Happy Blog-iversary!

Adapting Creatively turns one year old today. Come join the party! (And Donna, thanks for remembering. You're a gem!)


thanks to Lunchbox Photography for use of the darling photo

I am so grateful to all the friends who have come alongside me in this journey over the year. You are a terrific group of people! Your presence here is a true gift to me.

I like to imagine you all sitting at small tables together in one giant room, each bringing a unique perspective and interest. Some are parents or grandparents, some are teachers, some are therapists, and some have disabilities of your own. Yet you all get along so well and have MUCH to talk about, because you are deeply committed to making the world a better place for people challenged with disability. Thank you for that.

As you sit with your virtual slice of Oreo Cookie cake (simply divine yet oh-so-simple to make...you must try the recipe), please enjoy some links to places you’ll love.

Parenting kids with special needs:

·        Love that Max (Ellen’s thoughtful, often hilarious, reflections on parenting Max and Sabrina)

·        Thin Places—Faith, Family and Disability , a gentle and encouraging blog by Christian author Amy Julia Becker

·        Bloom, an insightful collection of parenting essays by Louise Kinross and some outstanding guest posters

Tutorials:

·        Adjustable arm band pouch for keeping that MP3 player or iPod out of your child’s way http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2009/07/arm-band-pouch.html

·        Or, as an alternative, try this iPod armband made from a t-shirt...it looks quite comfy! http://jembellish.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-to-make-ipodmp3-player-holder-for.html

Teachers:

·        Kate at Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs has been running some awesome posts lately! Check these out:




·        An app party this weekend at Apps for Special Needs, featuring oodles of free and cheap apps for the iPad and iPod

Therapists:

·        GREAT fine motor activities at Therapy Fun Zone

·        Cool technology suggestions for speech therapists at Speech Techie

Thanks for stopping by to celebrate! Let’s all raise our punch to another great year ahead!

--Rose-Marie

A quick alternative to laminating symbols

Does the time and cost involved with laminating symbols get to be a little much sometimes? Of course we accept the hassle and expense of laminating symbols that receive ongoing use. But what about those symbols or pictures used to meet a short-term need? Do they merit the investment? Why waste lamination film if they are simply going to be thrown away?

A couple weeks ago, a friend and I were chatting about solutions to this problem. She had materials for her child that would be used on a short-term basis, to accompany reading lessons that would last about one week. The extra work, expense, and waste of laminating them seemed pointless. 

This is where vinyl name badge holders can come to the rescue! Avery makes some great ones that we’ve used, although there are other brands. Just slip the paper symbol or picture into the pocket of the badge holder and you’ve got a sturdy, drool- liquid-resistant card for eye gaze or touch. When you are finished with the symbol, just swap it out for a new one and use the pockets over and over.

Vinyl badge holders with computer-generated words
and 2" picture symbols.


Some badge holders even come with “zippers” to increase their resistance to moisture (see these).

I won’t pretend that these vinyl pockets are cheap; they can run anywhere from $0.35 (in bulk) to $0.85 per pocket. Thirty-five to 85 cents of lamination film can protect quite a few 2 x 2” symbols. But the horizontal pockets we use have lasted for years and have saved me hours of laminating time. I’d say they’ve paid for themselves.

At Walmart yesterday, I found a package of 12 generic badge holders for $1.88. That’s just over $0.15 a piece. They are considerably flimsier than the Avery brand, so I can’t recommend them for extended use or for kids who are rough on materials. This is a case of “you get what you pay for.”

Badge holders also readily accept adhesive Velcro for use on choice boards.

There you go! If you find yourself in need of a way to protect symbols or pictures for a short time, try the badge holders.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

On a personal note, thanks so much for your patience with the long silences here at Adapting Creatively. We’ve been dealing with some health issues at our house that take away time from blogging.  Hopefully things will settle soon and I’ll be able to get back into a routine. Thanks for understanding!

--Rose-Marie

We have a software winner...

and the lucky winner is Alison! Congratulations! Thanks to every one of you who entered. I hope to have more software to offer in the future, so keep watching.

Alison, I'll be in touch at your email address to get your shipping address.

Have a wonderful week ahead,
Rose-Marie

Hurry to catch the software giveaway

It would be great if you (yes, you!) won the fabulous Listen and Respond (Professional Version) software!  Judy Lynn Software has kindly donated a copy of for one of our lucky readers here. You can read more about Listen and Respond Pro here or on the Judy Lynn website.  

