Adapted Books Are A Must

I love to use adapted books in therapy. Creating materials was one of the draws to our field upon entering and it is still something I really enjoy. I love making my own adapted books because it allows me to create lessons based on specific vocabulary that is important for my students. Adapted books can also be modified to be as easy or as difficult, based on the needs of the students you are serving.

The way that I show my adapted books varies based on my student’s engagement level and with the technology available at my various work settings. They can be shown on a smartboard, computer, ipad or as a printed book.

I use these books to reinforce or teach functional vocabulary. They lend themselves to work on reading, labeling, filling in the blanks, answering questions and cooperative group work when done with others.

Below I want to share some of my favorites.

1. 

In this book readers are taken to see all of the animals they see when they visit a farm. So fun to read when discussing this thematic unit or when going on a farm field trip. 

2. 

In this book, readers go through a story about a family trip to the grocery store. Different experiences and food encountered is discussed. So great to show on an iPad on the way to the grocery store or to discuss this functional life trip! 

3. 

In this book, we discuss activities we engage in during each season. We also discuss what clothing is appropriate for each season. It is such a wonderful way to work on categorizing as well. A must read! 

4. 

In this book, we discuss a trip to the library. I like to read this with students when we introduce the idea of going to the library. We read this book, worked on vocabulary, practiced using our library cards and then went to the library. A functional life skill and one that students can enjoy with friends and family! 

5. 

This is a book that is yet to be created! Are you looking for something specific that you just can't find. Let me make it for you! A custom book for exactly what you need. I would love to create something perfect for your students. 

So when you want to go over a specific topic with your students, think about using an adapted book. Adapted books are a wonderful resource. I hope that you will check these out and the many other titles that I have on my TPT store. 

Want to learn more about systematic language instruction for students with autism, visit me at www.abaspeech.org. 

Check out my tutorial about using adapted books here: 

An Ipad App Every SLP Needs To Know About

Do you work with students who would benefit from increased independent leisure or play choices? Do you work with students who would benefit from a simple and engaging activity? I am so excited to share with you a wonderful set of apps from Inclusive Technology/Help Kidz Learn. What makes these apps so wonderful is that they are activated by the touch of the screen and you can touch the screen anywhere! The stories are engaging and delightful to watch. The student touches the screen and it advances the story. Check out this video I took to share the awesome and ease of use of these apps.

Did I mention that many of the apps are free?! Hooray to that.

There is this super fun app all about spending time in the sensory room.

This app is all about using a vending machine. I love how the apps are about real life events that students may encounter on a frequent basis. 

This app is all about using the self checkout at the grocery store. This app is great to show students before you use the self check out or to discuss this event after using it during a family or school outing. 

Some of the apps are just entertaining and some are all about functional life routines our students may experience often. So what are you waiting for – you need to try these out!

If you want to learn more about modified leisure skills for early learners check out my webinar here. If you are working with older students who have leisure needs, check out my webinar about older students here.

Have you tried these apps before? Let me know which one is your favorite! Comment below or visit me at www.abaspeech.org.

Label this and love it!

Labeling is a very important skill for a variety of students that we may encounter in our practice. But what to label is the question. How do we choose what targets we should choose for our students with more intensive needs? I wanted to give you a snapshot into the process I use when choosing labeling targets for students with more complex communication delays.

We are assuming that you have given your student a robust assessment and it indicates that labeling is an important skill to target. Labeling for a majority of early learners may be a socially significant skill to work on directly. It may be a part of a comprehensive and collaborative communication program. Other skills might include requesting, following directions, gross motor imitation, echoic training, etc..

So if our early learner is working on labeling, what should we target? When I am working with a student who is very limited verbally and does not currently label anything, I always take into consideration the students motivation. Ask yourself “what does the student enjoy?” Let’s start here! When a student is motivated by the target- the progress they make may be faster.

I had been working with a student who a year prior had no way to functionally communicate. The first IEP year, we focused on helping the student develop a response form or way to communicate with the world. With a lot of hard work by all members of the team, the student was ready to work on labeling. The student loved going to the gym, so we started with this. I took a picture of our gym at school that he would utilize 2 periods a day. He baselined at 100% - wow!!!! It was so amazing to see a student, who a year prior, could not communicate- label gym. Hooray!!! We continue to work on motivating items, people and places for this learner.

 Ask yourself the following questions: what does my student like to play with? What does my student like to eat? What activities does my student engage in for fun? Who does my student like spending time with? Where does my student like to visit? Choosing initial labeling targets based on student motivation, will allow the student to work on a difficult task with a preferred target. This will allow our students to gain confidence with their ability to label. This is a great way to start work on this skill. As the student is able to label more preferred items, you can also target more functional items. Other targets may include actions. Direct instruction of labeling is important to help our students increase their language skills. Label this and love this!

So my strategy for working on labeling for early learners is to start work on labeling preferred items. I then fade in working on labeling functional items and actions. Labeling can be difficult for students- so following this framework can be helpful! 

I have an awesome freebie all about labeling a variety of nouns that are functional, access it here. 

If you are looking for a super helpful product to work on labeling actions check out the action builder cards here. 

Please stay in touch for more tips on providing systematic language instruction at www.abaspeech.org. 

Musical Chairs and Simon Says- Making Leisure Fun For All

Play is so very important for all children! I have three small children of my own and they love to play. We play games, babies, sports, gymnastics, kitchen, etc… It is never ending. What I have learned in my many years of being both a speech language pathologist and board certified behavior analyst is that students with disabilities may benefit from modifications to enjoy independent and cooperative play activities. This blog post will detail the way that I modify 2 very popular games for younger students- Simon Says and Musical Chairs.

I have many students who benefit from structured small group speech therapy sessions. At the end of each session, I focus on a modified leisure skill. There are so many benefits to working directly on modified leisure skills.

•   If you share with the teacher and/or classroom staff how to play the modified game, they can give the student opportunities to practice within the classroom environment
•       If you share with the parent via a written description or video of how to play the game, they can carry it over into the home environment
• The students will increase their cooperative leisure skill repertoire
•  Direct work on leisure skills allows for practice of a variety of functional life skills to include but not limited to: taking a turn, waiting for a turn, following directions, engaging in a play based task for a duration of time without leaving the activity, communicating with peers during a play based task, requesting during the task. 

It is beneficial if you have a helper or two present for your group lesson, especially if you are teaching a new play based or leisure based skill. This help will make it easier to teach the skill, so that the helpers can prompt the students as needed throughout the activity. It is also helpful for showing other team members how to work on the play skills, so that they can generalize these skills into the classroom environment. I try to introduce and work on a new modified leisure skill for 1-2 months, depending on how fast the students learn the skill and if they enjoy the play activity. I will describe the modifications I use below.

Modified Musical Chairs

·      I set up the chairs in a circle. I use the same amount of chairs, as students that I have playing the game. I tell the students the directions “ When you hear the music walk around the chairs, when the music stops sit down.”The modification is that you never take away a chair.  I use songs my students really enjoy or songs that are current.

·      We play for 5-10 minutes. Helpers prompt students as needed with following the directions.

Simon Says

My students just finished up learning this game and they continue to request it often! I have all of the students stand in a circle by me, so that they can see me throughout the game. I tell them to watch me and do what I do. I then give directions and each time I start with “Simon says.” I include directions that all students can do in the space that we have provided in my office (i.e. jump, march, twist, shout hooray). I also play this game for the same amount of time, about 5-10 minutes. I also let some of the students call out a direction for the group- they love this!!

Working on leisure skills can be fun for student and professional alike. Direction instruction on these skills helps students increase their leisure skill repertoires. Engaging in these activities with the above modifications allows our students to feel successful and happy! If you want to learn more about these games and others, check out my webinar about modified leisure skills and elementary aged students here.

Want to learn more about modified leisure skills, visit me at www.abaspeech.org and sign up for my newsletter, you will receive a free webinar and access to my member only resource area.

Planning for generalization- an introduction

Are you a clinician working with students with autism and/or other complex communication disorders? If so, planning for the generalization of skills is an essential part of the intervention process. Generalization can be defined as

the occurrence of a target behavior in a non-training situation after training. So if we are working with a student on labeling pizza in the therapy room and they label it in the cafeteria during lunch- this is an example of generalization. There are so many skills in which we need to plan for generalization. Today in this post, we will focus on the generalization of labeling skills.

When we discuss this topic, we should plan for the generalization of skills among people, materials and environments. With the point being, if the student can only label their favorite book with the SLP in the therapy room and not with mom when they are at the local library- generalization of skills has not been addressed.

To provide students with autism and other complex communication needs with systematic language instruction, we need to make sure that we are exposing our students to multiple examples of language targets that we are teaching. We want to make sure that we aren’t just showing students one static picture each time we work on a labeling task. If we only present this one picture, chances are the student will not generalize this skill to other pictured examples or to seeing the item or action in a less structured setting.

Let’s say that your child is working on expressively labeling the action of washing. Instead of showing him/her one picture of washing, to teach language more systematically you should present the child with many examples of the word washing. This may include washing hands, washing hair and washing dishes. It is important to point out when we are completing these tasks in the home environment as well.

We also should strive to make our services as collaborative as possible. Every situation has potential barriers to this happening, but I always try my best to make sure that all team members are aware of and working on the same communication skills that I am addressing within therapy sessions. When I set up this system, I know that my student will have more opportunities to practice their skills.

When language instruction is embedded within a learner’s day, it is easier to plan for the generalization of language skills. If the learner works with the SLP on labeling Pete the Cat (when shown 3 different pictures of the book or the book itself) in the therapy room and also works with his teacher and paraprofessional on this skill within the classroom environment- we have planned for generalization among materials, environment and people!

We want our students to be able to generalize the language targets they are working on at school or in therapy into more natural speaking situations. Following this simple tip will be a great first step to helping your student expand their overall language skills.

Have a question or comment about generalization? Send me a message at www.abaspeech.org.