Practical Ways for Teaching Nonverbal Learners--Come Join Us!

   You are invited to join the conversation between Peggy Ployhar and myself on October 1, 2019 at 8pm (Central Time Zone). We'll be talking about ways you can teach your nonverbal children and teenagers. This conversation is directed at families who homeschool but is relevant to nonverbal learners in the school system as well. Bring your questions about adapting instruction and evaluation and we'll give them our best go!

If you haven't yet seen the awesome website SPED Homeschool sponsoring this event, it's a MUST SEE for families living with special needs. While the target audience is homeschooling families, all families living with disability will find a wealth of information and support at this site. There are articles and videos galore from experts with a wealth of information and personal experience. Many of the topics address issues extending outside the school day, such as incorporating therapy into the day or making religious instruction accessible to kids with a variety of special needs. If you participate in Facebook, SPED Homeschool sponsors some groups that sound pretty fabulous. Take a few minutes to browse the site and you will be impressed.

See you on October 1st!
Rose-Marie

Join us at Bloom

Ah, summertime! I hope these summer months find you relaxing and enjoying time with family and friends.

I’m so excited and honored to have a post featured on Holland Bloorview’s special needs parenting blog, Bloom. If you aren’t familiar with Bloom, you are in for a fabulous treat. It’s a top-rated non-profit blog with outstanding contributors and one of the dedicated author/editors you will ever hope to meet.

Mosey on over to Bloom and look around—you won’t be disappointed! While you are there, please leave a comment. They are always appreciated!

One Kind Word Deserves Another

In the world of blogging, discussion and traffic let bloggers know that the time we spend sharing and helping others has value.

Bloggers love discussion in their comment section or email. We love referrals from others: links from other blogs and forums, Tweets, Facebook recommendations, LiveBinder listings...anywhere that brings traffic to our site.

Special needs bloggers tend to write because they want to help and support other families, teachers, and therapists paddling the same boat. There is just something extra-special about these good folks!

Knowing that traffic is a great way to encourage a blogger, will you join me in supporting some great bloggers by visiting their sites? These are the Top Ten Blogs that have referred the most visitors to Adapting Creatively. Some days it was the readers coming from these sites that encouraged me to keep posting.

These are some great sites by some talented and creative individuals. Some are parents, some are teachers, some are therapists. All deserve recognition. And you might just stumble across a new favorite!

1) http://livingwithrettsyndrome.blogspot.com/

2) http://howlongisthishall.blogspot.com/

3) http://gravity-check.blogspot.com/

4) http://samscooltoolsfortheclassroom.blogspot.com/

5) http://www.hopefulparents.org/

6) http://www.lifestwistedstitches.com/

7) http://smdteacher.blogspot.com/

8) http://therapyfunzone.com/blog/

9) http://www.therextras.com/

10) http://teachinglearnerswithmultipleneeds.blogspot.com/

(A quick little side note...there are a couple of lovely forums that directed lots of traffic and I would like to thank them as well. Many thanks to http://www.parent-2-parent.com/forums/forum.php and http://community.babycenter.com/! If you are looking to get involved in a forum, either of these are great resources!)

Thanks for taking a few minutes to check out one or two—or all ten!—of these inspiring blogs!

I hope you are enjoying a relaxing, healthy summer,

Rose-Marie

Develop Access Skills with the Incredible Games at OwlieBOO

Oh my!! Have I got a gem to pass along today! If your young (or young-at-heart) child operates a computer with eye gaze, head mouse, joystick, or just needs help developing basic mouse skills or switch skills, you are both going to LOVE this site!!

OwlieBoo (or El Buho Boo for our Spanish-speaking friends) is a free collection of fabulous kids’ games to play online. They have simple but darling graphics and simple instructions. The thumbnails are even animated to give you a hint as to what the games do. Clever!

The home page for OwlieBoo, featuring keyboard access (red arrow),
mouseovers (yellow arrow), and click or drag (blue arrow) access.

 Let’s take a look…

The top row has games activated by keyboard swats. Any key will work. This also means switch users can operate the games with a single switch. Bang away and make the magic happen! Great for cause and effect learning. Many of the games have animals appear in their habitats. Be sure to look at the Egg game…not only cute, but a great chance to teach about some of the curious egg-laying mammals of Australia!

By pressing any key or a switch, animals appear in their habitat.

Help a wide variety of animals hatch from their eggs by swatting the keys.

