Online Switch Games via Symbaloo

I have been using Symbaloo a lot in classroom to help staff find the best website to use with a student quickly. I thought I would share this Online Switch Game Symbaloo with all of you!  Let me know if you have some good ones to fill in the empty spots!

Using Vocabulary A-Z for Core Vocabulary AAC

Vocabulary A-Z is a website that is part of the award winning Learning A-Z family of websites.  Many school
districts subscribe all or some of the Learning A-Z websites, such as Raz Kids.  The Vocabulary A-Z (or for the sake of this blog entry - VAZ) site also offers a one week free trial where you can make free sample lessons.

The way the website work is that you start by entering a word list by selecting words from the categories the site gives you.  Most AAC core vocabulary words can be found in the high frequency list.  Although you have room for 12 words on any list you don't have to use that many.

Once you create a word list lessons are automatically developed for you. Given our student population quite a bit of adapting may need to be done and some worksheets may not be useful, however since many of us in severe special education get little or no curriculum to start with these worksheets can be a nice starting point.  The worksheet where the students are asked to put the words into sentences could easily be adapted using picture symbols to glue into the spaces or it could be re-created in Boardmaker Plus, Clicker 6 or a similar program.  Another choice would be to simple have students "dictate" by using their communication boards or speech devices.  The parts of speech sorting activity could be made more meaningful for AAC users by printing out the words/picture symbols for the lesson with color coding according to the Goosens or Fitzgerald color code (be sure to use the system used by your students' devices!) and then sorting by color and part of speech.

Other parts of the lesson could not be more perfect for adapting like the picture flashcards were students glue a picture (or picture symbol) onto the back of pre-made flashcards.  The bingo (they call it Wordo) can also be adapted easily.

Another way you can extend the VAZ lessons or any other AAC core word system is by using the Word Toob app on an iPad.  The Word Toob app allows you to make a custom "board" with photos or imported picture symbols (save them to your camera roll) and pair them with video clips to teach vocabulary.

Sensory Cause and Effect Lightbox Goes Beyond the Tablet

Sensory Cause and Effect Lightbox, a popular app on the iPad and Android devices for learners with significant disabilities including autism, cerebral palsy, and cortical vision impairment is now available as a free download for Windows and Mac computers.

On the iPad and Android devices this app is popular because it offers 21 calming or stimulating visual and auditory scenarios with a variety of access methods including touch, sound activation and external switch. Additionally there are all sorts of customizations from colors, to live camera feedback to using a photo as the background - everything you need to help motivate that hard to motivate learner.  On the iPad it can also be used with an Apple TV and Airplay to create a larger light show and make the app fun for a whole group.

Now you can run the same features on your computer which means you can also bring Sensory Cause and
Effect Light Box to your Interactive White Board (SMART Board, Promethean, Tap-It).  Dim the lights and use it as a part of a multi-sensory classroom experience for students with a variety of disabilities.

On the computer you still have the same options of using a touch screen, sound and switch activation and more.  Other settings make it easier to use with head trackers, joysticks and other alternative access devices.  There is even an option to use it with gesture recognition such as the Leap Motion.

The free software is also perfect for open (unlocked) communication devices - including eye gaze devices! For early eye gaze users just learning to use their eyes as an access method Sensory Lightbox might be the perfect tool. Below you can see it being used on a Tobii C-Eye using Windows Eye Control.  For the young lady in the video a Justin Beiber background has been just the thing to make this a new favorite activity!

Links:

• Cognable Sensory Cause and Effect Lightbox Website
• Sensory Cause and Effect Lightbox for iPad ($2.99)
• Sensory Cause and Effect Lightbox for Android/Google Play ($1.61)
• Sensory Cause and Effect Lightbox for Android/Amazon ($0.99) 
• Sensory Cause and Effect Lightbox for Windows and Mac

Clicker 6 Resources

The Clicker Family of products has long been a staple in special education classrooms in the USA (and most elementary school classrooms in England).  With the recent addition of a "Mouse Dwell" to select feature Clicker 6 now works with pretty much every type of computer access method, including switches, eye gaze tracking and more.  One of the great things about Clicker 6 is you can make it anything you need it to be to help your students learn.  One of the not-so-great things is that none of us have the time to spend making the number of Clicker 6 activities for our students we wish we could.  Luckily teachers love to share!  Here is a list of Clicker resources and activities.

Tutorials

• Clicker 6 Guide
• 90 Second Training Videos
• Clicker 6 Tutorial Videos by Lexington, MA Schools
• Clicker 6 WebMix

Free Clicker 6 Activities

(Reminder: Clicker 5 activities still work beautifully in Clicker 6!)

