Unfortunately, Joey and I were apart for almost a full month in April because I broke my ankle and couldn’t drive. It was wonderful to finally get back to see him last week. In just a month it seemed that he’d grown multiple inches! I was hoping that we’d easily get right back into our familiar pattern, and I hadn’t planned to do anything different or out of the ordinary during our sessions. I was excited to read Harry the Dirty Dog with him, so I dove right in with my plans. [Read more…]
Preparing Harry the Dirty Dog to read with Joey
I’m very excited about introducing Joey to anothe
r of my favorite books – Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion. For those of you not familiar with the story, Harry is a white dog with black spots who hates baths. One day he runs away from home and becomes so dirty that when he finally returns home his family no longer recognizes him, even when he does all his tricks. Finally, he runs into the bathtub and begs for the family to give him a bath. Once he’s clean, the family realizes that the dog in their tub is actually Harry and Harry learns that baths aren’t so bad after all. [Read more…]
Prompting Hierarchy for Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Before I became a special education teacher I hadn’t put much thought into prompting, different types of prompts, or how important it is to be aware of the prompts we give our students. Yet now, I think of a strong understanding of prompts with wait time to be one of the most important gifts we can give our students. So of course, I was thrilled when I came across this prompting hierarchy chart made specifically for students using Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices, by Kate Ahmed and Shelane Nielson.*
Using this prompting hierarchy communicates respect and high expectation to the student, encouraging him to do his best. We start at the top, creating motivation and opportunities for the child to express himself. Only after the child is unresponsive do we move down the chart. [Read more…]
Getting Moving!
When Joey turned four I reviewed the developmental stages of typical four-year-olds, and was reminded of how much this age group loves physical activity. Gross motor movement is not always easy to incorporate into my work with Joey because we spend so much time with him in his chair reading books and using his AAC device. I made a mental note to remind myself to plan activities that could be done down on the floor with Joey so that I could meet his four-year-old need for physical activity, while also working on some of our other goals. [Read more…]
Model, Model, Model! The importance of strategic modeling with the AAC device
As we were reading Curious George and the Fire Fighters, Joey asked for a fire engine by saying “Fire engine” on his device and pointing to the box where I had small fire engine toys. I handed him one but he looked perturbed. “Different fire engine” he said. OK, got it, you want a different one. “Do you want big fire engine or little fire engine?” I asked in a mix of oral language and on his AAC device. He immediately looked around the room for the big fire engine, answering my question with his eye gaze. [Read more…]
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