Download ppt - What Is Emergent Literacy? Session 4

Early Intervention Training Center for Infants and Toddlers With Visual Impairments

FPG Child Development Institute, 2005

Communication and Emergent Literacy: Early Intervention Issues

What Is Emergent Literacy?Session 4

Early Intervention Training Center for Infants and Toddlers With Visual ImpairmentsFPG Child Development InstituteUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillAugust 1, 2005

What Is Emergent Literacy? 4A

Objectives After completing this session, participants will1. define emergent literacy as the

developmental process that begins at birth whereby children acquire the foundation for reading and writing.

2. describe two important models of emergent literacy.


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4B

Objectives After completing this session, participants will3. identify six key components of emergent

literacy for children with disabilities: oral language, phonological awareness, concept development, knowledge of the conventions of print/braille and of print/braille intentionality, alphabetic knowledge, and environmental factors.


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4C

Objectives After completing this session, participants will4. define oral language, including listening

comprehension, vocabulary, and narrative knowledge, and describe how it is related to reading and writing.

5. define phonological awareness, including phonemic awareness, as a metalinguistic process that contributes to emergent literacy and literacy.


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4D

Objectives After completing this session, participants will6. discuss concept development, including the

formation of schemas, and how it relates to emergent literacy.

7. describe knowledge of the conventions of print/braille and print/braille intentionality and their relationship to reading and writing.


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4E

Objectives After completing this session, participants will8. define alphabetic knowledge and describe

its contribution to reading and writing.9. describe the relationship between

environmental factors, including the communicative, situational, and sociocultural contexts within which literacy develops, and literacy.


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4F

Objectives After completing this session, participants will10.describe effective early intervention

practices for facilitating emergent literacy as collaborative and family-centered, developmentally appropriate, and based on evidence-based and recommended practices to achieve functional outcomes within naturally occurring learning opportunities.


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4G

Objectives After completing this session, participants will11.describe strategies and interventions to

facilitate emergent literacy—play, routines-based literacy, responsive literacy environments, shared storybook reading (especially dialogic reading, storybook preview, and storybook sounds), storytelling, and dialogue and how they facilitate the development of six key components of emergent literacy for young children with disabilities.


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4H

Objectives After completing this session, participants will12.describe assessments that can be used to

identify, plan, and implement emergent literacy interventions.

13.discuss the potential impact of visual impairments on emergent literacy, the challenge of determining whether children will be print or braille readers, and considerations for providing appropriate adaptations that will facilitate emergent literacy in these children.


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4I

Emergent LiteracyBegins at Birth

• Emergent literacy is the developmental process that begins at birth whereby children acquire the foundation for reading and writing.

• “The term ‘emergent literacy’ is used to denote the idea that the acquisition of literacy is best conceptualized as a developmental continuum, with its origins early in the life of a child, rather than as an all-or-none phenomenon that begins when children start school” (p. 848).

Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4J

Emergent Literacy is Appropriate for all Children

• Disability, as well as the reactions of others to disability, can result in fewer opportunities for children to experience literacy.

• Children with disabilities, including children with visual impairments, can and do experience literacy success when provided with appropriate support and modifications.

Koppenhaver, Coleman, Kalman, & Yoder, 1991Marvin & Mirenda, 1993


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4K

Family Literacy• Families are essential to emergent literacy

development.

• Reading and writing are usually first introduced to children in the home.

• Researchers have repeatedly found that the home literacy environments of toddlers and preschoolers have measurable effects on later literacy skills.

Marvin & Mirenda, 1993; Payne, Whitehurst, & Angell, 1994;

Rosenkoetter & Barton, 2002; Weinberger, 1996


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4L

Family Literacy Characteristics

Family and environmental characteristics thatare related to literacy include• a variety of literacy activities in the home

(e.g., many books and writing materials that are used regularly),

• language and vocabulary used in the home,• opportunities for children to learn about

people and activities, and• high parental expectations for child literacy.

Bennett, Weigel, & Martin, 2002


What Is Emergent Literacy?