The middle row is controlled by moving the mouse across the screen. There is no clicking necessary with this group of games, so kids can concentrate solely on controlling cursor movement. This is awesome for beginning eye gaze or head mouse use! Some games have no time requirement, such as the matching activities at the end of the row (Kids, Forms) or the Bugs game. Others ask that you move the cursor with some speed, such as with Bubbles or Monkeys, but the speeds are much more forgiving than some other mouse games.

Pop the bubbles to free the owls in this arcade-style game.

Move the babies to their mothers by sweeping them with your cursor,
using whatever method of cursor access you have.

The bottom row incorporates left-clicking or dragging . Some activities involve simple targeting and clicking, such as Music and Painter (coloring book pages). Others use a drag-and-drop function, as in Toon Me, Stickers, jigsaw Puzzles, and Complete the critters games.

A simple and successful coloring book using just clicks and mouse sweeps.

Drag and drop body parts to copy the prompt picture.

Create your own scenes by dragging and dropping cute stickers on a background.
Notice that you can even print your artwork.

These games are built for success. All are cognitively simple, which is great for kids whose concentration needs to go towards the motor movements of controlling access. Most of the timed games move fairly slowly. The games use forgiving targets, so puzzles pieces stick if you get close to the right spot rather than requiring that they be placed with precision. There are no scores.

If you Google “mouse games for toddlers,” you’ll get a zillion sites for free online play. Some are outstanding; others not so much. But I promise that OwlieBoo (El Buho Boo) is a sure-fire winner that you’ll want to check out for sure. Happy playing!!

Check this out: Kate Presents on Eye Gaze Communication

Did you catch Kate Ahern’s amazing presentation on eye gaze communication last night? She spoke to the Rett Syndrome Association of Massachusetts and shared with an even larger audience by streaming video. We are so fortunate that she shared the slides on her website because they are fabulous!!! Just take a look at this slideshow on Eyegaze for Education: Women and Girls with Rett Syndrome.

Be sure to check this out if you have an interest in eye gaze, whether or not your child has a diagnosis of Rett syndrome. Kate shares a wealth of outstanding information in them that is useful to anyone using AAC.

Unfortunately, the streaming video was not recorded for posterity. This is too bad because I’d love for you to see firsthand the commitment and passion Kate has for her kids. You would be inspired! Kate’s message is powerful, and thankfully she repeats it in the slides she has generously shared here.

Everyone have a lovely weekend!

Rose-Marie

SEN Teacher...it's for EVERYBODY!

One of the greatest finds on the Web for educational materials is SEN Teacher.  If you have never visited this incredible site, then today is your lucky day! SEN Teacher was developed for special educators, but it has a goldmine of goodies that are extremely helpful at home and in general ed classrooms as well. I used this site a lot when homeschooling and with general ed students as well as my kids on IEPs. Did I mention that it is free?

Home screen for SEN Teacher

The site is very well organized; so much so that it is rather pointless for me to take you on a “guided tour.”

The printables sections alone are amazing resources that makes this site worth your time. The activities meet the learning needs of students at every difficulty level, so even high school math teachers will find some hidden gems in the math section. Even worksheets that look at first glance to be elementary can be customized to reinforce some pretty challenging skills.

I love, love, love the math worksheets, which are fully customizable. Even coin values are customizable for various countries, from USA to Euros to Australian coins. There are 26 different customizable printables for math alone! The clock and money worksheets are some of the clearest to read that you will find on the Internet.

One of my very favorite math activities with second graders uses the Number Square worksheet. Print up the page using only a partial fill (50% or 75% of spaces left empty) and have students fill in the blank spaces. You can also set it to skip count by 2’s, 5’s, or other increments (great for older students practicing multiplication facts). Once the kids are good at this, cut the sheets apart into jigsaw shapes along the lines. Children fill in the blanks of their own piece and then work together in small groups to fit the pieces to a complete a full table.

Number Square set to 50% fill.

The literacy printables include lots of fine motor and handwriting practice, as well as early phonics and site word skills. Again, you can customize most of these sheets to fit the needs of your particular students

The “other” printables has some things you must see if you need picture cards (for any reason, but especially for symbol communicators). Check out the AAC Photo Cards, which is a truly fast and customizable card printing tool. It is one of my all-time favorites for photo image symbol cards because of its ease of use and limitless library. Just type in the words you want on the sheet and SEN Teacher searches through a half-dozen copyright free sources for high quality images to match. If you don’t like a particular image (say, the background is too cluttered), you can repeat the search until the program opens an image you like. You can narrow the searches tightly too; don’t settle for “dog” or “goat” when what you want is “Golden Retriever” or “Saanen.” The AAC Photo Card search can handle your very specific request! Oh yes, it also comes with pre-authored sets if you just need a quick group of “farm” or “school” words.

