that they may not have access to appropriate literacy artifacts such as braille books. 1D

6. Objectives After completing this session, participants will 9. describe the potential impact of multiple disabilities on communication and emergent literacy development. • describe the role of teachers of children with visual impairments in planning and implementing family-centered, collaborative interventions that promote communication development and emergent literacy in infants and toddlers with visual impairments. 1E

7. Communication • Communication is the ability to meaningfully exchange ideas, thoughts, wants, and desires with others. • Expressive communication is the ability to share one’s ideas, thoughts, wants, and desires. • Receptive communication is the ability to understand someone else’s ideas, thoughts, wants, and desires. Owens, 2001 1F

8. Nonlinguistic Communication • Nonlinguistic communication is the use of facial expressions, gestures, and nonspeech vocalizations used to support interactions. • Nonlinguistic communication is used throughout childhood and into adulthood. • All children communicate but not all children use language (linguistics) to communicate. 1G

9. Prelinguistic Communication Prelinguistic communication describes the use of facial expressions, gestures, and nonspeech vocalizations that typically precede the development of language. 1H

10. Nonlinguistic/Prelinguistic Communication • Nonlinguistic communication begins in infancy but is also used by adults to support interactions with one another. • For infants, nonlinguistic/ prelinguistic communication and social development are closely linked. • Prelinguistic communication is tied to later language development. 1I

11. Language or linguistic communication refers to any complex system that uses arbitrary symbols and rules to represent concepts. It includes speaking/listening and reading/writing. Language/Linguistic Communication 1J

12. Prelinguistic Communication and Social Development In infancy, nonlinguistic/prelinguistic communication and social development are closely related. As children become increasingly competent in nonlinguistic/prelinguistic communicative exchanges, social interactions increase and become even more reinforcing. Hala, 1997 Striano & Rochat, 1999 Tomasello, 1992 1K

13. Mothers who hum lullabies to their infants while rocking them to sleep promote attachment and provide a communicative model. Prelinguistic Communication and Social Development 1L

14. Prelinguistic exchanges are important for communication during the first few years and contribute to future language development. Research suggests that prelinguistic communication predicts later language development. Prelinguistic Communication and Language Development 1M

15. Literacy is the ability to read, write, and understand written language. Reading formats include print, large type, and braille. Writing includes handwriting, braille, and/or the use of a computer, typewriter, word processor, or other assistive technology to produce written language. Alvermann, 2000 Literacy 1N

16. Emergent literacy is the developmental acquisition of literacy skills that begins at birth and includes the settings and experiences that encourage literacy. NAEYC, 1998 Weinberger, 1996 Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998 Emergent Literacy 1O

17. Emergent literacy activities include observing caregivers in daily activities (e.g., opening the mail, making a grocery list), shared storybook readings, and developing concepts through experiencing the world. NAEYC, 1998 Weinberger, 1996 Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998 Emergent Literacy 1P

18. When Does Emergent Literacy Begin? • Communication begins with the first contact infants have at birth. • Written language learning begins very early with experiences with books including texture, shape, and picture books and other forms of print. 1Q

19. The Interrelatedness of Literacy and Language 1R

20. Interrelated Development of Communication and Literacy Emergent literacy begins at birth. Young children’s abilities to • listen, • read, • write, and • speak (or use augmentative communication devices) • develop concurrently and interrelatedly. 1S

21. A Contextual Perspective of Communication and Literacy Speaking/Signing/AAC Concept Development Writing Reading Listening/ Watching Signs Communicative Context Situational Context Sociocultural Context Adapted from Koppenhaver, D.A., Pierce, P.L., Steelman, J.D., & Yoder, D.E. (1994). Contexts of early literacy intervention for children with developmental disabilities. In M.E. Fey, J. Windsor, & S.F. Warren (Eds.), Language intervention in the early school years (pp. 241-274). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes. Used with permission. 1T

22. A Contextual Perspective of Communication and Literacy The four interrelated modes of communication, • listening/watching signs, • reading, • writing, and • speaking/signing/using AAC devices, depend heavily on concept development. 1U

23. A Contextual Perspective of Communication and Literacy Three contexts influence communication development: • communicative context—linguistic and nonlinguistic interactions among children and adults; • situational context—physical characteristics of children’s living and learning environments; • sociocultural context—societal and cultural values, expectations, beliefs, and resources. 1V

24. Attachment and Early Communication Disabilities may affect early attachment and can influence both the parents and the child as social and communication partners. • Parents may be depressed or experiencing grief. • Infants’ cues may be subtle and difficult to interpret. 1W

25. Attachment and Social Skills • Visual impairments at birth may affect early attachment and communication between parents and children. • Reciprocal communication requires interaction; therefore, communication delays may be associated with delays in social development. 1X