Concurrent and Interrelated Development of Literacy

Emergent literacy is based on the idea “thatreading, writing, and oral language developconcurrently and interdependently from anearly age from children’s exposure tointeractions in the social contexts in whichliteracy is a component, and in the absence offormal instruction” (p. 849).


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What Is Emergent Literacy? 4N

The Interrelationships ofLiteracy Development



Interrelated Development of Communication and Literacy

Young children’s abilities to

• listen,

• read,

• write, and

• speak (or use augmentative communicationdevices)

develop concurrently and interrelatedly.

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What Is Emergent Literacy? 4P

Function and Form• Literacy tasks have both functions and forms.

• The function of writing a note to a family member can take many forms, such as writing with a pen or brailling with a slate and stylus.



Functional Literacy Events• Functions and forms of literacy are equally

important in the development of reading and writing.

• Young children learn the forms and functions of literacy concurrently through functional literacy experiences (e.g., writing a grocery list with a parent before going grocery shopping).

• Isolated practice of literacy forms (e.g., writing the letter g repeatedly on the braille writer) would not be as meaningful as writing a note to a beloved family member.

Koppenhaver et al., 1991

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Two Important Modelsof Emergent Literacy

• Whitehurst and Lonigan (1998, 2002)

• Sénéchal, LeFevre, Smith-Chant, and Colton (2001)

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What Is Emergent Literacy? 4S

Whitehurst and Lonigan’s Two Domains of Emergent Literacy

Whitehurst and Lonigan (1998) propose thatemergent literacy consists of two interdependent sets of skills and processes:

• outside-in

• inside-outas well as a third group of “other factors.”

Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998; 2002


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4T

Outside–in Domain

The outside-in domain refers to children’sknowledge of the context (i.e., the meanings ofwords, concepts about the world, how narratives are structured) in which reading andwriting exist.



What Is Emergent Literacy? 4U

Inside-out DomainThe inside-out domain refers to children’sunderstanding of the rules (i.e., that letters form words, that letters represent sounds, thatpunctuation marks carry meaning) fortranslating print into sounds or sounds into print.




Whitehurst and Lonigan’s Domains of Emergent Literacy • Outside-in domain

Knowledge about the conventions of print Emergent reading (pretending to read) Narrative knowledge Language (vocabulary)

• Inside-out domain Alphabetic knowledge Letter-sound knowledge Emergent writing (pretending to write) Phonological awareness (metalinguistic skills)

Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998, p. 8504V


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4W

Whitehurst and Lonigan’sModel of Emergent Literacy

“Other factors” include

• phonological memory (short-term memory for phonologically coded information),

• rapid naming (ability to quickly say aloud a list of letters, numbers, or colors), and

• print motivation (interest in reading and writing).

Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998, p. 850


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4X

Whitehurst and Lonigan: Environmental Factors

Whitehurst and Lonigan also emphasize therelationships of the home literacy environmentto later reading and writing, particularly earlyshared reading and components of emergentliteracy, such as• language development, • conventions and intentionality of print, and • print motivation.




Sénéchal, LeFevre,Smith-Chant, and Colton

Sénéchal et al. (2001) propose that literacyevolves from skills and abilities that form threeseparate, but related, constructs:

• emergent literacy,

• language, and

• metalinguistic skills.

Sénéchal, LeFevre , Smith-Chant, & Colton, 2001

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Sénéchal et al. VersusWhitehurst and Lonigan

• Aspects of Sénéchal et al.’s model of literacy closely resemble those of Whitehurst and Lonigan’s.

• Whereas Whitehurst and Lonigan propose outside-in and inside-out domains, Sénéchal et al. propose emergent conceptual knowledge and emergent procedural knowledge. Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998; 2002 Sénéchal, LeFevre , Smith-Chant, & Colton, 2001

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Sénéchal et al.’s Model of Emergent Literacy

• Emergent conceptual knowledge (i.e., knowing why) Knowledge about the acts of reading and writing Knowledge about the functions of literacy Self-perception of learning to read Emergent reading in context

• Emergent procedural knowledge (i.e., knowing how) Preconventional spelling in a variety of situations Letter knowledge Letter-sound knowledge Word reading (with help)

Sénéchal, LeFevre , Smith-Chant, & Colton, 2001

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Sénéchal et al. VersusWhitehurst and Lonigan

Whereas Whitehurst and Lonigan include suchcategories as language (vocabulary) and phonological awareness (metalinguistic skills)as components of emergent literacy, Sénéchal et al. identify two constructs as distinct fromemergent literacy:• language and• metalinguistic skills.

Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998; 2002 Sénéchal, LeFevre , Smith-Chant, & Colton, 2001

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Language and Metalinguistic Skills Constructs

Language • Narrative

knowledge

• Vocabulary

• Listening comprehension

MetalinguisticSkills• Phonological

awareness

• Syntactic awareness

Senechal et al., 2001, p. 448

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What Is Emergent Literacy? 4DD

National Early Literacy Panel (NELP)

The mission of the NELP is to

• summarize research on early literacy development that will contribute to education policy and practice decisions and

• evaluate the role of teachers and families in supporting language and literacy development in order to create literacy-specific materials and staff development programs for families, educators, and family literacy practitioners.Strickland & Shanahan, 2004



NELP’s 11 Predictorsof Literacy Success

• oral language/ vocabulary• listening comprehension• print knowledge• environmental print• alphabetic knowledge• invented spelling

• phonemic awareness• phonological short-

term memory• rapid naming• visual perceptual

skills • visual memory

Strickland & Shanahan, 2004

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Key Components of Emergent Literacy for Young

Children With Disabilities• Oral language (especially listening

comprehension, vocabulary, and narrative knowledge)

• Phonological awareness• Concept development• Knowledge of the conventions of print/braille

and of print/braille intentionality• Alphabetic knowledge• Environmental factors

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Oral Language• Oral language is spoken communication.

• Children’s mastery of oral language is most often measured by listening comprehension or size of vocabulary.

• Oral language can also be measured by degree of mastery of grammar and syntax.

Strickland & Shanahan, 2004

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Grammar and Syntax• Grammar refers to the system of rules that

govern a language.

• Syntax refers to the system of rules that govern, for a given language, how words are arranged to make meaningful sentences.

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Listening ComprehensionListening comprehension • is the understanding of spoken communication,

including vocabulary and syntax.• is associated with the ability of preschoolers and

kindergartners to decode texts and read with comprehension.

• can be facilitated through conversations with children and through their active engagement during storybook reading.

Strickland and Shanahan, 2004

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Vocabulary• Vocabulary refers to the words used and

understood by a language user.• Vocabulary development in children is related

to the conversation of caregivers and to storybook reading—opportunities that promote oral language.

• Vocabulary can be facilitated through direct experiences that develop concepts.

• Vocabulary is related to reading success and reading comprehension in school.

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Narrative Knowledge• Narrative knowledge is a set of expectations,

or knowledge, about the ways in which stories conventionally proceed.

• For example, through experience, young children learn that stories often begin with “Once upon a time” and end with “The end.”

• Narrative knowledge is also called “narrative schema” or “story schema.”

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Oral LanguageYoung children’s oral language, includinglistening comprehension, may be influenced byenvironmental factors such as• family values, socio-economic status, and

culture;• family’s vocabulary and language use;• maternal education and IQ;• number of books in the home;• frequency of visits to library; and• active participation in storybook reading.

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Oral LanguageOral language

• is related to concepts about the world and vocabulary that will help with reading comprehension in second grade and beyond.

• promotes narrative knowledge.

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Phonological Awareness• Phonological awareness is the ability to

detect and manipulate the sound structures of oral language.

• It includes the recognition that sentences are composed of words and that words are composed of sound units (syllables, phonemes).

• Phonological awareness is metalinguistic.

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Metalinguistics• Metalinguistics is the study of language, not

just as a means of communication, but as its own abstract entity.

• Metalinguistics involves consciously observing or reflecting upon language use.

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Phonological Awareness• Phonological awareness includes children’s

ability to identify rhymes, delete or add syllables or phonemes from words, and count the phonemes in a word.