AAC Photo Cards allow you to create photo symbol cards
to meet very specific criteria in a matter of seconds

If I could change one thing about the AAC Photo Cards, it would be the ability to assign a mix of border colors on a single page. But you can get around this a bit by putting all nouns on one page (print with orange borders), verbs on another (print with green), etc.

On this “print other” tab, you will also find a number of emotions activities using realistic photos. I have a bit of a stretch seeing how a few of the expressions show the assigned emotion, but overall, it’s a great resource for children who need practice at reading expressions.

You will find fabulous online resources through the “web links” tab, including information on various disabling conditions, additional educational resource links, and a collection excellent special needs sites.

The “downloads” tab shares dozens of free games and other resources that can be downloaded to reinforce any number of learning areas, including math, computers, science, communication, art, and other areas. It’s a great place to find games for extra practice…have fun looking them over!

SEN Teacher is one of those amazing resources that you will wonder how you ever lived without. Even if you are a parent looking for some great activities to reinforce the academic and social skills your child is learning at school, this is a valuable link to add to your Favorites bar!

Have a lovely weekend,

Rose-Marie

G-tube Resource RoundUp

Here you go! As promised, here is a list of resources to support families of kids with g-tubes. Of course, we could always use more! If you know of others, please add them in the comment section. I’ll keep the list updated so it’s easy for folks to bookmark them all in one spot. Thanks!!! I appreciate your help.

Rose-Marie

Organizations

The Oley Foundation (supports adult and child consumers)

A.S.P.E.N.  (professional support)

Feeding Tube Awareness (family support)

Listserves/Forums

            BabyCenter’s Babies and Children with Feeding Tubes forum            

            BlenderizedDiet.net forum            

            Yahoo Blenderized diet listserve           

            Yahoo Tube Feeding listserve

Blogs

            Adapting Creatively

            Ainsley Rae            

            You Start with a Tube

Clothing

            Tummy Tunnels            

            Special Clothes

Clothing Tutorials

            Grab-a-Scab at Adaptions 4 Kidz            

            G-tube Jammies            

            G-tube Clothing: Design            

            G-tube Clothing: Blank Canvas            

            G-tube Clothing: In-Seam Openings (to be posted soon)

Books and Informational Articles

            Homemade Blended Formula Handbook (Klein and Morris)

            Los Altos Feeding Clinic

            New Visions informational articles

            When Jeremy Jones’ Stomach Stopped Working: A story for children with g-tubes from mitoaction.org

Feeding Tube Awareness Week

Do you love someone with a feeding tube? Please join me in helping raise awareness of feeding tubes this week. Whether you are newly facing the decision about getting a feeding tube or a long-time tube-feeding "pro," there should be a lot to talk about.

All this week we'll be looking at issues related to tube feedings and sharing ideas for ways to simplify life with a tube. We'll share resources, strategies, concerns...it's going to be a great week!

To launch the activities, you might want to see some of the precious faces of some amazing kids that thrive through tube feedings. Thanks to the brave kids and parents at the Babies and Kids with Feeding Tubes at BabyCenter.com for sharing their photos and the great moms and dads at feedingtubeawareness.com for putting them into a video!

Here are some resource links to check out this week:


General links


The Oley Foundation: a national not-for-profit organization of over 9,900 members that supports individuals and families with tube-feeding needs. They send out a great bi-monthly newsletter, hold annual conferences, organize a supply swap, match families with mentors, and other helpful things.


Feeding Tube Awareness: a site to provide emotional and practical support to families of children using feeding tubes.


New Visions: a fabulous resource by a fabulous oral motor therapist, this site has a wealth of information on tube feeding. Check out Suzanne's excellent articles!


Lists/Forums


Sometimes nothing helps as much as a personal contact. Find just what you need here:


Babies and Children with a Feeding Tube: this community at BabyCenter.com is a hopping place! There are some very friendly and helpful parents here.


Tube Feeding Listserve at Yahoo: this well-established group has been supporting families and professionals for nearly nine years. I pass it along as a resource that some of my friends have participated in; I have never been on this list.


Blenderized Diet Listserve at Yahoo: for those ready to venture into creating blended g-tube formulas, come join us here!