• Learning Grids - the official repository for Clicker activities
• Mirshari Interactive Learning Wiki - free activities for math, literacy, music, art and more
• Students with Differences - free activities for students with more significant disabilities
• Students with Differences - Clicker 6 Books
• Clicker 5SI - a variety of Clicker activities
• Set-BC Clicker Books - student and teacher created books 
• Set BC - hundreds of teacher created activities (scroll down)
• Smart Inclusion Wiki - a number of activities for social studies and weather
• Clicker 5 Life Skills
• Simmons 2007 - activities  by graduate students
• Kindergarten Objectives
• FCPS some simple interactive Clicker activities 
• Annie's Resource Attic - lots of creative activities 
• Media at McGee - newsletters for a classroom

Clicker Activities for Purchase

• Clicker Tales by Crick - accessible traditional stories
• Find Out and Write About - Non-fiction books and activities
• Planet Wobble - reading program for early readers
• New to English - activities for ELL 
• Clicker Foundations for Reading - phonemic awareness program 

Who Comes Up With This Stuff?

One of the joys of social media is the opportunity to hear from diverse situations on important topics. And one of the challenges is that sometimes those voices are less informed that it is advisable to listen too. Websites like "Pinterest Fail" make poor or badly given advice amusing, but what happens when the ill advised suggestions is about something more serious than a chocolate cake recipe?

One of our responsibilities as teachers is to be sure we are following best practice and best practice isn't always represented on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter or Tumbler. For example, in spite of what we know is researched based, best practice about high expectations, core words and presuming competence in the absence of other evidence it is common to read that we should, for example, start with or require mastery of low technology eye gaze boards before trying high technology eye gaze AAC (and no student is in a position of "absence of other evidence" than a student who has only have eye gaze for communication!) or that we should start by offering only a few choices and not increasing vocabulary until those choices (nouns, of course) are mastered, rather than starting with aided language stimulation and core words as research tells us we should.

As we move with our students into the new school year let us remember that it is our job to examine the advice we hear on social media and compare it to research based evidence proven practice before we decide what and how to teach our students. They deserve our effort!

This I Believe:

This I believe...


I believe my students can.
Can understand. 
Can learn.
Can achieve.
Can beat the odds.
Can surpass plateaus.
Can communicate.
Can reach for the stars.

And grab them.

I believe my students deserve:
Deserve a chance.
Deserve the presumption of competence.
Deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Deserve high expectations.
Deserve to spend time enjoying friendships.
Deserve to make mistakes.
Deserve to tease and be teased.
Deserve to be in their community.
Deserve a bad day.  And lots and lots of good ones.
Deserve a life that is more that yes, no and constant assessment.
Deserve a highly qualified teacher.
Deserve a say.
Deserve to be heard.
Deserve literacy.
Deserve health. 
Deserve joy.

I believe a difference can be made.
Through kindness.
Through connection.
Through dedication.
Through research and scholarship.
Through constant re-dedication to quality teaching.
Through entering that classroom every day and teaching like lives depend on it.
Because they do.

I need my communication system!

From time to time I visit a former student of mine.  He is a great young man: full of smiles, a ready laugh and a star on his speech device.  Recently, I stopped by and his mom told me that he was feeling down.  He hadn't been communicating using his Tobii eye gaze driven speech device or his gestures.  He also had not been laughing or smiling much.  I was puzzled, but thought perhaps it was related to some changes happening in his life.

Eventually we sat together and I could see that while he was trying to activate his speech device it wasn't working.  The minute I touched the screen and went into the eye gaze menu he started smiling and pointing at me and then the screen.  He knew something no one else knew - his device setting were wrong - and he knew finally someone was going to figure it out!  It turned out his eye gaze profile had been deleted, which means that the device wouldn't work properly.  Also the amount of time it would take for him to activate a message had been turned up very, very high.  I won't speculate on how or why these things happened, or on why it hadn't been noticed by the professionals in his life whose job it is to notice these things.  I will speculate on the utter lack of training we, as professionals, offer parents and caregivers of augmentative and alternative communication devices.  If we trained parents better ("we" means schools including SLPs, AT specialists, teachers as well as vendor companies) this sort of thing would happen less.  Let us all take it upon ourselves this year to teach parents how to recognize when there is a problem with assistive technology and what to do about it!


I will also speculate on the fact that when I was a teacher I did not give my student a way to communicate that he needs his speech device or that it is not working correctly.  To that end I have created a couple items over at the Teacher Learners with Multiple Needs Cafe Press store.  They are text and symbol based bracelets, dog tags, stickers and pins that say either, "I need my communication system." or "I need my communication device."  The goal of these items is to attach the stickers to wheelchairs, beds, tables, walls, side of pools, mirror, sinks, etc. or have the student wear the jewelry or pin  and to teach them to point to the message when they need their device.  Note:  (Communication Bracelets also sells a fill-in-the-blank "I want_____." bracelet.  Linda Burkhart also sells "I need my book" bracelets if you are lucky enough to see her present.)

Additionally I would like to suggest that everyone make, laminate and attach to speech devices a quick troubleshooting guide that includes a section about when the individual is communicating less than usual and what to check both on the device and with the individual.  Send me pictures of what you create and I will share your ideas!