Form 4 is designed to be used as part of the preparation for a formal literacy programme.
The Form provides evidence about the child's ability to accomplish specific literacy related tasks and the opportunities the child has had to access literacy experiences.
When completing this form the QTVI should record the performance of the child in those sensory skills that are required in the early acquisition of literacy. This form separates behaviours into those that relate to visual skills, tactual skills and auditory skills. Mark with a cross whether the child displays the skills identified by the form on a yes/no basis.
In the case of the "no opportunity" response, consider whether or not the child has received adequate experience and encouragement in practising each behaviour using the specified sensory information. For example, a child may be able to recognise his/her name or simple words in print but that doesn't necessarily mean that print is a viable or efficient medium for literacy development. You'll need to take account a range of factors of factors such as prognosis, print size, working distance and visual fatigue before deciding that sustained work through print is viable.
If this child has received no opportunity to explore their name or simple words in tactile media, then ticking 'No' and 'No opportunity' would be an appropriate response to 'Notes likenesses and differences in words when presented in braille.' In this case, the education team would most likely want to spend some time providing rich tactile opportunities to encourage the child to meaningfully use touch.
The response "not applicable" should only be used when a child does not have access to the sensory information. For example, a child who is totally blind would not have access to visual information and would therefore receive a response of N/A for all behaviours related to vision.
Likewise a child who is deafblind may not have access to auditory input and therefore, N/A will be the appropriate response for those behaviours. Please be careful, though, not to overgeneralize these situations since children who are blind may have some useful vision and children who are deaf may have some useful hearing.
In their early years, some children with visual impairments may not have had sufficient opportunities to develop rich and varied experiences in the use of all their senses. Some children with severe low vision may have been strongly encouraged to use vision in preference to touch, others to use touch in preference to vision.
Candid completion of this form and a thoughtful discussion among team members may lead to recognition of the need for increased sensory opportunities to ensure that a child beginning a formal literacy program will have the appropriate sensory abilities to access texts.