​

Overview of Sign Language and Braille

Morrow, S., Daniels, D., Hertzog, T., Stern, G., Withrow, H. (2016)

Hierarchy of Language Development

• Sign language and braille are abstract forms of communication along the language spectrum.
• Teachers and practitioners must provide access to language that is equivalent to or just above the ability of the student.

The Path to Complex Language

Heather

Heather describes the path to complex language for her son, Orion.

Transcript

• As you learned in the module, “Progressing from Non-Symbolic to Symbolic Communication,” there are stages of language development.�
• Given the extreme diversity of experiences among learners who are deaf-blind, practitioners can assume that students will present themselves at various stages along the language spectrum.

Language Spectrum

Communication Matrix

For more information on the Communication Matrix: https://www.communicationmatrix.org/

Hierarchy of Language Development

• On the previous slide, you saw that one level is to be mastered prior to moving onto the next.
• If learners are presented with language that is beyond their current capacity, they will not be able to absorb it.
• They can become frustrated and may disengage.
• As practitioners, we must become astute observers of a student’s communication attempts and comprehension of messages.

Sign Language & Braille

​

• Sign language and braille are communication modalities.
• They provide access to language and printed materials.
• They are abstract forms of communication and should be considered as higher levels of communication.
• Learners who are deaf-blind may utilize these modes independently or in combination with other modalities.

Sign Language & Braille

(cont.)

• Emerging language users who are deaf-blind will utilize modes at a pre-symbolic level of communication prior to moving onto sign language and braille.
• It’s critical that communication partners be aware of the hierarchy of language development and understand how to scaffold the learning of language.

What is Sign Language?

• Sign language can be a stand-alone language system, such as American Sign Language, which has an entirely different grammatical structure than English.
• It can be used in combination with spoken language (e.g., signing and speaking at the same time).
• It can also be used to code spoken and written language (e.g., Pidgin Signed English - PSE or Signed Exact English- SEE).

​

What is Braille?

• Braille is a means to access printed information, such as letters, words, and numbers.
• It should be considered an accessible means of communication for all communicators, such as functional braille for emerging literacy skills.

Students with deaf-blindness need diversity of access. This may include:

• Tactile skill development to access both sign language and braille (how to use the touch sense).
• Modifications to sign language based on visual and physiological needs.
• Access to a specialized braille format: uncontracted, contracted, or a combination of both.

Each of these areas is worthy of more reading and exploration. The purpose of this module is to introduce these concepts. At the end of the module, we offer suggested resources for further study.

Promoting Language

​

OHOA Deaf-Blind Intervener Learning Modules

​

A national resource designed to increase awareness, knowledge, and skills related to the process of intervention for students who are deaf-blind. Developed by National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness.

​

​

For more information, contact NCDB at

info@nationaldb.org.

​

​

​

The contents of this presentation were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education #H326T130013. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the The Research Institute, nor the US Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Jo Ann McCann.

​

​