Blogs


You Start with a Tube: a marvelous blog written by an adult with a g-tube, a wealth of knowledge, and a side-splitting sense of humor




What resources would you recommend? Got a blog to share? If so, please comment below. At the end of the week, I'll post the collection for easy sharing.

You’ve Got to See This: My Unique Child

Whether you are a parent or a professional looking for information specific to a diagnosis, you’ll find a wealth of information at My Unique Child. Let me share a little about the great things you will find there.  

First, My Unique Child is a very warm and reassuring place. The site is brought to you by Cheryl Scott, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, who also happens to be the mother of a child with special needs. She’s also a really nice person. When she invites your comments and questions, know that her invitation is sincere. The site is growing and changing and she would appreciate your input about what would best meet your needs.

You will find My Unique Child to be well-organized. You can locate the information you need easily.

The first section provides information on exceptionalities (the special challenges that our kids face) and diagnostic codesfor various disorders, which is something that parents need often for the mountains of medical paperwork. With ever-changing codes, it’s really nice to have an up-to-date source for this information.

The second section provides a nice assortment of videos related to specific challenges. Some provide information or first-hand insights about living with a particular disorder. Others offer ideas for therapy activities to help children learn and communicate.

You’ll find an ever-growing book list, from general disabilities information and coping to specific diagnoses.

Following the contact page tab, there is a page of helpful tools. These include free video tutorials and a list of recommended products to use with your child. All of them are tested and true.

I hope you will pop over to Cheryl’s My Unique Child site; you’ll be glad you did. Pull up a cup of coffee and settle in for a good browse. And while you’re there, please let her know what else you’d like to see. 

Free Online Switch Activities from Kate

Kate Ahern has done it again, showering us with a wealth of great FREE sources for switch activities! She is such a master at uncovering great stuff and generously passing it along.

I’m so grateful Kate has done this, as her list is ready for you now, ripe for picking. You can find some things today to keep your switch user(s) happy. I’ll keep plugging away at my review of these sites that I’ve been busily working on to share with you. Be watching for a switch-themed week coming up (date still to be determined); there are some fun things to share.

Be sure to hop on over to Kate's site to look at the free online switch activity sites she's posted.  And be sure to leave her a note...she does so much for the special ed community.

Do you have any other resources to add to Kate’s list? If so, please do share!

The Parents' Corner: Great Resource for AAC Families!

Hiding all over the Internet are diamonds just waiting to be discovered. One such gem is the Parents’ Corner on the AAC Institute website. If your child uses any form of Augmented or Alternative Communication, low- or high-tech, the Parents’ Corner is for you!

Don’t let the name mislead you into thinking this resource is just for parents, either. The Parents’ Corner is full or resources for speech therapists and teachers as well. There are items you can use directly and others perfect to print out for families to follow up therapy activities at home.

The Parents’ Corner houses a collection of monthly articles written by the amazing Robin Hurd and some outstanding guest authors. Robin is the mother of four boys (a feat which, all in itself, makes her a hero), two of whom use AAC. Her background in early childhood education makes Robin a natural at linking the theory of learning AAC with the practical aspects of daily living. She’ll help you feel like you are sitting at the kitchen table sharing coffee and ideas for meaningful ways to bring AAC into your child’s life.

Here’s just a sampling of the topics you will find helpful:

Encouraging AAC use:

• Advice to Parents New to AAC, Feb. ’05
• Getting Motivated, Getting Results, Oct. ’05
• Visual Schedules, Choice Boards, Topic Boards and Communication Boards, June ’07 (guest post by Pam Harris)
• Talking with Teens, AAC Style, Sept.10

Developing Language Skills:

• Organizing Vocabulary for an AAC System, Aug-Sept ’08
• I Can get Some Satisfaction…The Art of Negotiating, Feb. ’09
• Developing Language Skills: Moving Beyond Wants and Needs, June ’09
• A Thingamajigy on Whatchmacallits, June ’10

Building Literacy:

• Literacy for Children who use AAC, June '05
• Reading Independently: Using Computers to Access Books..., July ’05
• Writing: The Other Part of Literacy, Aug ’05
• Advancing Literacy for AAC Users, Jan. ’08 (shameless plug for a post guest-authored by yours truly)

Education:

• Word Walls, Dec. ’05
• Adapting Curriculum, Jan. ’07
• Organizing Vocabulary, Aug-Sept. ’08
• Template for Lesson Planning, Dec. ’08

Parenting:

• Advice to Parents New to AAC, June ’05
• Raising Independent Children, Sept. ’05
• Does AAC Prevent Children from Speaking?, Feb. ’06
• Peeking into the Crystal Ball: Conversations with Adults Who Use AAC, Oct. ’06
• Believing in Your Child, Nov. ’07
• Emergency Plans and AAC, Mar. ’08 (See also the April '08 follow-up)
• A Mess of Stress, Oct. ‘10

Pour another cup of coffee and sit back for some very helpful and encouraging reading! What article at the Parents' Corner do you find especially useful?

