I-M-ABLE The Individualized Meaning- Centered Approach to Braille Literacy Education :

What is I-M-ABLE? ▫ What are its essential elements? ▫ How is it different from traditional approaches? Who is it appropriate for? How did it come to be?

I-M-ABLE Essential Elements Individualization Motivation Engagement Success

Individualization Creating personal relevance Recognizing prior experience Being responsive to students

Engagement Personal relevance Key to motivation Meaningful words – Key Vocabulary Words Being Responsive to Students

Success Goal Means to achieving goal Teacher expectations

Motivation Reading is its own reward. Individualization, engagement and success contribute

So how is the I-M-ABLE different from traditional approaches to teaching reading?

I-M-ABLE and Traditional Approaches I-M-ABLE vsTraditional IndividualizedvsOne size fits all Meaning-centered vsSkills-based

Approaches to Teaching Reading Continuum Skills Centered Meaning Centered

I-M-ABLE and Traditional Approaches I-M-ABLE vsTraditional IndividualizedvsOne size fits all Meaning-centered vsSkills-based Whole to partvsPart to whole Outside-in/ vsInside-out/ Bottom-upTop-down

I-M-ABLE and Traditional Approaches I-M-ABLE vsTraditional Whole wordsvsLetters/decoding Meaningful words vs Power/frequently used words Uses contractionsvsUncontracted Student centeredvsTeacher Directed Unscripted vsScripted

I-M-ABLE Components Getting Started/Incorporating Early Literacy Instruction Helping Students Select Key Vocabulary Words or Phrases Introducing Key Vocabulary Words or Phrases Teaching Students to Track Across Multiple Lines of Braille Teaching Writing Mechanics in a Meaningful Way

I-M-ABLE Components (cont.) Collaborating with Students to Create Key Vocabulary Stories for them to read and Helping Students Write their Own Stories Using Key Vocabulary Words to Teach Phonics, Letter Recognition and Contractions Applying and Expanding the Students Vocabulary Helping Students Read Fluently

I-M-ABLE Components (cont.) Baseline and Ongoing Assessments/ Record Keeping and Diagnostic Teaching

Children for Whom I-M-ABLE Might Be Appropriate Characteristics of children ▫ have mild to moderate cognitive impairment ▫ are still in the early literacy stage of learning to read* ▫ are not motivated to learn to read braille ▫ have potential to learn to read

I-M-ABLE Field Test Kit Collaboration between APH and AFB ▫ I-M-ABLE Practice Guide for Teachers (AFB Press) ▫ Talking Card Reader with cards ▫ Chunk Stacker Game – with braille labels ▫ Trays for game playing ▫ Tactile Reward Stickers ▫ Link to Training Videos

How did it come to be? Papua New Guinea Silvia Ashton-Warner’s “Teacher” Overbrook School for the Blind GITWL Minnesota Braille Literacy: A Functional Approach Research/Teaching I-M-ABLE

I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.” ― Haim G. Ginott

I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn. -Albert Einstein If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn. -Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Estrada

“People who really want to make a difference in the world usually do it, in one way or another. And I’ve noticed something about people who make a difference in the world: They hold the unshakable conviction that individuals are extremely important, that every life matters. They get excited over one smile. They are willing to feed one stomach, educate one mind, and treat one wound. They aren’t determined to revolutionize the world all at once; they’re satisfied with small changes. Over time, though, the small changes add up. Sometimes they even transform cities and nations, and yes, the world.” --Beth Clark from Kisses from Katie

In the arena of significant developmental disability, the rule on the part of professionals interested in literacy has generally been to stall at the rudimentary. Such an attitude belies cultural stereotypes, not empirical evidence....The lack of literacy lies not in the individual but in the attitudes and practices of those who surround the person with a disability. This is not to suggest that every young child with a significant developmental disability has the potential to ultimately become an acclaimed novelist, poet, composer, journalist, or artist. Rather, it means that all young children, with disabilities or without, can continuously grow in their literate profiles as long as thoughtful responsive opportunities are presented in a context of local understanding. -- Christopher Kliewer from Seeing All Kids as Readers.