[blindkid] learning media assessment for preschoolers

[Andy & Sally Thomas]

I did a quick search and found the following information.  It states that an 
LMA should be done at 3! It's supposed to help determine how your child will 
access the curriculum.  It's not just about reading, it's about learning. 
Here's the link too: 
http://www.e-advisor.us/LMA/about.php?fontsize=normal&hicontrast
About Learning Media Assessment
Learning Media Assessment...

  a.. is an assessment for selecting the appropriate literacy media for 
students with visual impairments. What is meant by "literacy media" is how 
students access the general education curriculum.
  b.. offers teachers a framework or decision making process for the 
selection of literacy media. It is a decision-making tool.
  c.. provides a decision and monitoring tool for both conventional and 
functional literacy for students with visual impairments.
  d.. involves a team process and the collation of medical, educational, 
family and student supplied data to make informed decisions.
Why perform Learning Media Assessments?

  Primarily because of Braille Bills, which require the determination of 
literacy media exist at both the Federal and State level. These various 
Braille bills assume that Braille is the modality to be used unless 
otherwise demonstrated trough appropriate assessment. Learning Media 
Assessment offers the tool to make that determination and monitor it over 
time.

  For instance, the Legislative Changes in IDEA (Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act), which was just re authorized, states the 
following about Braille:

    a.. "Consideration of Special Factors: The IEP Team also shall -
    . (iii) 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 a determination 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." 34 CFR Section 300.346 (a) (2) (iii) and 20 
U.S.C. 1414(d)

What does this mean?

  This means that TVI's have to prove that, at that particular point in 
time, a student with visual impairments doesn't need Braille. There exists a 
false assumption that every child who is blind or visually impaired needs 
Braille. What Learning Media Assessment is designed to do is to help TVI's 
make that determination. Teachers of the Visually Impaired really have to 
disprove the need for Braille. TVI's should therefore be documenting that a 
child with, for instance, cortical visual impairment or severe cerebral 
palsy, doesn't need Braille, but needs to be evaluated with LMA and can 
learn in other ways. The key point here is that TVI's document that that 
their students don't need Braille but that they do need other intervention.

What exactly does LMA assess?

  LMA assesses not just learning media but also learning style preferences 
of the student (compensatory skill use). This is where LMA has often been 
misunderstood to a high degree. One of the key things you are assessing is 
learning style, which is very useful when working with young children with 
visual impairments. A child's learning style is how they use vision, touch, 
hearing, and other senses to gain access to information, either singularly 
or in combination.

Specifically where should LMA be used?

  The LMA scale should begin no later than age 3 and transition to 
preschool. It should be updated annually and/or as visual functioning 
changes

  This scale should be used academically for kids who are in the general ed 
curriculum and proceeding along an academic track. However, it should also 
be used when dealing with functional literacy. LMA should be used with 
children with more complex disabilities who need to become literate.

  LMA takes a broad definition of literacy, which is misunderstood many 
times. Literacy is reading and writing. What children with visual 
impairments do is reading and writing in some form. That form may be reading 
and writing by using drawing. It can be reading, writing and expressive 
communication. This notion almost takes a communication bend. Many times in 
the field of visual impairments, TVI's look at just the Braille/Print 
decision, but it goes much further than that.

LMA's Primary Goals, as outlined by Koenig and Holbrook:

  a.. "Examine efficiency with which student gathers information from 
various sensory channels"
  b.. Types of general learning media the student uses, or will use to 
accomplish learning tasks
  c.. "The literacy media the student will use for reading and writing" 
(Koenig, Holbrook, 6)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Megan Schickling" <schicklingfamily at gmail.com>
To: <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2009 12:44 PM
Subject: [blindkid] learning media assessment for preschoolers


> Hello all,
> My daughter is currently in the transition into preschool services.  I've
> requested that a Learning Media Assessment be performed, but I keep 
> hearing
> from the local vision teachers that its not typically done at this age,
> she's not reading or writing, etc.  I know from my research that there are
> appropriate assessment techniques for young children which are age
> appropriate, assessing what sensory modes she uses to receive input, etc.
>
> Does anyone know of a resource which would guide these teachers in what
> makes an appropriate LMA for young preschooler?  Are there standardized
> assessment guides, or the like?
>
> Thanks so much,
> Megan Schickling
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