Scholastic eBook Sale...and an access tip!

In case you hadn’t heard, Scholastic is offering a great selection of eBooks for just $1.00 (US) at their Teacher Express storefront from now until 1/31/11. There are over 520 titles, most of them workbooks. They cover all grade levels and topics, so you might find something useful for your classroom or for your child at home. Thanks to Jonathon Wylie at The Education Technology Blog for spilling the beans about this great sale!

Here’s a tip for making PDF worksheets more accessible for kids with learning or motor disabilities:

You can easily enlarge the page, reduce the number of problems, or eliminate distracting graphics. Just open the full page on your screen and copy the screenshot with your print screen key [PRTSC]. Then paste it into a paint program and crop out distractions or enlarge just the part of the page you need. (Note: If you will be using just a small portion of the page, enlarge that part before you hit Print Screen to maintain a clear image). Print it off and your kids are good to go!

Full screen view of page--I want to give only the problems
in the center of the page on this sample.



1. Zoom in to the portion of the page you want to print
(if you want the full page, check the full page view button)
2. Snap a screen shot [PRTSC]





3. In Paint, select the portion you need and crop to that section.
You have cut out the picture of the screen around it.



4. Open the "Page Setup" menu and choose the page orientation,
centering, and scale to 1 by 1 page. 

Here is the final cropped and ready-to-print outcome!
The page has fewer problems to complete, fewer visual
distractions, and larger spaces for the student to write.

[Just an FYI about downloading from Scholastic, you do need to right-click on the Download link and “save target as” if you want to keep a copy on your drive. If you click to download, the file’s save feature may not work (it didn’t for me, anyway). If you have any questions about saving, check out their Help files.]

Special Needs WebTV: Announcing Family Network TV

How great would it be to have a WebTV channel dedicated to the needs and interests of families and professionals dealing with disabilities? Anyone with Internet access, anywhere in the world, would have access to the information and support available there.

Susan Stephens had a vision to make this happen, and it’s about to become reality! In the middle of January, 2011, Family Network TV will launch its premier WebTV lineup.

Check out “http://www.familynetworktv.com/: Uniting the Special Needs Community Worldwide.” Isn’t that subtitle an exciting one? I think of Internet friends across the globe. These are parents and teachers I’ve never met in person but who deal with the same issues of disability as I. Many struggle alone in countries where the lack of resources results in isolation and in unmet educational and medical needs.

Sharing information is a start towards correcting this situation; the idea of a worldwide network is thrilling!

Look at the lineup of shows premiering in mid-January, 2011...there is some great stuff planned!

Dare to be Rare: Hosted by Meagan Cross filmed in the Australian rainforest (Angelman syndrome and other rare disorders).

The Imperfection Connection: Hosted by Patty & Gina authors of “Shutup About Your Perfect Kid” (this pair hosts a lively website here: http://www.shutupabout.com/. If their show is anything like their site, it should be both thought-provoking and quite humorous!).

Siblinghood: Hosted by 4 typical teenagers with sibs that have special needs, including autism, Tourette syndrome, Down syndrome, and a rare chromosomal deletion.. Nick Lombardi, Amit Hezi, Alex Westcott, and Maggie Badock.

Perspective: Hosted by Tara Ecklund featuring the perspective of members of the special needs community from parents, teens, college students, business owners, adults and seniors with disabilities.

Abilities Expo TV: Episodes to include highlights from the Abilities Expo across the US featuring innovative products for the special needs community.

It’s A Matter of Law: hosted by Sheryl R. Frishman, Esq. & Jill F. Faber, Esq. from the law offices of Frishman & Faber, P.C., from New York. The show will cover all of the legal aspects of having a child with special needs so you can be an exceptional advocate for your exceptional child! Sheryl and Jill are not only highly experienced attorneys but parents of children with significant special needs and zealous advocates for children and adults with special needs and their families. No family member of a person with special needs should miss this informative and exciting new show!

Therapy Central: Episodes will explore therapies that are available and discuss their benefits. (Music, Listening, Dolphin, Suit Therapy, Conductive ED).

