Adapting Lessons to Support Students with Severe Disabilities
Author: | Laura Lewis |
Level: | Elementary School |
Content Area: | Special Education Services |
Author: | Laura Lewis |
Level: | Elementary School |
Content Area: | Special Education Services |
Lessons typically require that children share information in some way. For most children this will be a spoken or written interaction. For children who can’t use speech or other formal means of communication and have significant physical difficulty and can’t use their hands, you can help them share information by using one or more of the following approaches.
The student can utilize simple voice output devices to respond, answer questions, and participate in classroom discussions. The teacher can program messages into the simple devices and the student can activate the device at the appropriate time in the activity, to answer a question, etc. These devices can be borrowed from various resources such as North Carolina Assistive Technology Project lending libraries, school assistive technology teams, speech and/or occupational therapy departments, or purchased from vendors.
Program information in a simple voice output device and let student activate to share with the class.
If the student has a personal communication device, the device should be the primary means of aided communication. The teacher, teacher assistant, and/or school therapist may need to explore the vocabulary on a device or complete what is called a device walk with the student to locate desired vocabulary. In completing the device walk, the communication partner locates the desired vocabulary items on the device and shows the student how to locate them. This assists the student in accessing the vocabulary more quickly and also gives the teaching staff the opportunity to know if the vocabulary is present. If the needed vocabulary is not present on the device, the staff will then have to decide to either program the target vocabulary onto the student’s device or locate words that could be used to describe the target vocabulary (i.e., if student doesn’t have the word volcano they could use the words hot mountain) so that the student can successfully communicate during the activity.
Some devices will allow you to save to a notebook or file and the information can be developed ahead of time and then the student can then activate a button or a sequence of buttons to share the information (this saves time in class).
These videos give descriptions of eye gaze and/or show different students using eye gaze in various ways to communicate.
The following website give descriptions of eye gaze boards and their use.
A method of communication in which the communication partner identifies (by naming or pointing) the items in the selection set then waits for the student to signal (via a sound or movement) the item he/she wishes to communicate. The following is an example of how to use partner assisted communication:
Basic Partner Assisted Communication can be completed one-by one with items in a linear array. This can be done using objects, pictures, picture communication symbols, words, phrases, or letters of the alphabet.
Advanced Partner Assisted Communication can be completed using a group-item strategy gradually narrowing down the selection. This can be done using objects, pictures, picture communication symbols, words, phrases, or letters of the alphabet.
These websites provide information about what Partner Assisted Communication is and how to use it with students.
The student can utilize simple voice output devices to respond, answer questions, and participate in classroom discussions. The teacher can program messages into the simple devices and the student can activate the device at the appropriate time in the activity, to answer a question, etc. These devices can be borrowed from various resources such as North Carolina Assistive Technology Project lending libraries, school assistive technology teams, speech and/or occupational therapy departments, or purchased from vendors.
Light tech refers to no-computerized adaptations and supports. When devices or other computer options are not available the teacher can utilize light tech options to support communication, participation and learning. Laminated paper communication boards are one example of light tech options that can meet a student’s communication needs. The picture symbols, magazine photos, photographs, post it notes, word cards, etc. related to the science activity and/or question at hand can be arranged in tables in a word processing document, printed, and laminated for the student. Or the symbols can be cut out into individual cards and mounted on a piece of cardboard, a file folder, or foam core boards to create communication boards. Individual symbols can be attached using Velcro, clothes pins, putty, etc. so that they can be moved, presented individually or exchanged as part of the communication act. Often the teacher will show the student the symbols before asking a question, or explaining how the symbols will be used in the activity. The student can communicate by touching a desired symbol, looking at the symbol or indicating their choice through partner assisted scanning.
Handouts on web: