VIDBE-Q Volume 67 Issue 4
Erica McKinney,
Floyd County Schools, emckinney@floydboe.net
The success story described in this article revolves around a dynamic young
lady named Ivey Sirmans. Ivey is a sixteen year old student currently attending
ninth grade at a high school in rural Georgia. She receives special education
services in the areas of deafblindness and speech and language impairment. Ivey is
a complex communicator. Ivey utilizes and benefits from different modes of
communication. Her expressive means include vocalizations, body language,
English-based signs (hand-under-hand/tactile, modified, coactive), some tactile
symbols, and braille (Ivey will dictate what she would like to braille, by signing,
and the braille itself is completed with hand under hand assistance). For receptive
language, Ivey receives input through spoken English, English-based signing
(hand-under-hand/tactile, modified, coactive), tactile symbols, and braille. She has
Meeting the Needs of a Student with
Deafblindness in the Academic Classroom:
A Model That Works
