In order to foster literacy learning for students who are blind or who are deaf-blind, they need to have access to a changing assortment of accessible books. The books described below have been brailled and adapted with tactuals and are currently being used by students with deaf-blindness in North Carolina model classrooms. All directions contain a materials shopping list and page-by-page directions that includes photographs. The books themselves need to be purchased separately.
All downloadable handouts reference the North Carolina Extensions from the Standard Course of Study addressed within each activity. The below books are appropriate for all students, but have been specifically adapted for students with the most significant disabilities, including deaf-blindness.
Start-to-Finish Literacy Starter Kits
Students with significant disabilities, like all students, require experiences with a range of text types. Access to a range of book types, including informational texts, will support the development of background knowledge and knowledge of the world that can't always be developed through direct experience. The Start-to-Finish Literacy Starter books were developed by Don Johnston, Inc to address the needs of older students with significant disabilities. They address address a range of curriculum-based content areas through three types of text that address the language, print processing, and word identification skills required for early, successful reading. The Start-to-Finish Literacy Starter books come in sets of 3 related titles available in paperback book format and switch-accessible compute-based formats, The full Start-to-Finish Literacy Starter kits also include vocabulary cards and a Teacher Resource CD. The paperback books can be purchased separately.
We have been making the paperback books accessible to the students with signficant visual impairments in the deafblind model demonstration project by adding tactual features. Below are directions on how to tactualize the books for your own use.
Plants-Science & Surroundings Kit
Life Cycles-Birth & Beyond Kit
Recycling-Cash in the Trash Kit
Other titles to be added soon: