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The Path to Symbolism

Practice Perspectives - Highlighting Information on Deaf-Blindness Number 3, August 2008


Children who are deaf­blind often struggle to understand that symbols have meaning. This issue of Practice Perspectives describes the factors that experts have identified that positively influence the transition to symbolic communication.

The child—Colby—featured on Page 3 of Path to Symbolism, was also featured in two articles by Susan Bruce and colleagues, published in Teaching Exceptional Children Plus (TECP) in 2005 and 2008. TECP is no longer published, but the articles are available at the links below. Each article has associated videos. 

Article: Colby’s Daily Journal: A School-Home Effort to Promote Communication Development (TECP 2005) 

Article: Colby’s Growth to Language and Literacy: The Achievements of a Child who is Congenitally Deafblind (TECP 2008)