VIDBE-Q Volume 67 Issue 4
motor delays, delays in cognitive and concept development, and deficits in social
skills due to not having visual access to faces and body language. When a child
has multiple disabilities, these impacts begin to layer in ways that may not be
typical for a child who has ONLY vision needs or ONLY hearing needs.
Therefore, these children will have much more complicated needs and cannot
simply be dissected by area of disability. These children need service providers
who can come to the table prepared to lap and overlay their services and expertise
in order to address the needs of the WHOLE child (not JUST their vision needs, as
vision also affects communication and motor development, and not JUST their
motor needs, as their motor skills are impacted by a loss of auditory and visual
cues, and so on). The best place to start is the document that should be the guiding
force behind the student's needs-- the IEP. Ivey's IEP specifies that "Due to the
intricately woven nature of Ivey's goals and objectives, ALL team members are to
participate in supporting each of the goals and objectives in the IEP rather than
trying to dissect them by area." When the IEP itself is structured to allow for
collaborative efforts from all team members, the hardest part of the work is already
done.
Ivey's IEP clearly lays out expectations for each of her team members.
Because preparing materials to meet her needs requires time, her IEP specifies that
lesson plans from the classroom teacher be available to team members two weeks
