VIDBE-Q Volume 65 Issue 4
On one lesson with a student who was Deafblind, my student was learning to
use assistance signs to request assistance to cross a street. The student wore
hearing aids, and in quiet areas, could often cross safely without assistance.
However, in a location with additional noises, such as construction, lawn
equipment, or music venues, he was not always able to determine when it was safe
to cross at an intersection. We worked on how to use the assistance sign and how
to determine when he needed to use the assistance sign. First, we role played as I
pretended to be a random passer-by who would help him cross the street. I offered
to help without being close enough for him to easily take my arm, I tried to grab
his arm to pull him across, and I modeled other things well-meaning people might
do. When the student became comfortable using the sign, I asked if he was ready to
use the sign at an intersection with me nearby, but pretending I was not with him.
He was ready.
On the student's very first crossing, a lady came right away, but kept trying
to turn my student away from the intersection and kept giving him the direction,
"Two blocks that way." She put two fingers in my student's hand, and she turned
him "that way," which was south, and pointed his own hand the direction she
wanted him to go. My student told the lady he needed to cross the street in front of
him. Finally, she allowed him to take her arm and she guided him across the street.
On the opposite corner, she again turned him south and repeated, "Two blocks that
