Visual Impairments (VIs) are ranked as the fourth most common disability in the United States and are viewed as the most common restricting condition during childhood. It has been reported that 17% to 25% of school-aged children have some degree of a vision problem, thus interrupting their potential to reach optimal growth and learning in school.…

Based on the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA), discrete trial training (DTT) is used to develop a new response to a stimulus. DTT is based upon the principle of breaking down behavior into discrete steps called a "single teaching unit" or learning trials. Trials are repeated several times with the learner receiving…

The Cultivating Readers Family Guide provides tips and to grow reading skills from birth to age eight. The guide will help parents keep their shared learning activities with their children fun and part of their everyday routine.

Visual supports are concrete cues that are paired with, or used in place of, a verbal cue to provide the learner with information about a routine, activity, behavioral expectation, or skill demonstration. Visual supports might include: "pictures," "written words," "objects," "arrangement of the environment,"…

Audio-Supported Reading (ASR) is a technology-based approach for accessing and working with text presented in either braille or enlarged (magnified) print. This approach allows a user to listen to a spoken version of text while looking at screen-displayed print or while touching braille. In ASR, both the rate of information pick up and the portion…

This booklet was designed to aid parents in making things at home to develop their newborn to 2-year-old children's skills. Suggested are easy-to-make visual stimuli for infants up to 6 weeks of age and 6 weeks to 3 months of age. For the latter, tactile stimuli also are considered. For infants 3 to 6 months of age, objects providing visual,…

Autism is a life-long, complex developmental disorder that causes impairment in the way individuals process information. Autism belongs to heterogeneous categories of developmental disabilities where neurological disorders lead to deficits in a child's ability to communicate, understand language, play, develop social skills, and relate to others.…

Notes the difference between "properly" stimulated and "expensively stimulated" or "over" stimulated when it comes to providing an environment for infant brain development. Highlights the effectiveness of just talking to a child. Suggests that more important than a particular toy is that parents be attuned to the kind…

This booklet contains 28 fact sheets on communication written primarily for parents and families with a child who is deaf-blind. They attempt to address fundamental but complex issues related to the communication needs of children with vision and hearing impairments. Each fact sheet targets a specific area, including: (1) communication; (2)…

"Grandfather Moose" rhymes, written to follow the Mother Goose tradition, are short, appealing, easy-to-memorize sign language nursery rhymes which employ visual poetic devices such as similar signs and transitional flow of movement. (CB)

Describes the benefits of infant massage, particularly for babies with deafness who have hearing parents. Steps for giving baby massages are provided, including placing a hand on the baby's stomach and making eye contact, starting with the legs, looking for cues, and communicating with the baby. (CR)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the critical attributes of mathematical software designed for children between the ages of four and seven. This study sought to offer guidelines that will assist software designers in the design of developmentally appropriate educational software. In addition, teachers and parents may benefit from this…

Explains the need to establish alternate communication devices between mothers and their blind infants. Mothers must demonstrate a natural ability to respond to auditory and manual cues, rather than visual cues. The importance of "tactual intimacy" is also stressed. (AS)

Adapted from a series of 20 monthly columns which originally appeared in Highlights for Children, Inc.'s "Newsletter of Parenting," the material in this booklet explores: (1) ways in which television influences viewers; (2) what television teaches; and (3) some positive aspects of television. It also suggests activities for parents which…

A 14-year-old girl, born with a form of brain damage which caused mental retardation and lack of normal speech, progressed from use of basic sign language and picture communication to use of an electronic speech-synthesized communicator for her expressive language needs. (CB)