In this assignment, I had to think of a student with whom I had worked, who would have required and benefited from a form of Augmentative and Alternative Communication Devices, referred to AAC devices. This task was not difficult and I think that is because of a new mindset I have in thinking of what AT is and is not as well as what devices may be best suited for certain individuals, based on the MPTTT framework model we have looked at in class. When I began to consider the child with whom I would focus with on this project, I thought of the MPTTT framework initially. Factors that I had to consider was the Milieu - or setting for when this device would be used; the Personality of the individual using the device, the type of Technology that I would select for the individual as well as the Task the individual would need to accomplish, along with the Time required to use the device to determine whether or not the device would be appropriate.
This required little consideration on my part and I chose to use K as my case study. K is a grade 1 boy, who is enthusiastic, energetic, pleasant and has a zest for learning. He is Autistic and almost essentially non-verbal, but can say a few choice words - ex. hi, bye but the person working with K has to know him well in order to make out these words. K does not present with any visual acuity or difficulties. K is also very interested in words and loves matching games and animals. He has good sight word vocabulary and loves to add to his skills in this area. He also enjoys computers and has good functioning ability with keyboarding skills despite his difficulties with fine motor skills needed for operating a keyboard. It is his love of the computer, animals and matching games that facilitate his drive to work the keyboard effectively, thus improving his fine motor skills immensely. K has recently been introduced to math skills as he enjoys working with manipulatives in class and can demonstrate his understanding of number sense skills appropriate to his grade level. In addition, K really enjoys music and tactile learning opportunities. He has a great deal of personality and is very well liked by his peers, teachers and anyone who meets him. He has a natural ability to perform and really loves to show off his unique skills with a toy guitar in the class.
As you can tell from this outline of K, he is a very well functioning boy who is full of life and has a great desire for learning. He does become frustrated however when someone is unable to understand his attempts to communicate. Consequently, because he gets easily frustrated and requires a device to assist him in this area, the School Planning Team met and we discussed with his parents the possibility of K using a hand held iPod Touch as an ACC device which would enable him to communicate his messages clearly and allow him opportunities for further social interactions as well as building on some of the skills he already presents with at this time. His parents were in agreement to try the device so we discussed all the particulars and factors that would influence success or perhaps even impede his progress. The SPT wanted to ensure that parents and all members of the school were well aware of the possibility for struggle with this device, in that K may become easily frustrated if he was unable to operate the device or access a certain element on the device. Therefore, we decided it very important, knowing K and his frustration tolerance, to put a tactile feature on there that was relaxing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exiWglUk6GQ
Having some fun with the application - just a demo to show you how you can be creative with an APP!!
Other APPS that I would like to have on the phone to support his academics are:
i) Blackboard Sight Words Games HD Free Lite for iPad - this APP is particularly useful and important for K because it is two applications in one. The first part of the APP is set up in Flash Card format where the individual is able to see the spelling of the word, hear the audio of the word and learn the word. This would be particularly useful for K because he has good working knowledge of the alphabet as well as letter formation (gross motor skill capacity) and could therefore appreciate this application. In addition, he would also get to hear the word being said and this could be reinforced by his teacher or EPA to get him to repeat and model the way the word is said. The second part of the APP focuses on writing of the words and this would be good for K's motor skill development. There is a section where the word is presented and the child can then drag individual letters over to the word, matching up the letters until the word is spelled and the read aloud to the child. This could be expanded on as the child matures and gains expertise in this skill by adding in the next level, where again the words are presented and are hand printed for the child. The child is then able to touch the pad and trace the letters in the word. This would reinforce K's ability to form the letters in the words himself and reinforce his fine motor skill development. Finally, because K has good working knowledge of words and a base of sight words in his word bank, he would benefit from this APP because it focuses on the Dolch Sight Words for Pre-Primer, Primer, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3 levels and a list of nouns. These levels can be used as K develops his skills as well as his cognitive abilities.
ii) For Mathematics, as this is a newly discovered joy for K, I decided to add in the Ace Kids Math Games HD free APP. This APP builds on basic numeracy skills and will assist K with mobility skills as he has to drag numbers to complete numeracy equations in addition and subtraction. This is a great APP because the skill level can be increased as you go. K is only in grade 1 and has a beginning working knowledge of simple addition, so using this APP to support that skill will assist him in meeting his goals for mathematics outlined in his IPP.
