Greenhouse Education for Preschool Students with Visual impairments and Deaf-Blindness Developed and Taught High school Students By Susan Patten

Session Objective Creative program development can enhance the lives of students with visual impairments and deaf-blindness. – Thinking “Outside the Box” – Community involvement

How Greenhouse Program Started Idea came from evolved from teaching adults with disabilities Spread to teaching students with blindness and deaf-blindness Narrowed it down to preschool students from the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind (USDB)

Outline of Greenhouse Program Implemented for two years – First year one class Seven preschool students Basic curriculum – Second year two classes 18 preschool students More high school students involved More involved curriculum

Beginning Steps Approval from High School administration Approval from USDB Set up schedule for USB preschool students Developed explanation letter for parents Obtain video releases for all students Decide what training was needed for high school students

Pre-evaluations High school students were given two pre- evaluations – Determine knowledge on vision impairments and deaf-blindness – Determine how comfortable they were interacting with individuals with disabilities

Mid and Post-Evaluations High school students were given the same evaluation in January and then in March. USB preschool students were evaluated using a five point Likert scale throughout the year

Training for High School Students Simulation Concept Development Behavior

Greenhouse Program First Year USB preschool came two times a month Each USB preschool student was paired with one high school student Both high school students and USB students made progress

Student Examples Brayden Lindley Aiden

Greenhouse Education Program First Year High School’s Presentation – Refer to Handout #1 High School Video

Greenhouse Program Second year Analyzed what worked and what didn’t – Great publicity – Focus of high school students – Preschool students progressed – Too many high school students – Needed more curriculum training – Curriculum tied to expanded core

Second Year…Continued Added one more USB preschool – Total of 18 preschool students High school students taking data were assigned to a pair – Total of 48 high school students Used curriculum tied to the expanded core – Social Interaction – Sensory efficiency skills

Second Year Same pre and post evaluations used Used same training model – Started with simulation Concept development Vision Deaf-Blindness Behavior

Student Examples Gabe Nevaeh

Differences in Second Year (less successful than first year) More detailed curriculum was used. High school students developed curriculum More high school students were involved – More classroom management was needed Transportation and time became problematic for USB preschoolers

Greenhouse Program Second Year High School Presentation – Refer to Handout #2 High School Video

Conclusion What we, USDB, learned… – Importance of “We Can” – Importance of collaboration USB preschool students and high school students are all of our students – Importance of new social experiences – Importance of community involvement