Today the campers get a personal interview with Jon Feucht the camp Director. He lectures at UW Whitewater and can give them advice about college life for individuals with disabilities; the pitfalls, the services, accommodations, organizing staffing etc.
His personal experiences are invaluable to the campers and offers them support and advice.
Our morning activities today focus on accessing the Internet. E-mails, Twitter, FB and texting.
The campers are introduced to abbreviations and emoticons and taken through the do's and don'ts of texting, emailing, using FB and Twitter.
This transitioned into a Hollywood quiz (that's our camp theme) and creating our own Hollywood handprints!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Authentic Voices of America End of Day 1
We're exhausted, but in a good way!
The rest of the day at camp was filled with activities and more importantly opportunities for communication.
Lunch time everyone orders lunch in their own way! Then they sit together at tables and have conversations with each other and with the staff and helpers there. The tables are loud and lively and there is a lot of laughter!
This afternoon was swimming! An activity less about devices (for obvious reasons :0)) and more about fun! But there was no letting up in the laughter!
Dinner followed a similar pattern to lunch, more talk, more laughter, more noise and lots of food!
The evening activity was bowling and I don't think I have ever been in a more competitive environment LOL! On the whole there was sportsmanlike conduct but I'm sure I heard a few colorful phrases being thrown around the bowling alley!!!
I can hardly believe we have only been here one day!! The campers here are inspirational, the staff are some of the most motivating and dedicated I have ever had the pleasure of working with!
I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The rest of the day at camp was filled with activities and more importantly opportunities for communication.
Lunch time everyone orders lunch in their own way! Then they sit together at tables and have conversations with each other and with the staff and helpers there. The tables are loud and lively and there is a lot of laughter!
This afternoon was swimming! An activity less about devices (for obvious reasons :0)) and more about fun! But there was no letting up in the laughter!
Dinner followed a similar pattern to lunch, more talk, more laughter, more noise and lots of food!
The evening activity was bowling and I don't think I have ever been in a more competitive environment LOL! On the whole there was sportsmanlike conduct but I'm sure I heard a few colorful phrases being thrown around the bowling alley!!!
I can hardly believe we have only been here one day!! The campers here are inspirational, the staff are some of the most motivating and dedicated I have ever had the pleasure of working with!
I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Authentic Voice of America
It's camp week and Gregory, Daron and I are all up in Wisconsin at Whitewater for the Authentic Voices of America Camp.
The Camp Director is Jon Feucht. Jon is assisted by a talented and unique staff of professionals, some of whom are AAC users. Campers are counseled and mentored by persons with disabilities who are living active, productive lives.
Here's our week!
Day 1:
After some excitement with an unexpected fire drill we are in our language class!
We've created shirts for the end of camp and now we are playing Catchphrase. Each camper has a movie to describe using their device and their teammates have to guess it.
Greg's is trying out his eye gaze as well as his scanning this morning and is doing great!
There are some amazing campers here, they are driving their chairs independently with head arrays and accessing a range of devices with direct select, eye gaze and scanning!
I am blown away by the skills I am seeing here already and it's only the first morning!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The Camp Director is Jon Feucht. Jon is assisted by a talented and unique staff of professionals, some of whom are AAC users. Campers are counseled and mentored by persons with disabilities who are living active, productive lives.
Here's our week!
Day 1:
After some excitement with an unexpected fire drill we are in our language class!
We've created shirts for the end of camp and now we are playing Catchphrase. Each camper has a movie to describe using their device and their teammates have to guess it.
Greg's is trying out his eye gaze as well as his scanning this morning and is doing great!
There are some amazing campers here, they are driving their chairs independently with head arrays and accessing a range of devices with direct select, eye gaze and scanning!
I am blown away by the skills I am seeing here already and it's only the first morning!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, June 11, 2012
Digital books
One of the most challenging things for our students has been independently exploring books! Even if they managed to get their hands on a book physically, their impaired motor skills mean that they are not able to turn pages!
The next challenge they face is the reading itself! Many of our students are still reading at a preK or Kindergarten level even though chronologically they are at a much higher grade level. While it is still important for them to work on their actual reading level there is also a need for them to be able to access age appropriate materials.
There are more and more digital books available on line now and many free sites, just check out the books on these sites before you give your students access.
One of the things I most love about giving the students access to the books is the fact at they can explore at their own pace. They can look at a picture or page for as long as they want to.
Also having speech with the books means the students do not have to rely on anyone to read to them the book to them. More independent seems to mean more desire to interact with the books and this is definitely something we want to encourage!
Here are some examples of the sites we are currently using:
Free sites
Tarheelreader.org
Scribble press app
Paid sites
Onemorestory.com
Googling accessible books will provide you with many more sites.
Then with a switch box and jelly bean switch the students can have access to many books.
The Scribble Press App has also allowed us to create and publish our own books and this has led to an increasing library of books that the students connect to on a very personal level!
Below is a video of one of our students accessing a book via her laptop computer.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The next challenge they face is the reading itself! Many of our students are still reading at a preK or Kindergarten level even though chronologically they are at a much higher grade level. While it is still important for them to work on their actual reading level there is also a need for them to be able to access age appropriate materials.
There are more and more digital books available on line now and many free sites, just check out the books on these sites before you give your students access.
One of the things I most love about giving the students access to the books is the fact at they can explore at their own pace. They can look at a picture or page for as long as they want to.
Also having speech with the books means the students do not have to rely on anyone to read to them the book to them. More independent seems to mean more desire to interact with the books and this is definitely something we want to encourage!
