Unique Considerations for Assessing the Learning Media of Students Who Are Deaf-Blind.

The use of current assessment results is an essential part of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process for students with disabilities. The results of assessments allow the IEP team to write accurate statements of present levels of performance and thus student-centered goals and objectives. For students with visual impairments, including students with deaf-blindness, three key assessments are performed: the functional vision assessment, the learning media assessment, and the expanded core curriculum assessment. For students who are deaf-blind, specialized assessment and instructional techniques are necessary because of the unique impact of a dual sensory impairment. A survey of teachers of students with visual impairments who were working with students who are deaf-blind found that only 23% conducted learning media assessments with these students (McKenzie, 2007). A similar study found that only 13.8% of the cumulative school records of students with deaf-blindness or visual and multiple impairments contained reports of learning media assessments (McKenzie, in press). McKenzie recommended that educational teams change their perception of the learning media assessment process to include its use with all students with visual impairments, including those who are deaf-blind, as well as to increase in-service and professional development opportunities for teachers of students with visual impairments regarding the use of learning media assessments with this student population. In this report, I present the unique considerations for conducting a learning media assessment with students who are deaf-blind, including the use of communication assessments as part of a comprehensive assessment. LEARNING MEDIA ASSESSMENT With the increased federal and state emphasis on the acquisition of literacy skills, a learning media assessment can provide the educational team with essential information about a student's potential or current literacy media. A learning media assessment is "an objective process of systematically selecting learning media and literacy media; this assessment process guides the educational team in making deliberate and informed decisions on the total range of instructional media needed to facilitate learning" (Koenig & Holbrook, 1995, p. 2). The main purpose of a learning media assessment is to evaluate a student's preferred use of sensory channels, general learning media (visual, tactile, or auditory), and literacy media (print, braille, or print and braille). This assessment can be an initial assessment for young students or newly identified students with visual impairments or a continuing assessment for students who have already received an initial learning media assessment. In either case, the learning media assessment is an ongoing assessment that is conducted informally each year and formally at least every three years. Because of the ongoing national braille literacy crisis, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 includes a subsection on learning media assessments: In the case of a child who is blind or visually impaired, provide for instruction in braille and the use of braille unless the IEP Team determines, after an evaluation of the child's reading and writing skills, needs, and appropriate reading and writing media (including an evaluation of the child' s future needs for instruction in braille or the use of braille), that instruction in braille or the use of braille is not appropriate for the child (Section 614 (3)(B)(iii)). Many states' regulations also require the use of learning media assessments for students with visual impairments. For students who are deaf-blind, it is critical that the educational team consider the relationship between the development of communication and literacy skills. The fields of visual impairments and multiple impairments have embraced a broad definition of literacy that includes communication skills (Durando, 2008). …