Screen shot from Listen and Respond (Pro)

But you need to act soon...the deadline is Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 9 pm Pacific Time. Simply leave a comment on the Giveaway Page with your email (disguising the address, of course) to be entered.

If your child has different needs than the software addresses, please tell a friend or teacher who has students that might benefit. They might just be the lucky winner!

What can kids say with wipe-off eye gaze cards?

LOTS!

Handy wipe-off word cards that we used to answer a homework assignment

For kids who read, whether proficiently or as fledgling readers, printed choices can be quick and efficient for indicating  thoughts. We tried dry erase boards for years, writing choices in the corners, with marginal success. For our daughter, the ability to adjust the spacing of cards within her field of view can be critical. This is especially true on those “off” days when she isn’t feeling her best.

Index cards are an option that let us space her choices to meet her needs of the day, but the cost of using them adds up quickly.

Over the summer, I tried laminating 3.25 x 5.25 cards cut from oaktag file folders. These have worked GREAT! We simply write choices on the cards with a dry erase marker as they are needed and wipe them clean with a dry cloth when we’re done.

Handwriting the words or phrases is so much faster than trying to locate symbol cards in a notebook and re-file them after we’re finished. Also, many of the words my daughter needs have no symbol counterpart.

Some speech therapists recommend using black dry erase boards for certain students, as they may be easier on the eyes. If this is true for your child, try laminating cards cut from black construction paper or heavy scrap book paper.

Our laminator is made by Purple Cows and the small hot pockets work especially well for this project. The laminated cards wipe clean and are holding up beautifully. I have a dozen of them at the ready, which allows me to have a nice stack of choices. I can also have answers ready several questions ahead if she is completing a homework assignment.

If your child is able to read at all, I suggest giving these laminated blank cards a try. You might find them to be a quick solution to the time-consuming problem of symbol storage and retrieval.


Celebrate fall with new software...and a giveaway

Happy back-to-school days! Let’s kick off the new school year with a look at a great new program from Judy Lynn Software Inc.:  Listen and Respond.



This simple-to-use program places students in the role of a retail clerk, filling customer orders. When customers ask for one or more items, the student clicks from an assortment of buttons to give them these items. Students have to listen closely to the order being given, remember the item(s), and locate them from the choices. Teachers can select options to customize the difficulty of the task to meet the learning needs of the student.

There are lots of things about this program that I really like.

1) This game is perfect for junior and senior high school students, or even adults in vocational programs, with access and/or cognitive issues. Anyone working with older students knows how hard it is to find excellent age-appropriate software that doesn’t require fine motor finesse and lightning reflexes.

2) It is easily accessed using a mouse, touch screen, head mouse, eye tracking, switch scanning, a keyboard, or other alternative input devices...all at the students’ own response speeds.

3) The layout and tempo of the game is calm, supporting students who are easily overloaded by sensory input.

4) The feeling tone is quite positive. Successful attempts are acknowledged and errors are corrected with constructive encouragements.  
5) So many features are customizable, making the game useful for a wide range of skill levels. It can be made extremely simple or really push memory skills with long strings of items.
Caption: Here is a screenshot from the Judy Lynn site highlighting customizable features in each version



Easy to use set-up menu from the Pro version
5) Customers in the standard version have animated mouths, making it highly motivating.

6) In the professional version, you can import customers from your own photo gallery. When we played this at home, we even brought in a head shot of our Golden Retriever! That certainly got a smile from my girls. Imagine the school principal, a favorite teacher, or a hot pop singer shopping at the store where you students work. Talk about engaging and motivating!
I added Carrie Underwood as a customer using an image I found online

7) The program tracks performance data, making it easy for you to monitor progress.

If there was any one thing that I found less than ideal, it was that my sluggish old computer with its antique processor responded pretty slowly during the video instructions and in presenting new sets of button choices. This should not be a problem for the vast majority of you having newer, racier computers.

Take a look at helpful video previews of both the Standard and Professional versions here.

I do need to disclose that I got to be involved with the development of Listen and Respond. It was a terrific project to watch come to life. My participation is completely voluntary, although I did get copies of the software for my daughter and her school.

In addition, the company has generously donated a copy of Listen and Respond (Professional version) to give away here at Adapting Creatively. If you have a Windows computer and would like a copy for your classroom or your student at home, please leave a comment on the GIVEAWAY PAGE. This giveaway will close at 9 pm Pacific Time on Sept. 17th, so don’t wait!