Introduction to New Specialized Service Areas: Hearing, Vision, and Adapted Physical Education
We are excited to announce our most comprehensive delivery of specialized resources in Goalbook Toolkit to date. These pages help teachers set specific learning targets and provide adaptations that are not only best-practices, but also implementable in an authentic school setting. We currently have resources for Speech and Occupational Therapy, and we’ve added three NEW content areas:
- Blind/Visual Impairment Content Pages: This release focuses on content that will help students gain independence in academic and community settings with respect to their assistive technology devices.
- Adapted Physical Education (APE) Content Pages: Our APE Toolkit resources support student mastery for diverse needs connected to physical and academic tasks in the P.E. setting.
- Deaf/Hard of Hearing Content Pages: This release prioritizes four categories — Technology, Self-Advocacy, Auditory Comprehension, and Social Communication. These areas cover some of the most critical skills K-12 students with hearing loss need to develop to achieve academic and personal success.
Most of our content development team is comprised of former teachers, so we are familiar with the lack of usable specialized resources that can be found online. We also know that, oftentimes, the knowledge of research and best practice connected to these specialized areas is siloed within small groups of practitioners, which hinders the rest of the school team from optimizing their instructional practices with all of their students in mind. The purpose of these resources is to equip related service providers, special educators, and general education teachers with tools that will help them set student-specific goals that ensure that students can access content.
Specialized Resources for Students Who Need Support with Vision
If teachers want to effectively support students with vision needs, there is an additional curricular framework that educators must adhere to if they are to effectively cultivate the functional and academic skills students should be developing alongside their peers. The Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) was established by the National Agenda for the Education of Children and Youths with Visual Impairment with the goal of developing core skills that aren’t present within the existing curriculum to best support students with visual impairment. The content pages our team has written address the skills outlined by the ECC as well as strategies to make the general education standards more accessible.
All too often, teachers are ill-equipped to reinforce the development of such skills because they do not know where to start. The first batch of instructional content pages for students with visual impairment focus on accessibility through the prioritization of the use and troubleshooting of assistive technology. Additionally, they focus on one of the primary developmental domains of the Expanded Core Curriculum — communication modes.
One of the most important skills addressed by the ECC is alternative modes of communication. If teachers expect their students to produce high quality work that meets rigorous expectations, then they must provide the optimal means of communication based on student needs. The content pages that focus on note taking and written responses help teachers do just that by allowing them to create goals that are tailored to the students they work with. These content pages focus on acquiring note-taking skills related to visual impairment by teaching students to use assistive technology so that they can effectively participate in academic tasks. Teachers also have the ability to determine the intensity of the level of support based on student needs so that all students have adequate levels of support in order to develop compensatory, functional, and academic skills.
Check out a couple of our pages:
Choose the Best Device or Material for Task (K-2)
Troubleshoot Before Seeking Help (3–5)
Use a Note Taker for Academic Work (6–8)
Research Assistive Vision Device Options (9–12)
Specialized Resources for Adapted Physical Education
“Success for all students in physical education requires an instructor who has the appropriate professional knowledge, skills, and values, as well as a caring and helping attitude.”
Winnick & Porretta, 2017
The Adapted Physical Education (APE) content pages in Goalbook Toolkit are informed by the Adapted Physical Education National Standards (APENS). Our goal in creating these resources is to provide research-based resources that any physical education teacher can use to deliver a safe yet comprehensive physical education program. Oftentimes, APE curriculum and resources require specialized equipment or facilities; the skills and strategies that can be found on these content pages are relevant for PE teachers in all contexts. We’ve prioritized skills that allow students to meet the most foundational physical education standards.
The responsibilities of those tasked with delivering a comprehensive and effective APE instruction are numerous and critical. APE service providers must attend to all aspects of instructional design, implementation, and service delivery. Our instructional content pages help educators create highly specific learning targets for the students they work with. Within each content page, teachers have the ability to determine the intensity of the level of support based on student needs so that all students can perform actions and activities that help them meet the standard while remaining safe.
Check out a couple of our pages:
Travel a Straight Path in a Wheelchair (K-2)
Complete Sets of Seated Push-Ups (9–12)
Specialized Resources for Students Who Need Support with Hearing
“Technology changes daily. As such, so does the manner in which technology can enhance the lives of individuals who are hearing as well as individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing”
Luckner, 2002
The initial release of these pages focused on student empowerment and independence by focusing on assistive technology and self-advocacy; we’ve also added pages that focus on auditory comprehension and social communication as well. Teachers can equip students with the skills they need to understand and describe their hearing needs and to operate and troubleshoot assistive technology. Additionally, the auditory comprehension resources focus on students’ learning skills to gain an accurate understanding of information presented verbally, and the social communication pages prioritize skills that help students navigate social interaction, including how to refuse unwanted help or to solicit specific help.
The goal of these pages is to support educators as they create goals that build and reinforce skills that promote independence. When teachers are knowledgeable about this specialized information, they are able to create targeted instructional scaffolds using research-based strategies for students who need support with hearing.
Check out some of our instructional content pages:
Troubleshoot Personal Hearing Device (K-2)
Explain Hearing Needs to Peers (6–8)
Move to a Preferential Seat (9–12)
Use Context Clues to Define Multi-Meaning Words (3–5)
Paraphrase Auditory Information (6–8)
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