McDonald's

Today during community based education one of my students decided not to get off the bus at McDonald's. This was likely due to a lack of explanation on my part as McDonald's is a favorite place. We typically make only two stops in the community and McDonald's was a third, surprise stop because we had a little extra time (although only enough extra time for take out). This student needs to know the schedule and routine to be able to cope well. Thus when my question, "Do you want to go into McDonald's?" was met with a firm, "No!" I let it go, "That's fine. We can wait on the bus."

So we waited. About ten minutes passed (apparently there was a line) and the student began saying, "Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!..."

I again asked, "Hi. Do you want to go into McDonald's?" This time the non-verbal "yes" was apparent from the sheer joy and excitement on the her face.

We headed inside and while in line practiced ordering on the Dynavox. The student was literally jumping up and down by the time we were asked, "May I take your order?"

Click - "I would like a chicken sandwich please?"
"Really?" I asked, raising my eyebrows, since a chicken sandwich has never come up in practicing.
Click - "I want a hamburger please."
Click - "I want chicken nuggets."
Click - "Could I please have a cheeseburger?"
"Hold on," I said, "pick one thing."
Click - "I want a hamburger please."
"You sure?" I asked.
Click - "I want a hamburger please."
The clerk looked at me and I nodded. "Do you want anything else?"
Click - "I would like onion rings instead of fries."
"Sorry, buddy, you can't get onion rings here," I said.
Click - "May I have a small order of fries?"
The clerk glanced at me again and I nodded slightly.
Click - "I want milk instead of soda."
"Sorry, buddy, we have plenty of milk at school for you."
Click - "I want a medium diet coke."
I laughed. "And you have three half full diet cokes in the fridge in the classroom!"
The clerk smiles and asks if we just want a hamburger and small fries. I nod and assist my student in handing over some cash. My student jumps up and down a few times and grins.

Then the clerk says, "I have never seen anything like that before. That is how she talks?"
"Yes." I answer.
"She can hear, but she can't talk?" the clerk asks handing her the food and change.
"Yes, she uses that to talk, but just like you and me she doesn't always know what she wants to say." I reply.
Click - "going to hello and goodbye page"
Click - "See you later."

Sometimes McDonald's food is more important than disability awareness at McDonald's.

A birthday gift (of sorts)!

Thanks to Paul Hamilton's kind comment in the last post I was reminded that today is the second birthday of this blog.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear teachinglearnerswithmultiplespecialneeds.blogspot, happy birthday to youuuuuuuuu!

Seriously if I had know this blog was going to take off I would have picked a shorter web address!

As a birthday gift (ok,ok it is totally unrelated) the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated half the cost of four of my Donors Choose grants that I was certain to have expire without any funding.

• Accessible Books, needs $251 in 10 days
• Social Skills, needs $224 in 36 days
  
• "If I only had some ink" needs $176 (we have until Christmas)
• Talking Tablet (a tablet PC to use for AAC), needs $1,036 by March
  

The catch? Now I need to raise the money to pay for the other half of the grants! I have much less of a problem watching a totally unfunded grant expire than watching a partially funded grant expire.

Feeling generous? Feeling thankful that teachers are unlikely to loose jobs overseas or to be downsized? Then feel free to donate to a grant above. Consider it a birthday gift!

30 Days to Being a Better Blogger - Days 13-15

Alrighty then, half way through the 30 Day Challenge and I get off easy again! Here are the current challenges:

• find yourself
• greatest hits
  
• mobilize me

Really I am only getting off easily on 2/3. I check my Google and Technocrati listings about twice a month (find yourself) and because I have spent much of the past two years in an internet free school I frequently use my own blog via my Blackberry to get resources, so I know how my blog looks on a Smart Phone (mobilize me).

That middle one though, greatest hits, that's a tough one. What are my greatest hits? Certainly my compilation of free Boardmaker Boards (which will be much less important now that Adapted Learning is open) and, of course some of my other "list" posts (freebies, special needs software, mouting systems). Other than that could regular readers take a moment and mention what posts you would put in my top ten (or even top two)? Could new readers tell me what sent you here in the first place?

Thanks so much!

Official Adapted Learning Press Release

This just in from Mayer-Johnson. The new site opens in about an hour!

