Scenario 21
Simon has some learning and attention
difficulties as well as language difficulties. The current focus for him is
prepositions.
 Simon
is particularly fascinated by spiders. Any activity which involves the use of a
large plastic spider, purchased cheaply at a local market, increases the length
of his ability to remain on task. The laminated symbols for the prepositions
‘in’, ‘on’, ‘under’, ‘in front’,
‘behind’, ‘beside’ are Velcroed onto a large die. The die
is rolled and Simon must place the spider in the appropriate relationship to
other items – a large truck is a favoured item. Sometimes his SNA places
the spider and Simon must point to the appropriate symbol Velcroed to the board
in front of him.
Spider pictures collected from the World Wide
Web have been used in Clicker Grids to encourage Simon to write. The computer
program Spider in the kitchen! has been introduced but Simon thinks this spider
is a bit boring! He prefers the real thing.
Key skills and equipment
The key skills for the above examples are the
ability to:
- create laminated symbols of relevant prepositions
- collect images that will motivate the pupil from the Web
- make Clicker grids
The key equipment is:
- large hairy plastic spider
- laminated preposition symbols
- large die
- computer with Web access
- Clicker 4 and Spider in the kitchen! software
Ashley is 5 and newly started in P1 in a special unit for
children with autistic spectrum disorders. She has no speech and very little
understanding or response to others spoken language. She is just being started
on a PECS programme (Phase 1, the physical exchange). Although she shows little
in the way of preferences for food or activities, she loves bubbles, one
teletubbie video and one particular spinning toy, so these have been chosen as
her preferredreinforcer items to introduce the first stage of PECS. Her teacher
Miss L. has taken digital photos of her preferred items and reduced these in
size to fit on to 2" square hard backed and laminated cards. The unit is also a
TEACCH environment, so Miss L. has also used the PCS graphics CD and Clicker to
make Ashley her own set of green activity lists (to match the colour coded
areas on desks and areas of the classroom), with velcro spots on which various
day to day activity pictures and symbols are attached, each day.
 Choosing
software
Finding useful pictures
Personalized
Use a digital camera, or scan familiar photos or drawings,
to create personalized and thus highly meaningful pictures. Involving pupils in
producing the materials can be highly motivating.
General
CD-ROMs are available with photos or clip art with simple,
visually clear pictures of basic vocabulary items. Avoid the huge commercially
available collections of clip art – it is difficult to find any specific
picture quickly, and most of the pictures are useless for learners with special
needs. Images and video clips can also be downloaded from picture libraries
available on the Web.
- Picture This… Pro
- Early Years Clip Art
- Sherston Primary Curriculum Clip Art
- Just Pictures
- Disability Clip Art (images of people with disabilities)
especially Vols. 01, 02 and 04
Specific
Clip art packs on CD-ROM for popular reading schemes:
- Oxford Reading Tree
- Wellington Square
- Fuzz Buzz
Finding useful symbols
There are several electronic symbol libraries available;
currently the most commonly used in the UK are PCS, Rebus and Makaton. (Others
available include – Bliss and Compic)
Boardmaker is simple and very widely used. It is designed
for use with only one symbol set (PCS) although occasional extra graphics can
be added into its libraries. Additional symbol sets are published from time to
time, e.g. the 1998 and 2000 addenda.
Clicker or Writing with Symbols 2000 are extremely flexible
programs which can be used with any of the symbol libraries that come with the
program or have been purchased separately. They can combine symbols from more
than one symbol system, or can combine symbols, pictures and photographs within
a library created for a specific child, class or school.
Overlay BUILLDer and Flashcard BUILLDer (Macintosh only)
generate the Minspeak symbols used in the Unity application, in overlay or
flashcard format.
Picture and symbol communication materials on the Web
An increasing number of Web sites offer freely downloadable
picture and symbol-based materials, as well as many ideas and resources
developed by practising teachers. These are listed in Appendix 1. If your
school has a Web site, or email contact with other centres, you could also
offer to share or exchange materials.
