Teaching Pandemic Concepts with Tangible Symbols

ABSTRACT:

Children with multi-sensory impairment face daily challenges to communicate their interests and needs and properly understand concepts. One of the major obstacles to start an effective intervention with these children is to identify their preferences and provide specific teaching strategies and learning opportunities that value their strengths. In this sense, the objective of this study was to present five cards of tangible symbols as a resource to teach concepts about the COVID-19 pandemic to children who have multi-sensory impairment. With this in mind, this theoretical essay highlights the importance of tangible symbols as valuable resources for alternative tactile communication, capable of favoring communication, anticipating activities, understanding concepts, and as options for choices to be made by these children. It highlights the importance of exploratory tactile interactions through haptic modality and distance between the self, others, objects and representations. As it is a subject little explored in the national scenario, it is considered relevant to present it so that other professors and researchers can get to know it and use it with their students.

KEYWORDS:
Special Education; Tangible Symbols; Multiple Disability and Visual Impairment