• Phonological awareness is related to the later ability to decode words and to read fluently.

• Phonological awareness is also called “phonological sensitivity.”


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Phonemic AwarenessPhonemic awareness is

• the ability to detect and manipulate thesmallest units of sound within words.

• a component of phonological awareness.

• demonstrated through the ability to isolate, add, or delete phonemes from words.

• related to later ability to decode words and to use invented spelling.

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Concept Development• A concept is a general idea that develops

through repeated experiences with specific events.

• Children need repeated experiences with specific examples to generalize concepts.

Warren & Hatton, 2003

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SchemaSchemas

• are meaningfully organized cognitive templates or frameworks, typically derived from experience, that represent knowledge about objects, people, events, activities, or situations.

• help organize concepts so that they can be retrieved efficiently; schemas assist in predicting what is likely to happen in a given context.

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What Is Emergent Literacy? 4TT

Concepts About the WorldGaining concepts about the world (schemas) helps children understand concepts in books.

Making bread teaches children many concepts. A book aboutcooking will be enjoyed moreif children have previous experiences with the concepts.

Rosenkoetter & Barton, 2002



Conceptual Understanding• Exposure to events in the home and

community is essential for building concepts that support literacy.

• Frequent exposure to meaningful and functional objects and experiences provides the foundation for concept development, communication, language, and literacy development.

• Children with visual impairments may need assistance in generalizing concepts.

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Conventions of Print/Braille• Knowledge of the conventions of print/braille

refers to children’s understanding of standard text formats (e.g., that texts are read from left to right and from top to bottom; that books are read from front to back; that pages are turned during reading).

• Knowing the conventions of print/braille facilitates literacy acquisition in young children.


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What Is Emergent Literacy? 4WW

Conventions of Print/Braille Books

• are generally made of paper, but can be made of other materials;

• have pages to be turned;

• may contain words or pictures; and

• have pictures that represent familiar objects.

Harley, Truan, & Sanford, 1997


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4XX

Conventions of Print/Braille Books • have a top, bottom, front, and back. • provide pleasure and information. • have language that is consistent from page to

page. • have print or braille symbols that read from

left to right and from top to bottom.• have print or braille symbols that tell the

reader what to say. Harley et al., 1997



Print/Braille Intentionality• Knowledge of print/braille intentionality refers

to children’s understanding of the functions of texts—for example, that texts can tell stories, give directions, and provide information.

• Knowing why people read may facilitate literacy acquisition in young children.

Senechal, LeFevre, Smith-Chant, & Colton, 2001

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Print/Braille IntentionalityPrint/braille intentionality (also called print/brailleknowledge)• is influenced by exposure to environmental

print, storybook reading, direct parent teaching, and active involvement with storybooks.

• is related to motivation to read and understanding the process of reading.

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Alphabetic Knowledge• Alphabetic knowledge is the ability to name

the letters of the alphabet based on their shapes.

• Children’s alphabetic knowledge may be influenced by exposure to the alphabet in their natural

environments and direct teaching by adults.

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Alphabetic knowledge

• is related to the later ability to decode words and to use invented spelling.

• may also be called “letter-name knowledge,” “knowledge of graphemes,” and “knowledge of letters.”

Alphabetic Knowledge

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What Is Emergent Literacy? 4CCC

Environmental Factors

Emergent literacy is influenced by environmental factors, or the contexts ofchildren’s lives.


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4DDD


Literacy success in older children has been linked to

• higher family socio-economic status,

• higher maternal education and IQ,

• high parental vocabulary and complex language, and

• more books and literacy materials in homes.


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4EEE


Literacy success in older children has been linked to

• frequency of shared storybook reading,

• active child participation in storybook reading,

• trips to the library,

• parental enthusiasm for reading, and

• high family expectations.



Adapted fromKoppenhaver, D.A., Pierce, P.L., Steelman, J.D., & Yoder, D.E. (1995). Contexts of early literacy intervention for children with developmental disabilities. In M.E. Fey, J. Windsor, & S.F. Warren (Eds.), Language intervention: Preschool through the elementary years (pp. 241-274). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.