Some of these are listed in Appendix 1. Excellent starting
points are
http://trainland.tripod.com/pecs and
http://www.do2learn.com
Materials production software
‘Ordinary’ word processors with the capacity to
accept graphics alongside text such as ClarisWorks or Microsoft Word may be
useful for occasional illustrative use of pictures or symbols.
PowerPoint can be used to make talking books, or ‘Personal
Passports’ (Millar & McEwen, 1993). The advantage of these programs,
together with ordinary painting / drawing programs, such as Paintshop
Pro or Corel Draw, is that they are often already on the computer
and can be used with no extra costs or learning. A disadvantage is that they
are often over-complicated for educational use.
Usually, it is advantageous, in terms of time, ease of use
and range of features, to look at the more specialized packages available. For
example:
Specialized word processors and desktop publishing
packages – such as Pages or Talking TextEase. Designed for use by
pupils (and also good for adults!), these are simple to use because of drag and
drop graphics handling, and offer extra features such as speech feedback. These
make good worksheets.
Book Spinner – designed specifically to
create and print out personalized books, using a built-in library of pictures
and linking to other symbol libraries.
Highly specialized word processors –
designed to work with pictures and libraries of communication symbols, such as
Clicker (Writer); Inclusive Writer, Writing with Symbols 2000. Inclusive Writer
is more geared to picture support for literacy work, while Writing with Symbols
is even more specialized and offers symbol support for language and
communication work. These can be used in many different ways, not only to
create materials but also in direct use by pupils.
Resource Packs of ready-prepared symbol
materials – that you simply have to print out. For example, Print
‘n Play and Print ‘n Communicate (PCS based game boards and
communication charts and chart templates, for use in conjunction with
Boardmaker).
Dynamic display voice output symbol communication aid
programs – that allow printing out of on-screen symbol displays,
to make up low-tech symbol communication books that exactly match the pages of
the high tech aid. For example, Talking Screen, Winspeak and Speaking
Dynamically Pro.
 Mr L. decided to
check what grids were available for Clicker from the ‘Clicker grids for
learning’ Web site www.clickergrids.com. The site was easy to navigate and he
acquired several useful new grids, which he could use directly (one is
illustrated, to the right). He liked the structure of two other grids but not
the content. So he downloaded them with the intention of just changing the
content.
Key skills and equipment
The key skill for the above example is the
ability to:
- access the Web and locate useful sites either by typing
in the address from a catalogue or newspaper cutting, or by using a search
engine
The key equipment is:
- a computer with access to the Web
Resources to support text use
(See also Unit 2 –
Literacy and Recording – Using ICT to support literacy across the
curriculum)
Pupils using text, but unable to use a pencil and paper for
writing, may be able to complete worksheets on a computer. Worksheet creation
provides an opportunity to differentiate the curriculum for pupils with speech
and language difficulties. Remember, though, that some activities may be more
sensibly handled with oral answers and scribing.
Using templates
For writing activities at any level – and especially
for pupils with speech, language and communication difficulties – it is
almost always a bad idea for pupils to be faced with a completely blank screen.
It is better by far to build their confidence and stimulate their ideas by
asking them to write into a prepared template. This should provide a title and
useful starter phrases, accompanied by some interesting pictures or symbols.
Once a worksheet or writing framework page has been created,
it should be saved as a template (or stationery pad), so that it is locked.
With the original safely stored, the template comes up as a blank, untitled
document, ready for use each time it is loaded (e.g. for repeated use, perhaps
by many different pupils). Each pupil completes the worksheet and saving their
work under their own document name.
 Mrs S.’s class was scheduled to organize
assembly the following week, so they talked about what they would want to pray
for. The topics raised were put into a grid with Writing With Symbols 2000;
each pupil wrote their own prayer.
Key skills and equipment
The key skills for the above example is the ability to:
- create a grid and writing environment within Writing
With Symbols 2000
The key equipment is:
- Writing With Symbols 2000
   
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