Tag Archive: visual supports

A Myth about Visual Schedules Live On :(

April 30, 2012 by - 2 Comments

A Myth About Visual Schedules Lives On

Nooooo, not again.   A myth about visual schedules continues to rear its ugly head in a prAACtical situation (maybe we can reframe it into a learning opportunity??). Some history- A parent of twin girls with autism (age 15 and two other younger children– yes total 4) stopped by our office to pick up some autism awareness materials yesterday (a super busy mom in so many ways —going out of her way to help our community).  As we were exchanging pleasantries and getting updates on how the girls were doing, we heard something that continues to surprise us–(and not in a good way).  What did we hear? We heard that the girls were doing relatively well (not the surprising comment) but that mom was extra busy because the girls were no longer independent in taking their showers.   They could do it by themselves but didn’t like the sensory input of soap... [Read More...]

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5 "Go To" Sites for AAC & Visual Support Downloads

April 25, 2012 by - 2 Comments

5 "Go To" Sites for AAC & Visual Support Downloads

We’ve shared a number of resources for downloadable AAC materials in previous posts like this and on some of our Pinterest boards. Sometimes we start from scratch but other times we check out what other professionals and families have created, then download and adapt them for our use. It’s wonderful to see the generous online community growing! Here are some more sites we like for AAC and visual support downloads. – 1. For Visual Supports from Hamilton Boone Madison Special Services Cooperative 2. From Special Education Technology-British Columbia: PictureSet 3. Free software with symbols for making visual supports: QuickPics Symbols from Patrick Ecker 4. Behavioral supports from eLearning Visuals 5. Wonderful activities to support language and literacy from Dr. Caroline Musselwhite – Where do you go for online materials to download materials for your AAC work?

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5 Tools & Tips for Making Transitions Easier

April 22, 2012 by - Leave your thoughts

5 Tools & Tips for Making Transitions Easier

Transitions can be hard for everyone, whether it is turning off the TV to finish grading papers or leaving a favorite place to go run some errands or following through to finish cleaning out the garage. For people with significant communication difficulties, there can be additional challenges. Here are some of our favorite tools and strategies for making transitions easier for everyone. – Visual Schedules: Our hands-down favorite way of helping people transition smoothly is to make the expectations visual and explicit. Lots of info on making this strategy successful here and here. Timers, timers, and more timers! We love them because, once the routine and expectations are established, they work so beautifully in so many situations. Social stories:Well-written social stories shared via high quality intervention can go a long way in preventing or minimizing transition issues. Transition items: Lots of families, teachers, and SLP have had success using objects... [Read More...]

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What Works!

April 19, 2012 by - Leave your thoughts

What Works

We have many students who are getting older. It’s a time many of our families are looking at transition steps.  Some families are interested in employment opportunities, others in having their now adult children live outside the home with a little or a lot of support, and others just wish there was a place for them to go after school ends.  .  It is difficult finding quality options. Even if there are options, it seems ‘they’ want the ‘easy’ people.  (disclaimer: Now I move from the ‘we’ into the ‘me’ since Carole has been on vacation and I have been dealing with some ‘crap’ and don’t want to speak for Carole since I am hoping she is relaxed and positive).  So here goes…. I could argue now that there are no ‘easy’ people.  I could rant now because it has been one of those days where not a lot has... [Read More...]

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PrAACtical Mini-Schedules

March 24, 2012 by - Leave your thoughts

Mini Schedules

We were looking for some specific resources for a distant colleague. We wanted to get as much good information as possible because this colleague was not in our field but in another department that has direct impact over work.  We do not necessarily see ‘eye to eye’ on many issues so we thought it might be helpful to our working relationship.   In the process, a young man and his family would get some much-needed support.  In our exploration, we found some great new videos about schedules- our topic of the month.    We found several very prAACtical videos by the Watson Institute about  mini schedules. We have found mini schedules to be very helpful for activities of daily living, community activities, leisure time activities and even in special event activities.  We love that the Watson Institute put these on you -tube for everyone to learn from. They even have a you-tube video... [Read More...]

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Emergencies and Resources to Help

March 19, 2012 by - Leave your thoughts

Emergencies and Resources to Help

It has been a really long weekend.  A very close relative had a significant medical emergency this week.  The emergency involved intubation, an air ambulance (that is helicopter), and many many procedures.   With the intubation, there was a temporary loss of speech which made communication difficult to say the least.  This was a time that the patient (my relative) needed communication most, yet there were multiple barriers to effective communication (no speech sounds, tubes in the mouth obscuring lip movement, noise, etc..).  Although the hospital staff was amazingly wonderful, communication was not their priority.  Lucky, for us, I just happened to have some AAC apps on my iPhone.  At one point, the AAC app was literally a lifesaver (thanks so much to Verbally for providing  an easy way to communicate complex questions, reminders, and comments). As I was waiting around for many hours, texting Carole, we started thinking about... [Read More...]

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Malls & Communication…. Supports

February 25, 2012 by - Leave your thoughts

Malls and Communication Supports

 I was in the mall with my teenage daughter yesterday (because that is her favorite place to go) and we saw a group of adults with developmental disabilities.  Some of the group members were in wheelchairs and others walked.  It appeared that they were on a ‘field trip’ or community outing. My daughter has been ‘working’ with me since she participated as a ‘typical’ peer for various pragmatic groups while she was in preschool.  She has been known to regularly (and not always so quietly) identify people who I must know since “they probably go to my clinic”.  This would occur even if we were nowhere close to the geographical location of  ‘my’ clinic.  She has been known to find people who probably need my services so I can help them ‘talk better’.  Although my daughter seems to be doing a lot of identifying without any formal training, I have to... [Read More...]

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Why a Listening Only Approach is Not Good Enough?

February 7, 2012 by - Leave your thoughts

Why a Listening Approach is Not Good Enough

Not only is a Speech Only Approach not good enough, but a Listening Approach is also not good enough… Because even though a young man I know can follow simple directions with contextual cues and  his educators ‘feel’ he does not need any additional support, it does not help the young man when he should be doing the task independently.  . Because even though a bakery employee I know is usally fine (just a little nervous??) when his job coach explains changes in other employees attendance at work,  he sometimes gets so upset he has to leave his job… Because a little girl asks every day (many, many times) to go to Disney World even though her parents and teachers have told her they always go over the summer.  And because she now has a formal  behavior plan to help her stop perseverating on questions, and becasue this means she... [Read More...]

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Resolution 1: More Cooking

January 4, 2012 by - Leave your thoughts

We have been thinking about what we would love to do more of for 2012.  We seem to be thinking in 5’s.   So in getting organized and goal focused for the year we will spend the next 5 days discussing 5 goals. Our first goal is More Cooking.  We love to cook with EVERYONE.  Cooking is an activity that everyone needs to do for independence. Cooking can also be a leisure activity and it is often naturally motivating because of the end result (our personal favorite)- eating.  1. You can use any of the picture recipe directions that are already on common food products.  The picture supports may need to be enlarged at the beginning but the idea is to use the picture directions on many packaged foods. These natural AAC supports were pointed out to me several years ago by Dr. Bridget Taylor. 2. Check out Your Special Chef which was... [Read More...]

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