Introduction

California law states that all children must be given access to the academic general education curriculum. I have worked for fourteen years in a school for children with serious visual impairments combined with other severe disabilities. Most of our children are blind; some have vision, but cannot work successfully in a general education classroom due to problems with vision. The great majority of our children have mental retardation, and many also have such disabilities as cerebral palsy, autism, aphasia, and conditions so rare the child in question may be the only child in the country with his/ her syndrome. All of these children must have access to the general California education academic curriculum. However, the standard methods for imparting academic knowledge are, at best ,irrelevant to our children. For instance posting standards on the wall for children who cannot read is a waste of time and resources. Every lesson must be adapted to fit the individual needs of our children.
Concurrent with grade level math, reading, social studies, and science, students must be given Daily Living skills and social skill training, as well as access to alternative modes of communication and literacy. In these posts, I intend to adapt lessons at all elementary school grade levels across the curriculum and across grade levels for the benefit of teachers. These lessons may be used as they are or adapted to the needs of students and teachers. They may also be used as starting points for thinking about giving students with disabilities access to the general education curriculum and integrating skills such as communication, daily living skills, and social interaction into daily instruction.
I rely extensively on food , tactile and verbal reinforcers which may be faded and replaced by a token economy. I will discuss token economies in a later post. Children with severe autism and other serious disabilities need very good reasons to participate in lessons. It can be difficult to arouse intrinsic interest in fairly difficult academic material. Reinforcement should be very pleasurable and immediate at first. The reinforcer might be the only reason students participate in lessons. I also keep sessions very short with lots of repetition in order to reinforce material and maintain attention. Reinforcement can be faded and postponed as students become more accustomed to participating. Verbal interaction with the teacher and each other is of the highest importance since children are often developing effective communication skills.
I use word walls which I put into braille and large print for the subject notebooks so that the children can review material, important vocabulary and concepts, as well as practicing literacy skills. I often conclude a unit with a story dictated and illustrated by the students. I also transcribe these stories into braille and large print and send the “books” home for the children to share with parents and family. Again I am integrating literacy and concepts as well as including parents in the children's academic lives. All braille text is also included in text for parents so that the children can share with the parents. I have included these essays in the school newsletter, but the class can also put out a monthly s and interests. newsletter with stories about class activitie