Title: Bernadette Van Den Tillaart- Communication

BERNADETTE VAN DEN TILLAART:
Communication is the glue that keeps human beings together.
This module is part of a series on
communication. Reciprocal interactions
are the foundation for dialogues. In a previous module,
you learned about social interactions with your deaf-blind students.
Social interaction becomes communication
when you use symbols to communicate.

[background sounds]

BERNADETTE:
Before we learn specific strategies
for supporting students with deaf-blindness in the areas of communication
we have to understand what communication actually is.
You and I and all the people around us we communicate.
But maybe we are not as well
aware how it actually works. The good news is
that the main principles of communication are not really different
for people whith sight and hearing or for people who have
deaf-blindness. Yet communication with our students may
look different. In contact with our students
communication cannot be developed strictly with
sight or hearing. The sense of touch
is crucial. We have to meet our students
with deaf-blindness where our senses can connect.

[background sounds]

BERNADETTE:
The first school for an intervener
to support communication development in the student
is the recognition of the students
intent to communicate and also the assumption that the student's behavior
is always meaningful.