A Contextual Perspective of Communication and Literacy

Speaking/Signing/AAC

ReadingWriting

Listening/ Watching Signs

Communicative Context

Situational Context

Sociocultural Context

Concept Development

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Three Contexts

Three contexts influence communicationdevelopment:

• 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

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Communicative Context

The four interrelated modes of communication,

• listening/watching signs,

• reading,

• writing, and

• speaking/ signing/ using AAC devices,depend heavily on concept development.

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Emergent Literacy and IDEIA 2004

The individualized family service plan (IFSP) for infants and toddlers with disabilities should include

measurable results or outcomes for infants or toddlers and family, including preliteracy and language skills, as developmentally appropriate for the child, and the criteria, procedures, and timelines used to determine the degree to which progress toward achieving the results or outcomes is being made and whether modifications or revisions of the results or

outcomes or services are necessary. (IDEIA 2004, Part C, Section 631)

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Recommended Practices

To facilitate emergent literacy in young childrenwith disabilities, early interventionists shouldprovide collaborative, family-centered supportthat is developmentally appropriate and basedon evidence-based and recommendedpractices that result in functional outcomeswithin naturally occurring learning opportunities.

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EEarly IIntervention Training Center for Infants and Toddlers With VVisual IImpairmentsFPG Child Development InstituteUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillApril 22, 2023

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Family-Centered and Collaborative Practices

Interventions to facilitate emergent literacyshould be family centered:

• involve shared responsibility and collaboration among all team members,

• strengthen family functioning,

• include individualized and flexible practices, and

• employ strengths- and assets-based practices.

Trivette and Dunst, 2005What is Emergent Literacy?


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Developmentally Appropriate Practices

• Although most definitions of emergent literacy recognize that it begins at birth, very little is known about emergent literacy in infants and toddlers.

• Consequently, many professionals and families try to adapt information and research about preschoolers and kindergarteners for infants and toddlers.

What is Emergent Literacy?


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Developmentally Appropriate Practices

Therefore, until we have more empirically based information, families, caregivers, andprofessionals should• use developmentally appropriate activities

that are functional and fun,• use recommended practices from early

intervention and early childhood special education, and

• carefully consider research and evidence-based practices that may be appropriate for infants and toddlers.

What is Emergent Literacy?


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Recommended Practices for Child-Focused Interventions

Intervention that is child focused includes

• designing safe and accessible environments that promote active and interactive engagement,

• adapting practices to meet the individual and changing needs of each child, and

• systematically promoting children’s learning within and across environments, activities, and routines.

Wolery, 2005What is Emergent Literacy?


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Recommended Practices for Child-Focused Interventions

Child-focused interventions should promotefunctional outcomes as identified by the EarlyChildhood Outcome Center (2005):• social interactions that provide the context

for meaningful communication and that provide motivation for development across domains,

• active engagement in the world around them, and

• independence and self-efficacy.What is Emergent Literacy?



Emergent Literacy Interventions

Strategies and interventions to facilitateemergent literacy facilitate the development of the six key components of emergent literacy for young children with disabilities:• oral language,• phonological awareness,• concept development,• knowledge of the conventions of print/braille and print/braille intentionality, • alphabetic knowledge, and• rich literacy environments.

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Strategies and Interventions to Facilitate Emergent Literacy

Developmentally appropriate strategies andinterventions that promote functional outcomesinclude • play; • routines-based literacy;• responsive literacy environments;• shared storybook reading (especially dialogic

reading, storybook preview, and storybook sounds);

• storytelling, including decontextualized language; and

• dialogue/conversation.4QQQ



Play• Many emergent literacy interventions can be

encouraged through play. • Play is process oriented, not product oriented.• Children learn through the process of playing, not by creating a product or accomplishing a task. • Play provides a developmentally appropriate

context for learning about the functions of reading and writing.