Here are some examples of the sites we are currently using:
Free sites
Tarheelreader.org
Scribble press app
Paid sites
Onemorestory.com
Googling accessible books will provide you with many more sites.
Then with a switch box and jelly bean switch the students can have access to many books.
The Scribble Press App has also allowed us to create and publish our own books and this has led to an increasing library of books that the students connect to on a very personal level!
Below is a video of one of our students accessing a book via her laptop computer.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Celebrating the Jubilee
With three British conductors at school we decided to extend the patriotism and celebrate the Diamond Jubilee!
We organized our own indoor 'street party', complete with trifle,Skips,Quavers and Hula Hoops, and British bunting. We learned about the Queen, and some of the things she has accomplished in the past 60 years. And we did British arts and crafts projects!
We also created a time capsule. Our school is entering a new era as we expand with we classes, teachers and conductors.
Each of the students were asked to write a letter to their future selves. Using their communication systems and books they wrote their likes and dislikes, and their thoughts and feelings about themselves and their school.
Statements included:
I like playing with children.
Sometimes we do weird things in school but it's lots of fun!
I like having my passé mur so I can talk!
School is fun but at times I don't like this school.
I like to eat with my friends at school.
We organized our own indoor 'street party', complete with trifle,Skips,Quavers and Hula Hoops, and British bunting. We learned about the Queen, and some of the things she has accomplished in the past 60 years. And we did British arts and crafts projects!
We also created a time capsule. Our school is entering a new era as we expand with we classes, teachers and conductors.
Each of the students were asked to write a letter to their future selves. Using their communication systems and books they wrote their likes and dislikes, and their thoughts and feelings about themselves and their school.
Statements included:
I like playing with children.
Sometimes we do weird things in school but it's lots of fun!
I like having my passé mur so I can talk!
School is fun but at times I don't like this school.
I like to eat with my friends at school.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Communication Game
As a way to encourage accuracy of communication and increased knowledge of the communication system in an atmosphere of fun without the fear of making errors we created a simple communication game.
Using a home made games board the students are given scenarios that they are required to formulate answers to.
Examples of these scenarios include:
"if someone greets you in the morning how do you respond?"
"your head hurts, how do you tell someone?"
"you want to make a phone call, how do you ask to do this?"
The students then navigate independently through their communication book or use their electronic device to respond to the scenario. If they are able to correctly communicate what is asked of them they get to move their game piece along 2 spaces, if they require verbal direction or guidance they move 1 space.
After the round is over the teacher models a way of communicating an answer that the students may not have thought of. This means that they get to see many different ways of communicating similar information.
The students enjoy this game and already they are demonstrating an increased awareness of what is expected of them.
Our goal is to give them practice at communicating common wants, needs and phrases effectively so that they can communicate these to anyone, including people who may not know them well.
The video below shows today's game where the students were asked to state what they would say if a conversation they were having was winding down!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Using a home made games board the students are given scenarios that they are required to formulate answers to.
Examples of these scenarios include:
"if someone greets you in the morning how do you respond?"
"your head hurts, how do you tell someone?"
"you want to make a phone call, how do you ask to do this?"
The students then navigate independently through their communication book or use their electronic device to respond to the scenario. If they are able to correctly communicate what is asked of them they get to move their game piece along 2 spaces, if they require verbal direction or guidance they move 1 space.
After the round is over the teacher models a way of communicating an answer that the students may not have thought of. This means that they get to see many different ways of communicating similar information.
The students enjoy this game and already they are demonstrating an increased awareness of what is expected of them.
Our goal is to give them practice at communicating common wants, needs and phrases effectively so that they can communicate these to anyone, including people who may not know them well.
The video below shows today's game where the students were asked to state what they would say if a conversation they were having was winding down!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:NYC
Monday, May 21, 2012
Weekend News
Monday mornings are a great time to report back on the weekend. For the most part the students are using pre-set phrases from their conversation pages. These include 'I think' statements, 'feelings' and activity pages created from parents lists of activities the students like to do outside of school.
The challenge now is to make this an interactive/reciprocal conversation.
While creating statements of three or more sentences is now becoming natural for the students; responding to their peers, asking questions or making comments is still heavily modeled.
The class teacher will respond using phrases from the students books. This models how the students can answer appropriately. We are working on this first comment stage before encouraging further responses.
Even this first stage of commenting on a phrase from another student is a challenge. This is understandable as in the past most communication with our students has been questions directed at them, requiring the simplest of yes/no comments or choice making. With such a limited expressive vocabulary they have been unable to continue a conversation beyond that initial response.
The increase in vocabulary and interactions they are now provided with via their communication book and/or device is opening up their choices and developing their expressive vocab. I am interested to see how they begin to respond to interactions over the coming months as we decrease the modeling and increase the number of interactions within the conversation!
Using the communication book to interact.
Using electronic devices to communicate.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The challenge now is to make this an interactive/reciprocal conversation.
While creating statements of three or more sentences is now becoming natural for the students; responding to their peers, asking questions or making comments is still heavily modeled.
The class teacher will respond using phrases from the students books. This models how the students can answer appropriately. We are working on this first comment stage before encouraging further responses.
Even this first stage of commenting on a phrase from another student is a challenge. This is understandable as in the past most communication with our students has been questions directed at them, requiring the simplest of yes/no comments or choice making. With such a limited expressive vocabulary they have been unable to continue a conversation beyond that initial response.
The increase in vocabulary and interactions they are now provided with via their communication book and/or device is opening up their choices and developing their expressive vocab. I am interested to see how they begin to respond to interactions over the coming months as we decrease the modeling and increase the number of interactions within the conversation!
Using the communication book to interact.
Using electronic devices to communicate.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:NYC
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