June 9

Morning Activities

 

The morning started out with several presentations of group stories from the Book Creator app:

·        Raise your hand

·        Personal space

      ·        Waiting my turn at the water fountain
      ·        Using my hook

 

There were very good examples for social stories for a variety of situations in a school or in the community. As mentioned in the last post, the stories were easy to create and I enjoyed watching the other 'books' created by class groups. I especially liked the book on personal space - I find that this can be an issue with students as I have witnessed students who didn't know this aspect of interacting with others. As a child becomes older, this is especially important as inappropriate behaviors by peers can be initiated by invasion into their personal space.

 Especially intriguing was the demonstration of low cost items that could be purchased at a dollar store and used for 'low tech' AT applications. These items were not modified in any way and were ready to go after purchase.

 Some examples were:

• Plastic salad tongs which could be used to help pick things up for those with grasping difficulties.
• Egg carton which separates items in its sections which also help develop a pincher grasp.
• Foam curler that could assist as a pencil grip for those who need extra assistance with grip
• Car wash brush which is soft to the touch and could be used for assisting a student with spacial orientation, such as an ASD student.

Examples were also shown of low-cost items that were modified/adapted to suit a specific task and purpose. As well, there were great examples.

• Story book with stiff cardboard type pages suitable for a child but with the modification of placing and gluing 'toe-separators' to the backs of every page and 'fanning open'so that the page could be much more easily opened thus de-emphasizing fine motor skills and enabling those with these motor challenges to have access to reading a book by themselves.
• Paper cup with adaptation which was my favorite item. I could not figure out what the missing piece in the cup was for until demonstrated. The item was for someone who could not fully tilt their head back to drink liquid contents so the missing 'half moon' portion on one side of the cup was for the cup to tilt to make full contact with the fact - in effect, a noise opening.
• 4 inch ring binder that, when placed on its side became an excellent slant board for those individuals who need materials placed on an angle. With the addition of grippy shelf style foam (which I have used in the past for camper cupboards with dishes), the binder will not slip from its location.

 I cannot believe that the actual price of a purchased slant board from educational sales places are $300.00. I find that anything to do with education needs are excessively inflated in price. No wonder individuals need to be creative when looking at needs and solutions.

 

http://ableplay.org/ was a website that was explored this morning as well. It actually is a non-profit charity that highlights appropriate AT for persons with exceptionalities. Ratings and opinions and an evaluation of an item are a feature of this site. The seach button enables a person to search according to a specific disability category. A list of toys is shown that could provide assistance for the disability.