McLane & McNamee, 1991Roskos, Christie, & Richgels, 2003

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Routines-Based LiteracyLawhon and Cobb describe a literacy routine as“the regular use of a variety of techniques toenhance children’s abilities • to listen, • to observe, • to imitate, and • to develop their language, reading and writing skills”

(2002, p. 113). Literacy routines should be integrated into thecontext of daily routines.

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Responsive Literacy Environments

Responsive literacy environments includeexperiences in which children

• observe adults modeling literate behaviors,

• interact with adults in reading and writing situations, and

• explore literacy actively (self-initiated, hands-on, and independent exploration).

Teale & Sulzby, 1986

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Responsive Literacy Environments

• The appropriateness, accessibility, and number of literacy resources or artifacts within children’s environments enhance literacy modeling, interactions, and active exploration.

• Responsive literacy environments help children learn about the function of reading and writing within day to day activities.

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Examples of Active and Interactive Engagement

Seventeen-month-oldAllysandra and her mothershare a storybook.

Here, at 22 months,Allysandra explores a book actively.

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What Is Emergent Literacy? 4WWW

Shared Storybook Reading

Shared storybook reading is

• evidence based,

• family centered,

• child centered, and

• developmentally appropriate.

NAYEC, 1998


What Is Emergent Literacy? 4XXX

Shared Storybook Reading Shared storybook reading helps children acquire• oral language,

• phonological awareness,

• concept development,

• the conventions of print/braille and print/braille intentionality, and

• alphabetic knowledge. Shared storybook reading helps children todevelop a positive attitude about reading (i.e.,gain print motivation).


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Dialogic Reading • Dialogic reading is a shared-reading technique

in which the adult assumes the role of an active listener, and the child learns to become a storyteller.

• In dialogic reading, the adult reader asks questions, adds information, and prompts the child to increase the sophistication of descriptions in the book.

• The child’s responses are encouraged through praise and repetition.

Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998What is Emergent Literacy?



Dialogic Reading• Dialogic reading produces greater effects on

children’s language skills than typical picture book reading in which children listen passively.

• It has been used successfully with children of varying ages and abilities.


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Storybook Preview

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• Storybook preview is the shared exploration of the content of a book without consideration of the storyline.

• Children are given the opportunity to label or describe illustrations of interest, ask questions, and make comments to increase narrative knowledge and vocabulary.

• The caregiver’s role is to identify and scaffold children’s communicative attempts.

McCathren & Allor, 2002



Storybook Sounds

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• Storybook sounds is an intervention that focuses on the development of phonological awareness.

• During shared storybook reading, caregivers point out rhyming words or initial sounds.

• If children show an interest, caregivers can make up little games to reinforce phonological concepts.

McCathren & Allor, 2002



Storytelling

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Children who are told stories, whether fictionalones or ones based on real-life experiences,gain familiarity with decontextualized language.

For example, a parent who has just come homefrom work uses decontextualized language todescribe what happened at the office earlier inthe day.



Decontextualized LanguageDecontextualized language refers to theexpression of ideas and concepts that areremoved from the immediate situation orphysical context.

Exposure to decontextualized language facilitates children’s ability to recall events,make predictions, ask and answer questions,and problem-solve.

Bardige & Segal, 2004

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Dialogue/Conversation• Young children who are exposed to a wide

variety of words in meaningful conversation learn new words each day.

• When adults use a wide variety of descriptive language, children pick up on the words and learn their meaning in appropriate contexts.


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Dialogue• Children with larger vocabularies as

preschoolers become better readers and writers.

• Children exposed to decontextualized language often become more adept learners in elementary school.


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Assessment of Emergent Literacy

• Current level of functioning descriptions of communication and language can be used to identify emergent literacy intervention goals for children.

• Assessment of family priorities, concerns, and resources can also be used to identify communication, language, and emergent literacy priorities and goals.

• Sensory assessments describe current levels of visual and sensory functioning and sensory preferences that can help guide intervention.

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Sensory Assessments and Emergent Literacy

• Functional vision assessments, conducted by teachers of children with visual impairments, describe functional use of vision across settings that can be used to identify appropriate and accessible literacy media.

