Early Childhood Services with Special Definition for Provided Is a Manual
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DOCUMEAT PESUME ED 135 183 EC 093 158 AUTHOR O'Brien, Rosemary, Comp. TITIE Alive...Aware...A Person: A Developmerital Model for Early Childhood Services with Special Definition for Visually Impaired Children and Their Parents. (Includes Addendum I: Assessment Activities and Achievement Criteria). INSTITUTION Montgomery CouLLy Public Schools, Rockville, Md. SEONS AGENCY Bureau of Elementary and Secondary Education (DHEW/OE), Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 76 NOTE 521p. EDRS PRICE 1117-Z1.00 HC-$27.45 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Cogriitive Development; Conceptual Schemes; Early Childhood Education; Exceptional Ch31d Research; Identification; Instructional Materials; *Intervention; *Language Development; Literature Reviews; Models; Motor Development; Pecceptual Development; Performance Tests; *Program Descriptions; Program Planning; *Resource Guides; Social Development; *Student Evaluationv Theories; *Visually Handicapped IDENTIFIERS Maryland (Montgomery County); Parent Resources ABSTRACT Provided is a manual describing a model for early childhood services for visually impaired children (birth to school readiness) developed in Montgomery County, Maryland; presenting the philosophical framework from which the services were developed; and providing some field-tested strategies for intervention with the children and their families. Section I describes how the model was developed and funding obtained, with chapters 1 and 2 covering a statement of needs and objectives, design of the program, procedures, staffing patterns, and support requirements; and chapter 3 reviewing the pilot study and project validation. Reviewed in Section II is literature on the impact of blindness on family and child, theoretical api3roaches in early childhood education, and language development. Chapters are devoted to the methodology of the field testing study, and the results and discussion of findings. Section III presents resource material to assist with assessment and program planning for teachers and others who provide early teaching and counseling services for children and their parents. Sections cover motor, language, sensory/perceptual, social awareness, and cognitive/creativity development. Tables and charts are provided throughout the text. Appended materials include lists of instructional materials and equipment and suggested resources, language evaluation scales, instructions for use of the eye report, and assessment activities and achievement criteria. (IM) Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished materials not available from other sources. ERIC makes every _effort to obtain the best copy available. Nevertheless, items of marginal reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC makes available via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original. ALIVE..AWE...A PENSON. U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION &WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS SEEN REPRO- DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN- ATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE- SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY A developmental model for early childhood services with special definition for visually impaired children and their parents compiled and edited by Rosemary O'Brien, Ph.D. Project Director Early Childhood Learning Center 'PERMISSION TO .SacPRODUCE THIS COPY. RIGHTED MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Donald fiymes TO ERIC AND ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH THE NATIONAL IN- STITUTE OF EDUCATION. FURTHEH REPRO. DUCTION OUTSIDE THE ERIC SYSTEMRE. OUIRES PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER." 2 Copyright 1976 Montgomery County Public SchoolsRockville, MarylandCharles Bernardo, Superintendent acknowledgements Sincere appreciation is extended by the Project Director to all of those who participated in bringing this endeavor to completion: Vision staff, including several who worked in the early stages of program implementation, have contributed much talent and resourcefulness in the discovery and trial of new ideas incorporated throughout. Those who worked on the final revision of the -document in the summer of 1976 are: Kathleen Anderson, Language Development Teacher Typists: Marlene Debole Marjorie Cernitz, Itinerant Teacher Debra L. Firth Kathryn Dun levy, Teacher Aide Ethel Weiss Donna Feeney, Early Childhood/Vision Teacher Sylvia Hoffman, Itinerant Teacher Editorial Review: Barry Gross Lia Lucchesi, Itinerant Teacher (Fairfax, Virginia) Allison Heckler Nancy Silver, ACSW, Social Worker Consultants contributing to children, to staff, i.e., in-service training, and/or to the document are: Marina Bates, Ph.D., Statistician Harry Green, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Veteran's Administration Hospital Institute for Child Study Washington, D.C. University of Maryland College Park, Maryland Mary K. Bauman, Director (Self-concept) Nevil Interagency Referral Service Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Janet Mey, Physical Therapist (Psychological assessment), Montgomery County Health Department Robert Bourdeaux, Graphic Designer/Illustrator William E. Mills, Photographer Damascus, Maryland Montgomery County Public Schools Amie Dennison, Librarian Mary Mel O'Dowd, Ph.D., Assistant Professor American Printing House for the Blind University of Wisconsin Louisville, Kentucky Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Language Development) Jacob Goering, Ph.D., Professor Institute for Child Study Don Walker, Ed.D., Associate Professor University of Maryland University of Virginia College Park, Maryland Charlottesville, Virginia (Staff development) (Body awareness) Gratitude is expressed to those too numerous to name here, i.e., teachers, administrators, social workers, occupation- al therapists, parents, and children who participated in the field testing, making the study and completion of the grant objectives possible, and to the Computer Science Center at Montgomery College, Rockville, Maryland, for processing the data. Appreciation must be expressed to the following staff of the Maryland State Departrn rn of Education, Division of Compensatory, Urban, and Supplementary Education, Title III ESEA: Dr. Percy Willia. Assistant State Superinten- dent; Mrs. Frances Meginnis, Assistant Director; Mr. James F. McGowan, Specialist; am-'s. Lorraine M. Wright, Specialist; for the funding to implement this model of services, to field test materials, and to publish this document. Their supportive guidance and faith through the difficult times as well as the pleasant ones have demonstrated their compassion for children and their dedication to service.. A special thanks is due to Dr. Carson Nolan, Research_Director at American Printing House for the Blind, who pro- vided early direction and support of field testing activities. Finally, gratitude is extended to Mrs. Helen Kohut, Director, Department of Federal, State and Private Grants; to members of the Montgomery County Board of Education and to the superintendent of schools, Dr. Charles Bernardo, for making this program of services and this resource document possib!e.. Rosemary O'Brien, Ph.D. Project Director 3 .i i preface This manual was written for three purposes: (1) to describe and disseminate this model for early childhood services as it developed in Montgomery County Public Schools, (2) to present the philosophical framework on and from which all serviceswere devel- oped, and (3) to provide some field tested, suggested strategies for intervening with children (birth to three years old) and their families. Section one describes how the model was developed and (ESEA Title III) funding ob- tained. The original statement of critical needs and project objectives derived from them, the design of program, procedures, staffina patterns, and support requirements comprise chapters one and two. The pilot study and project validation are reviewed in chapter three. Section two (chapter four) reports the resulting demonstration-developer grants made by Title III, ESEA for the primary purposes of disseminating, field testing, andpre- paring this manual. The review of literature in chapter five addresses the impact of blindness on family and child, theoretical approaches in early childhood education, and language develop- ment. Chapters six and seven are devoted to the methodology of the field testing study and the results and discussion of findings. Section three is designed to serve as a resource for teachers and others whopro- vide early teaching and counseling services for children (birth to school readiness) and their parents. The intent is to assist staff with diagnostic assessment and pro- gram planning by providing field tested tools and strategies which have proved useful in ten settings in California, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and of course, in Montgomery County, Maryland. That this is not a cookbook curriculum cannot be overemphasized. It is a resource for teachers and others who work with young children and their parents, and it contains ideas and suggestions from teachers from almost every participating site. Although a majority of social workers found the Social Services material to be both appropriate and useful, they reported that infrequent contact with children made utili- zation of the educational strategies difficult. Workers who shared materials with school staffs where their clients were enrolled, however, reported successes. The material