Because K is a tactile learner and enjoys such activities, I wanted to put an APP on there that would allow him to manipulate the screen on the iPod Touch/iPad in order to create a picture. So, I found an APP that would support just that as well as support another interest of K, which would be animals. He loves animals! So, the Pocket Zoo with Live Animal Cams was a great APP that I could not pass on. This APP allows the individual to watch live videos of animals and they are able to choose their favorite. There is also a puzzle component to this APP where the child can drag the pieces on the screen and place into a puzzle creating a picture of an animal. One of K's strengths along with computer skills, is matching games. He absolutely loves these games and does very well with this concept. So, adding this APP seemed logical and it will likely be enjoyed by K because of the matching, but we can add in the videos and hopefully gradually get him to verbalize the animals or at least his favorite, so that he is meeting goals on his IPP in using communication with peers or adults.
My passion is music and K also enjoy music, so choosing an APP (just one) to go on the iPod Touch/iPad for K was challenging indeed. So, I couldn't just chose one, I chose instead 2. The first I chose was more geared to K and learning through music, which is extremely important. So the APP Music Learning Adventure was selected. This APP will assist K in meeting his IPP goals for Language Arts, vocabulary development and speech because this APP has flashcards, music, videos and characters. This is visually appealing, stimulating and will be completely engaging for K. We can build on his sight word bank by using words from the flashcards in this APP as well as have him watch videos and create music on his own. This will give him some flexibility with his programming and allow him to use fine motor skills when accessing the keyboard feature or when playing notes that match the flashcards presented. It is a great APP and would be age appropriate for K.
In addition, I also chose the Air Guitar HD Premium APP so that we could both (K and I - or other teachers) have a little fun exercising our inner Guitarness! K should be able to access his creative side and allow that out and this APP will definitely allow for that to happen. The guitar is brought up on the display and you can run your fingers along to have the strings play. As noted earlier, K has some difficulties with fine motor skills, so this APP will not create stress for him as you do not need to focus on every little string. However, this is something that we could work up to if he enjoys the APP. This APP will also allow K to bring out the performance skills that he has. As was indicated earlier, K has the personality where he is a "ham" so to speak. He is not afraid to get up in front of the room or in front of an audience and perform. So, having access to this Air Guitar APP will allow him the ability to take part in skits, musical displays or other things going on in his class, without feeling the stress of having to communicate verbally. Besides, he gets to have fun in the process and that can never be negative! Because K is such a tactile learner, who needs motor skill development, it was easy to decide to use the iPod Touch/iPad combination where we can download such APPS (for free in the cases mentioned above), but also for minimal costs, more detailed APPs can be added depending on whether or not the iPod Touch/iPad are well received by K. He does love and respect technology, so this should prove to be helpful in having him use and respect these devices. We will supply a lanyard so that he can wear the iPod Touch around his neck as he will need to be able to quickly access this when communicating with his programmed speech application with Proloquo2go, already installed on the iPod Touch. As well, he will need a screen protector as it is anticipated that he will use this device often as we will be encouraging him to speak more often using this device in order to meet the outcomes for his Language Arts goals in his Individualized Program Plan, where he will initiate and respond to people using his iPod Touch as a means of communication with 85% accuracy using at least 5 different sentences.
As you can see from my blog entry, it is completely easy to get absorbed in the world of iTunes and all the APPS that this site has to offer in order to enhance and improve a child's programming at school, home, socially with their peers and for overall general human entertainment, enjoyment and fun! I certainly got carried away in this assignment, but it only serves me well as it will permit me to view all children based on the MPTTT model so that I serve them appropriately by implementing and designing a program that provides them with the proper device to suit their needs at a given point in time....always remembering that this is continually to be monitored, assessed, re-evaluated and changed based on the individual's needs, desires and maturity.
Give it a try yourself....here is the link to a free tutorial....quite amazing the sound!
Give it a try yourself....here is the link to a free tutorial....quite amazing the sound!
WOW janice - this is fantastic. LOVE the Pocket Zoo app
ReplyDeleteThank, Barb. I really did learn a great deal from this assignment, so thanks for including this in our work. I love the Pocket Zoo APP as well, so much variety in one APP that you can use it in many ways to meet the needs of many students. I really love have you can continue to use it too as the child gets older!
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