Mayer-Johnson Announces AdaptedLearning.com
A New Resource for Educators and Parents of Students with Special Needs

Pittsburgh, PA – November 18, 2008 – Mayer-Johnson, developer of innovative software products and symbols designed to help special needs students learn, announces the launch of AdaptedLearning.com (www.adaptedlearning.com). This free resource provides a place to find and share adapted curriculum created with the company’s popular Boardmaker Software Family products. It also provides online community functions as well as feature articles and expert tips that meet the needs of the spectrum of Boardmaker users. Developed to provide better symbol-enhanced learning tools and make it easier for special educators and parents to adapt curriculum to ensure accessibility for all students, the website provides resources and tools that allow students with special needs to learn more effectively and succeed academically.
Over 100,000 special education professionals and parents have come to rely upon the Boardmaker Software Family of products to help children challenged by significant speech, language and learning disabilities achieve academically and socially. AdaptedLearning.com stretches the reach of the products by creating an international community of Boardmaker enthusiasts.

The keystone of the free website is the searchable database of communication boards and other educational assets created using Boardmaker products and shared by therapists, teachers, and parents of students with special needs. Additional resources include:

• An online community that allows educators and clinicians to connect and share ideas and information with other Boardmaker users, as well as create public and private areas for groups of colleagues and parents,
• Feature articles highlighting implementation ideas and other resources, and
• Training videos featuring application strategies to enhance student learning and communication, and show how to create tools that make it easier for children with special needs to succeed.
  

Information organized by subject area in the News & Views section of the site ensures that members quickly locate the resources they are seeking. New Boardmaker users will find the Getting Started articles helpful as they experience all that the software has to offer. The Classroom Implementation area provides application ideas so that members can apply newly acquired skills and discover new ways to use previously learned skills. A resource for parents, the Home Connection provides information to help families support the child’s education and communication journeys in the home and in community settings. Find success stories and case studies that provide information and inspiration in the Results area.

“AdaptedLearning.com comes in response to the requests of the many loyal Boardmaker users who were looking for a place to share their work and access new content,” said Jim Mills, DynaVox/Mayer-Johnson’s vice president of education products. “We’re please to be able to offer them a place to share that work and their great passion for the Boardmaker Software Family of products.”

To register for this new web resource, visit www.AdaptedLearning.com.

About Mayer-Johnson
Mayer-Johnson is the developer of the innovative software products and symbols designed to enhance the learning process for special needs students allowing them to achieve their full academic potential. In addition to the company’s flagship products, Picture Communication Symbols (PCS), a comprehensive symbol set used for communication displays and instructional purposes, the Boardmaker Software Family, which provides a flexible platform on which to create interactive lessons and learning tools, and Speaking Dynamically Pro, a dynamic communication and instructional software program, the Mayer-Johnson product portfolio includes a wide range of materials for professionals working with people with disabilities. For more information about Mayer-Johnson, visit www.mayer-johnson.com.

Adapted Learning Opens Tuesday

Adapted Learning, the new Boardmaker sharing website from Mayer-Johnson comes out of beta testing and into general use Tuesday (but you can sign up now).

As a community of people who support learners with special needs we should be very excited. A lot of time and effort went into this site and the designers really listened to the beta testers to make it everything it could possibly be. Beta testers were encouraged to upload as many boards and activities as possible (I have put up 66 and plan to add more tonight) so there are already lots of boards and activities to download and use. I am pretty excited that one of my board sets, a Now/Next schedule flip book, was chosen as an Editor's Highlight (that link probably won't work unless you are logged into Adapted Learning).

Feel free to use the "friends" feature to add me as a friend once you get online, my user name is teechkidz. I already sent out friend requests to some other bloggers and work colleagues.

P.S. Sorry about any confusion I caused when I originally posted this saying beta ended tomorrow. Opps. I am just very excited.

AT Boogie

Check out this very cool animated music video explaining what people with disabilities want from Assistive Technology called the AT Boogie. It made me tear up (especially, "give me teachers who can teach it.")

P.S. I tried my hardest to embed this into my blog, but the Jing screen recording would not load.

30 Days to Being a Better Blogger - Days 10 and 11

Decluttering the sidebar is complete. All of the individual resource lists have moved from the sidebar to individual blog posts and there are links to those from the sidebar. This makes the sidebar much shorter. A new list of the blogs I read has been added to the sidebar as well as the day 11 challenge, my e-mail address.

Have a great Saturday night!