Communication+Board+&+Lesson+Plan+and+Switch+-+Battery+Interrupter+Assignments

=Communication Board Project =

The communication board that I created is designed for use with the lesson Amanda and I wrote and delivered to reinforce our student's competencies of the -at word family. You can view this lesson by selecting the file below, or checking it out in the lesson plan library, as well.

Examples of some activities I might engage students in with this communication board include: - asking a student to identify the word family we are studying today. - asking the child to identify one of the characters we read about in __Pat the Fat Cat__. - asking the student to tell me who got the new hat in the story? - asking the student tell me where the rat sat when he tried on Pat's new hat?

One of the best things about the toy I chose as the "base" for my communication board is that it lends itself to a variety of these types of activities. For example, as evidenced by my photos, you can see here that I've used it as a means to check my student's comprehension of vocabulary terms. It might also be included in a lesson on math by attaching possible answers to the buttons, then asking the student to select the correct one and justify or explain the choice. Or, one might simply remove all the labels and ask the student to show color or shape recognition by pressing a given button!

I am really proud that I took the time to create this communication board because it will definitely be useful in my future classroom! It's remarkably easy to tailor to any student's learning level, whether lower or higher functioning. The toy requires little effort to manipulate, too. And as a special way to differentiate, I can offer students the choice of pressing/selecting buttons with their fingers or the special mallet that came along with it!



Here's a video of my communication board in action. Watching this will really give you a sense of how much excitement the toy created amongst all the students ~ they were all very eager to give it a try!

[|Miss Crystal's Communication Board in Action!]

While conducting research on the different types of communication boards and software available to teachers and families, I unearthed the most fantastic, easily-creatable, and inexpensive communication board idea from Kristen Eichleay and Susuan DuBuske of Boston Public Schools Access Technology Center that I'd like to share. I can't wait to make this one for my classroom, too!



Switch & Battery Interrupted Toy Assignment  Another neat activity that I had the opportunity to try out during this course was to create a specially adapted toy for a child with disabilities. From this assignment, I learned that this does not necessarily have to involve a normal "toy" as one might typically think of it. For example, the construction group I was part of used a simple hand held plastic fan purchased from a Dollar store. As our professor, Dr. Hines, noted, not only is this a great place to start because it's a low-risk product to work with where cost is concerned (for us impoverished college kids - lol!), but it would be just as amusing to a child with, say, autism. Plus, even a simple toy like this, with the right adaptations, can still be used for motivational purposes and to teach important functional skills like flipping a switch on and off. My group mates were GraceJoy Hauser and Marty Rohleder. Here you can see the pieces we gathered to work with. The pink plastic object is the hand-held fan, there are a few different types of switches, a small roll of electrical tape, and my goofy orange robot which did not want to be adapted because I couldn't get into his battery compartment! We began working by disassembling the battery compartment to see how best to connect the switch. The idea was that, by attaching a larger switch, a child with poor fine motor control might find it easier to use this fan. Again, a small fan like this could be offered as practice with using an environmental control like a switch or it could offer motivation, as well. In this photo you can see the copper wafer we first tried to use as a means to bypass the battery. Due to the design of our toy, we eventually opted to simply soldier the ends of the radio wire (also visible in this photo, laying on the end of the table towards bottom of picture) straight to the battery contact plate.

Marty was very intent on getting our toy to work! Hey guys! Look at that!



Let the reflection begin: So, umm...do you think you could do that again with a new toy?

Since I initially had trouble working with my robot, I brought him home to my Dad's house over the Thanksgiving holidays. Thanks to the wealth of engineering knowledge my Dad has picked up over the years (he's awesome, you guys!!) I was able to turn my ordinary toy into a totally adapted play thing for a special needs child. This was really a great experience because it involved a lot of trial an error, like many things in the special education field! Also, I got to put real thought into the type of child who might enjoy a toy such as this - that way I could be sure that the adaptations I was making would be worthwhile. Finally, I loved that this project gave me an opportunity to involve my family in my future career because I enlisted the help of my Dad and my little sister, too. So, without further ado...click below to watch a little movie I made of my robot in action! (p.s. the file was too big, so I had to cut it in half!)



Feeling inspired? Wanna try making an adapted toy of your own? Well, here are some resources to help get you started! Good luck! []

