Routines, we all have them and we all depend on them. Stop and think about your daily life. How many routines can you count before you leave the house each morning? I think of breakfast, coffee, showering, dressing, and making the bed to name a few. When we go to bed at night, we usually know what to expect when we wake up the next morning. We are comforted by those thoughts. Imagine if you never knew what would be happening as you woke up the next morning. This could lead to some sleepless nights of worry and stress. Learners with deafblindness may experience this as they may not feel in control and comfortable in their daily lives. It is important that we provide them with consistent and dependable routines.
Routines are building blocks for learning. As a retired teacher, I remember hearing the principal reiterate at the beginning of each school year that the first week of school is all about teaching the routines. Once students get the basics down pat, they are ready to move on to learning. We thrive within routines and structure through our anticipation and readiness for upcoming events. It’s imperative that we provide daily routines to students who have combined hearing and vision loss to help them feel comfortable and confident within their environment. Routines provide a framework that includes predictability, consistency, anticipation, and practice. Learning components are also addressed. Some examples include developing an understanding of objects and their functions, sequencing, and cause-and-effect concepts.
When we plan for routines for learners with deafblindness, individualized goals are embedded into their learning plan. Embedding skills provide valuable experiences to include communication, socialization, and problem-solving. With planning, routines can integrate IEP goals and sensory accommodations during daily events such as lunchtime, academics, recess, beginning, and end of the day. They also provide the opportunity for daily progress monitoring through observation of the same routine.
Routines provide the beginning stages of learning to prepare students for the next steps of skill development. Think about how you can embed learning into your daily classroom routines. Share ideas below of how you have done so for learners with deafblindness.
Julie Brickhouse, M.Ed., NBCT, East Carolina University DeafBlind Project Teacher Support Program, Technical Assistance Consultant