26. Attachment and Social Skills • Children with visual impairments develop compensatory skills, such as quieting to listen intently, that serve functions that vision serves for sighted children. • Parents may interpret this “attentive stillness” as unresponsiveness and may think that the child is not interested in interacting with them. • Consequently, parents may be unsure of how to interact with their children with visual impairments. 1Y

27. Concept Development Without an understanding of the world in which we live, children cannot develop their abilities to communicate and to engage in literacy events. Children with visual impairments may have difficulty developing concepts involving • body awareness and body image; • objects, people, activities, space, distance, etc.; • comparisons; and • classification. Warren & Hatton, 2003 1Z

28. Mediation of the Environment Adults may need to help mediate the environments of children with disabilities, and visual impairments in particular, to help them develop concepts that cannot be acquired incidentally through vision. 1AA

29. A Horse Is a Horse In order to help Sierra understand the concept of horse, her mother takes her to visit a farm. At home, her mother talks to Sierra about similarities and differences between the living horse and her rocking horse. Exposure to a living horse will facilitate Sierra’s conceptual learning. 1BB

30. Promoting Concept Development • Children learn through trial and error and need opportunities to develop independence. • Children need exposure to a variety of naturally occurring activities. • Children with visual impairments need to use all of their senses to develop accurate concepts. 1CC

31. Visual Impairments and Emergent Literacy Visual impairments may prevent young children from experiencing the same richness of emergent literacy activities that sighted children experience. They may not have • incidental exposure to literacy events, • opportunities to observe print or braille, or • access to appropriate literacy artifacts such as braille books. 1DD

32. Literacy and Multiple Disabilities • Children with severe physical impairments provided with literacy opportunities develop emergent literacy concepts in ways similar to typically developing children. • Children with a range of disabilities have fewer opportunities to engage in early literacy learning experiences. Butler, 1979; Katims, 2000; Kopenhaver et al., 1991; Marvin, 1994 Pebly & Koppenhaver, 2001; Pierce & McWilliam, 1993 Rex, Koenig, Wormsley, & Baker, 1994 1EE

33. Emergent Literacy Experiences • All children, particularly those with disabilities, need regular opportunities to develop emergent literacy concepts that will assist them in later formal literacy instruction. • Furthermore, parents of children with disabilities can benefit from training to help their children gain more from emergent literacy activities. Koppenhaver et al., 1991 Skotko, Koppenhaver, & Erickson, 2004 1FF

34. Challenges of Children With Multiple Disabilities Children with multiple disabilities may face challenges in developing communication and literacy because of • frequent doctors' appointments, • feeding and nutrition concerns, • different sleeping schedules, and • multiple medications, etc. 1GG

35. Children With Multiple Disabilities • Children with multiple disabilities may be further disadvantaged because motor and cognitive delays can impede concept development. • Children with multiple disabilities may be limited in their independent exploration, manipulation, and interaction with their environments. • Caregivers may not identify or understand the communicative attempts of children with additional disabilities, and thus may limit both communication and literacy opportunities. 1HH

36. Role of the Teacher of Children With Visual Impairments (TVI) • Helps families and other members of the early intervention team understand how visual impairments may affect attachment, communication, and emergent literacy • Implements family-centered practices to provide effective early intervention 1II

37. Role of the TVI • Serves as a member of the early intervention team • Completes specialized assessments such as functional vision assessments and developmentally appropriate learning media assessments 1JJ

38. Role of the TVI Assists in planning and implementing interventions that fit into families’ daily routines and that address their priorities through functional outcomes 1KK

39. Family-Centered Practices To provide effective early intervention, TVIs develop alliances with families and other professionals that • recognize family and child strengths, • promote family choice, and • promote collaboration with families and other professionals while respecting and honoring diversity. DVI, 2003 Hatton, 2004 Hatton, McWilliam, & Winton, 2002; 2003 1LL

40. Supporting Families TVIs • help families understand that attachment, communication, language, and concept development form the foundation for emergent literacy. • collaborate with families to identify opportunities to facilitate development in all of these areas during daily routines and natural learning opportunities. 1MM

41. Working With Teams • TVIs provide expertise regarding the impact of visual impairments on communication and emergent literacy. • Speech-language pathologists provide important expertise regarding communication and language development. • TVIs often work closely with eye care specialists to assess functional vision. • Physical therapists (PTs) and occupational therapists (OTs) may identify motor, positioning, and sensory needs and strategies that affect emergent literacy. 1NN

42. Working With Teams • IDEIA Part C (2004) requires that professionals from more than one discipline assess young children and develop the IFSP. • The early intervention team must collaborate with families to identify children’s current level of functioning and goals for the IFSP. • Families direct the assessment of their resources, priorities, and concerns. 1OO