Early Literacy: Perkins Panda 
Tom Miller, Educational Partnerships Program
Perkins School for the Blind

What is Literacy?
"Literacy in its most basic form is the ability both to understand and to express one's feelings, desires and experiences to others."
-Perkins Panda Resource Guide, p. 7, 2002

How does literacy develop?
"Experiences are at the heart of literacy development."
-Perkins Panda Resource Guide, p 6, 2002

Language Development Hierarchy
     Verbal Symbolic Behavior
     Visual Expressive language: Writing
     Visual Receptive Language: Reading
     Auditory Expressive Language: Speech
     Auditory Receptive Language: Comprehending the Spoken Word
     Inner Language
     Visual/Auditory Symbol and experience
     EXPERIENCE
-Myklebust, Psychology of Deafness, 1969

How might visual impairment and/or additional disabilities affect literacy development?
*Primary issue is the loss of incidental learning– ACCESS to the full sensory experiences of life which enable us to build an understanding of the world. 

What is our role as parents, caregivers and professionals in literacy development? 
*As families, caregivers and professionals our primary role is enabling the child to "read the world." 
-Rosenketter, Learning to Read the World, p. 4, 2004

The Perkins Panda Early Literacy Program is designed to encourage:
*Connections between caregiver and child
*Literacy opportunities which focus on play and social interaction

To enable the child to read the world you need:
*PRESENCE: being there when child reaches for a toy, smiles, and responding with acknowledgement, pleasure, and verbal labels. Music and songs create a fun opportunity for being "present" with your child. An opportunity for movement, concept development and social interaction.
*TIME: to notice and expand on the child's efforts, to explain actions and words, and to share, label and jointly experience everyday activities. Opportunities for literacy learning exist within all our day to day experiences with our child.
*WORDS: well chosen to encourage child's efforts, words combined with waiting for the child's first communication attempts via whole body movements, gesturing, vocalizations or pseudo-words. Literacy is more than words. Literacy involves the ability to "read" and communicate one's needs and desires through objects, symbols, pictures, sign, gestures, or print.
*PRINT: acknowledge and expose the child to the many forms of print (symbols, pictures, Braille) in their day to day life. Successful literacy development connects objects, words, symbols, or pictures to the child's experiences. Literacy gives meaning to your child's world and connects them to others.
*INTENTION: repeatedly and emphatically emphasize the lifelong importance of (for both adult and child) of words and print. (tangible symbols; objects; pictures, Braille)

Key message is: "Language works. Print, objects, symbols, braille are fun. They make my life better."
-Rosenketter, Learning to Read the World, p. 6, 2004

Literacy development is grounded in our interactions with the child with visual impairments and in how we make everyday experiences and concepts accessible.