• A developmentally appropriate learning media assessment (DALMA) consists of interviews and observations and is used to describe children’s sensory behaviors and preferences.

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Developmentally Appropriate Learning Media Assessment Tools

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• The Individual Sensory Learning Profile Interview or ISLPI (Anthony, 2003a) includes questions for caregivers about how a child with visual impairments uses sensory information during activities and routines.

• The Observational Assessment of Sensory Preferences of Infants and Toddlers With Visual Impairments or OASP (Anthony, 2003b) provides a framework for direct observations of the child’s sensory behaviors.



Individual Sensory Learning Profile Interview (ISLPI)

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The ISLPI is used to secure information aboutchildren’s sensory use through interviews withcaregivers and other team members. It providesinformation about:• response to visual stimuli;• latency of visual response;• preferences for auditory, vestibular, and

kinesthetic stimuli; and• positioning preferences that support overall

sensory responsiveness.



Observational Assessment of Sensory Preferences (OASP)

• Notes child’s sensory preferences through observations across activities, settings, and time

• Provides observational information about how the child uses senses

• Compares sensory use in structured and unstructured situations

• Notes motivating objects and activities and preferences for certain toys and activities

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The Adult/Child Interactive Reading Inventory (ACIRI)

The ACIRI

• is an authentic observation tool that assesses interactions during shared storybook readings.

• helps interventionists identify intervention goals and strategies.

DeBruin-Parecki, 2000

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The Adult/Child Interactive Reading Inventory (ACIRI)

The ACIRI assesses the following threeliteracy categories through observation:

• enhancing attention to text,

• promoting interactive reading and supporting comprehension, and

• using literacy strategies.

DeBruin-Parecki, 2000

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Kaderavek-Sulzby BookreadingObservational Protocol (KSBOP)The KSBOP is used to observe joint readingbehaviors of children and caregivers.

The KSBOP isolates four areas of sharedstorybook reading:

• storybook selection,

• parent scaffolding,

• social-emotional climate, and

• verbal responsiveness.Kaderavek & Sulzby, 1998

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Impact of Disabilities and VI on Emergent Literacy

Early interventionists should carefully considerchildren’s unique abilities and the impact theymay have on• oral language (listening comprehension and

vocabulary development in particular), • phonological awareness, • concept development,• knowledge of the conventions of print/braille

and of print/braille intentionality, and • alphabetic knowledge.

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• Children with disabilities may have fewer concepts about the world.

• They may not readily grasp cause-and-effect relationships, and they may not be motivated to explore because they are unable to see the enticing objects, people, and activities around them.

• Conceptual knowledge helps children understand the content of stories and conversation and is related to reading comprehension in the second and later grades.

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Concept Development



• Parents of children with disabilities are more at risk for depression (Wheeler, Hatton, Reichardrt, & Bailey, 2005).

• Caregivers who are depressed are typically not as responsive; therefore, children with disabilities may have fewer literacy opportunities.

• Children with visual impairments often provide subtle communication cues that are difficult to interpret, thereby impeding responsiveness.

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Responsive Caregiving



Print/Braille Intentionality and Alphabetic Knowledge

• Children with disabilities, and children with visual impairments in particular, may not be aware of the books, magazines, and writing tools in their homes.

• They may not be tuned into the literacy activities that family members engage in, such as reading the paper or writing checks.

• Providing access to literacy materials in the appropriate media and facilitating literacy experiences promote print-braille intentionality and alphabetic knowledge.

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Learning Media and Emergent Literacy

• Determining a child’s primary literacy medium or media is a complex process.

• Intervention teams should carefully and thoughtfully consider recommendations for children’s primary literacy media.

• If young children with visual impairments have access to print and braille, the primary literacy medium or media will probably emerge naturally.

Craig, 1996

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• If children have a visual condition that results in progressive vision loss or that may lead to future vision loss, early exposure to braille and tactile experiences should be provided.

• The developmentally appropriate learning media assessment (DALMA) should be used to provide ongoing guidance regarding children’s current sensory preferences and primary literacy medium or media.

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Learning Media and Emergent Literacy