The Tactual Learner With Additional Disabilities

Ideas for developing a student’s sense of touch & reducing tactile defensive behaviours

•  Ensure the activities are age appropriate.
•  Activities can, and often, involve the use of more than one sense.  Some students may require an auditory motivation to use their tactual sense.
• Overall, the activities should be enjoyable and fun!!!!!

• tactual mobile - ensure it is within student’s reach.
• tactual treasure box - fill with items related to student’s educational program eg. classroom theme items, favourite toys.
• tactual diary - use object symbols where possible eg a pair of bathers to indicate swimming, a bunch of keys to indicate going on the bus and a spring to indicate the trampoline.
• develop tactual symbols for classroom activities eg different songs and whole class games.
• fill an old handbag with tactile objects eg ‘lucky dip’ type activity, the handbag could be filled with lentils and an object the student has to find amongst the lentils.
• tactual necklace to be worn by student and/or class teacher/care giver.
• textured snake - attach to a wall, keep in a corner. The snake could include a knitted/buttons/sheep skin/plastic/sand paper/scotch brite/herbs/perfumed tissue/crunchy paper sections. This idea could also be used to introduce and develop a student’s trailing skills (for orientation and mobility purposes).
• textured curtains.
• games eg. find a toy hidden amongst a tray of ‘scrabble’ pieces or in the old handbag (see above).
• find the object hidden in the sandpit.
• find the soap in the basin full of water.
• construct a ‘feely’ corner of the room.
• threading activities - include sorting, grading and matching of different textures. which are;
• ‘feely bags’ - “can you feel what is in the bag?”  Make an opening in the bag so as the student can self correct, where possible.  Include items which are; hot/cold, rough/smooth, heavy/light, soft/hard.
• guess the hidden item in the sock.
• ‘feely’ medals for students to wear.
• ‘feely bingo’ games eg. present student with a board of four different textures, the student is required to match textured cards to their boards.
• tactile dice - throw the dice and find the matching texture on a tray.
• ‘feely dominoes’ eg. different textures or a set including the finer discrimination of different buttons.
• cooking activities involving hand to mix eg. kneading dough, mixing dry ingredients and rolling meatballs.
• art activity ideas; fingerpainting with shaving cream/warm finger paint, working with clay and playdough, making textured pictures/murals, working in the garden - planting ‘smelly’ plants with various textures, make mud pies etc.
• tactual scanning activities eg. a tactual version of “What is missing?” (Kim’s Game). Place items on a tray, in a box or use the old handbag again.
• simple jigsaw puzzles.

• daily living skills eg. hanging up the washing, taking lids off jars, washing hands, playing with different types of balls and cooking activities.
• art activities - as above.  Textured pictures could be made with items collected whilst on a nature walk.
• orientation and mobility activities eg. take the student on a guided tour of the classroom each day - to increase familiarity and ensure student is aware of any changes to the classroom layout.

Ideas for making your classroom tactual

• use different floor surfaces to designate various sections of the classroom eg. lino for the washing area, a plastic path leading from the classroom door to the student’s table.
• hang tactual mobiles, tactual wall hangings.
• provide the student with tactual clues eg. to assist in locating the student’s chair, table, school bag and spot to sit on the floor for morning talk.
• change the tactile environment in the immediate environment eg. carpet under the student’s table top.
• line the top of shelves/bench tops with tactual cues eg. imitation grass, carpet, lino and/or tiles.
• use book shelves/cupboards as room dividers.

Further Information:

Communication systems, moving from objects to tactile symbols by Robbie Blaha http://www.tsbvi.edu/publications/calendar.htm

Experience Stories for functionally blind preschoolers
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/vmi/stories.htm

Feelin Groovy: Functional Tactual Skills
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/vmi/groovy.htm

Hand-over-Hand Guidance: What Lesson Do We Teach?
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/fall98/hand.htm

Lilli Nielsen's Homepage: Lilliworks
Active Learning was developed by Dr. Lilli Nielsen of the course of her 40 year career as  the premier authority on the education of multiply-disabled children.
http://www.lilliworks.com/

Learning and Educational Baby Sitting are Incompatable
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/vmi/learning-babysitting.htm

Mangold Developmental Programs
A beginning braille program.

Non-verbal communication: Cues, signals and symbols
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/vmi/nonverbal.htm

Routines
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/vmi/routines.htm

Tactual Awareness Activities for Vision Impaired Students with Additional Impairments
Ideas for sensory stimulation (or experimentation) in the areas of touch and taste.

Tactile Defensiveness: Linda Anderson, Diamond Valley SDS

Teaching Students With Visual Impairments and Additional Disabilities
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/vmi/index.htm

TechnoAbility
http://www.technoability.net select "Holly's page"

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