In this experience story, a girl who is deafblind works with her teacher, Matt Schultz, to create a book about her trip the previous day to a restaurant, followed by watching a boy fly a kite.
Background:
Kersten is a young girl who is deafblind. This was filmed during her first year at TSBVI. She was having a really difficult time, missing her friends and family at home. She tried so hard to initiate conversation with sign and gestures but was often unsuccessful. The initiations would end in her become self-abusive, scratching her face, hitting herself or being outwardly aggressive towards staff. We wanted to capture some preferred topics in a static form, so she could practice successful back and forth conversations. Eventually (in a year or 2) she would take her stories to familiar staff and retell the story to them with great success. It became her favorite activity. She also loved to take them home and share with her Mom and Dad.
Transcript and Audio Description
The opening shot shows a sequence board with photos and the words cut, glue, draw, staple, read.
The teacher sits to the left of the student as she examines a page of photographs.
The teacher holds the paper while the student uses scissors to cut out the photos. (There are sounds of other students and teachers in the background.)
The teacher explains that they are going to draw. He calls the girl’s attention to the photo and drawing, as he writes, signs and says, “Diced tomatoes…Enchiladas… Rice…Beans…Restaurant.”
The girl examines the page and the teacher asks “Who’s that?” as he points to a photo on the page.
The girl signs “Tania”.
They start a new page and the teacher draws a picture of a kite. The girl signs “kite”.
The teacher says and signs, “The boy, the kite yesterday at the park. You and me we walked up the hill. We watched the kite yesterday.”
The girl signs “like kite” and the teacher signs and says, “Yes, you liked the kite.”
The teacher says and signs, “Drawing, gluing is finished. Now staple.”
He stacks and straightens the papers, saying and signing, “Staple…Staple and then read.”
The teacher says and signs, “Yesterday at the restaurant you ate enchiladas.”
The girl looks at the book and points to the drawing of the enchiladas and then the rice. The teacher says and signs, “Enchiladas…rice…little tomatoes…cheese…enchiladas.”
The girl turns the page and points to the picture. They both sign, “Tania.” The teacher signs and says, “You sat at the table and ate enchiladas at the restaurant.”
The girl turns the page and points to the picture of the kite. The teacher says, “What’s that? You sign.”
The girl signs “kite” as she laughs.
The teacher says and signs, “Yesterday we watched the kite.”
The girl laughs, and the teacher signs and says, “You like the boy with the kite… It was a little boy.”
Reflections on Instruction
Matt Schultz shares his reflections on this lesson.
