Video Stories: Deafblind Families Matter!
In their Families Matter series, NCDB (National Center on Deaf-Blindness) has created a video story called Meet Soliz and Camila Magdelano profiling a family with two children who are deafblind. The children, Soliz (age eight), and Camila (age seven), have a combined vision and hearing loss due to Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. The video story shows them on a camping trip with their family and includes many wonderful examples of sensory experiences and new environments.
The story is divided into 7 parts:
- Meet Soliz and Camila
- Communication
- Literacy
- Movement
- Transition
- Empowerment
- Teaming
Communication and literacy are woven into many parts of the children's day. The communication video includes information about the Total Communication approach used with the children, which includes speech, sign language, and picture symbols. The books created by the team incorporate picture and tactile symbols into categories (eat, drink, go, play). This example shows how communication and literacy are closely interconnected and how communication is a foundation for the development of literacy skills.
The Literacy section shows how books and readings have been part of the daily routine for both children since they were infants. In addition to promoting bonding with the family, the daily reading routine has helped the children to develop an understanding of what a book is.
Watch the videos and read the transcripts.
