This master's thesis deals with issues concerning children with deafblindness, whose complete or partial loss of vision or hearing from birth or early childhood impacts all developmental areas, including the area of development of concepts. Compared with children with typical development, who acquire new concepts through observation and imitation, in children with deafblindness these need to be developed in a planned and systematic manner that is in accordance with their abilities and specific needs. Review of literature on the field reveals frequent use of the calendar system, which has many positive effect also on other areas of child’s development.
The master’s thesis demonstrates the creation of an individualized calendar system for a student with deafblindness and the influence of its use on student’s conceptual development, her self-advocacy skills and her social-emotional development. The study also involved student’s mother, the class teacher and other professionals who interact with the student daily. The research uses the qualitative study approach examining a singular case study. The techniques of data collection took place in three stages, conducted at different times. The result of the first phase of the study is a comprehensive assessment of student’s functioning and her learning environment. The results of the second phase of the study include the selection, design, construction and routine use of the calendar system. The third phase of research shows the evaluation of use of the calendar system. Several months of work with the student with deafblindness, combined with the analysis of all data obtained, show that the use of the calendar system had a positive impact on student’s conceptual development, self-advocacy skills and social-emotional development.
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