As we step into the year 2011, I wish you all blessings, happiness, and health.

For Those Who Sew: Favorite Wheelchair Clothing Sewing Sites

If you sew, you have a tremendous gift that can greatly benefit the wheelchair user in your life. If you want to learn to sew, come on aboard! You’ll be glad you did.

Sewing gives you the opportunity to…

·       custom-create fashionable clothing that fits just right. You can incorporate details that make sitting or stretching more comfortable, dressing easier, and managing openings simpler. You can add special details that give secret access to stomas or give tons of extra pocket access for electronic devices …you name it!

·        have creative license over colors, fabrics, and details. It’s fun to design clothing that reflects the wearer’s personality!

·        save a dollar or two. Sewing is not the inexpensive hobby it once was, but garments you create yourself are often considerably less costly than those sewn for the small adaptive market.

With that in mind, may I present two fabulous online resources with you in mind!

The first is Fashion Freaks, with free sew-it-yourself clothing patterns for wheelchair users. This is the go-to site for developing your own customized wheelchair-friendly patterns based on basic patterns you can download from the site. While it is designed for adult women’s (XS to XXL) and men’s (S to XXL) clothing, it isn’t too difficult to scale the sizing down for children. Fashion Freaks provides the pattern pieces and complete instructions for sewing jackets (several styles), pants, and a skirt. All are designed with a seated wearer in mind. There are some helpful tips for making clothing fit and function better. You’ll also find a great section for sewing inspiration.

The second is a fact sheet full of terrific tips brought to you from the Disabled Living Foundation in London. It provides ideas for purchasing ready-to-wear garments with a wheelchair user in mind, as well as ideas for adapting commercial clothing. There are also some tips for adapting commercial sewing patterns to make them work more successfully for people who spend their days sitting.

If you know of other sites that offer tips for sewing clothing for wheelchair users, would you please share them? It would be great to share a nice little collection for people who want to sew for their family members who use wheelchairs. Thanks!

* * * * * * * * * *

The AbleData site isn't specific to home sewing, but lists a great number of ready-made adaptive clothing sites you might be able to use for inspiration. Scroll down the the "clothing" section to find the categories that would be useful to you. There are some really creative designers out there! 

EDucational Website: SET-BC

The Special Education Technology Centre in British Columbia is a wealth of information for teachers and parents as well. Their website is a treasure of resources just waiting for you to use in your classroom or home.

One fabulous thing I’ve observed about special needs parents is how enthusiastically they tend to take on the roll of providing instruction to their children at home. The biggest limit seems to be availability of expensive resources…but the SET-BC website can help fill that void.

So, roll up your sleeves and let’s take a walk through the website.

The most useful tab to those living outside British Columbia is the Learning Centre. These resources are free to anyone to use. Four main headings under the Learning Centre tab will take you to some incredible gems.

At the Learning Centre home, you will find an extensive collection of articles, webcasts, software trainings, and other resources. The collection is searchable or can be browsed by category through the tabs across the top. Honestly, I could lose myself at the Learning Centre homepage for days on end. There is just so much there!

The Accessible Books page provides you with both premade stories for the computer (circled in red) and instructional handouts and videos (circled in blue) that walk you through the process of creating your own books.

Take a look at the CurriculumSET page for premade activities to support instruction in the classroom. Activities are divided into content areas (science, language arts, health, math, etc.) and age level. There are low-tech handouts for students, as well as onscreen activities for Boardmaker, Clicker 5, Classroom Suite, Kurzweil, Solo, and more.

A great help for families is the PictureSET page. Downloads include both Boardmaker files (which can be customized in Boardmaker for individual users) and .PDF files for families who do not own Boardmaker. There are also some boards for specific communication devices. Symbols are organized by topic...

...and purpose (activities/games/songs; support stories; visual/vocabulary).

Families who want to get started with symbol communication for their non- or minimally-verbal children can find some extremely helpful downloads through PictureSET.

If you are a resident of British Columbia, there are even more fantastic resources available through SET-BC, so keep on exploring after you’ve checked out this section. There are local events you won’t want to miss, training opportunities, technology support, a lending library (much larger and more current than the one available in our state!)…

I hope you will have a bit of free time over the Thanksgiving holiday to browse through the SET-BC website. Even if you have visited it before, check for updated resources. There have been some wonderful additions made in the past few months! Check out the Assistive Technology Considerations for students with a wide variety of disabilities--good stuff!

There is so much to be grateful for this season. Happy Thanksgiving!

Rose-Marie