Personalizing Communication Supports for Individual Success

In the past couple month, there has been a lot of interest and excitement around the mini communication book and aided language boards as featured on the blog in October of 2013.  I contribute their success to a presentation I heard from Linda Burkhardt regarding Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display (PODD).  She made me think about language in a whole new way! 

As I began thinking about our limited language learners in a different light, it was time for me to give them the opportunity to communicate more than just requests.  They deserved the right to communicate their needs, wants, and opinions.   And thus, PODD books and aided language boards were born.  

At first, my own insecurity and inexperience limited my use of the PODD book. As much as I learned at the training, I still felt silly navigating the book and fumbling through the words.  But just as a baby or a toddler experiments with language, it was important for me to do the same with PODD books.   

I owed it to my limited language learners to get into their worlds and start communicating in a way that they could see and eventually start being a part of themselves. 

I say "eventually" because as you might remember from my October 2013 post, we speak to typically developing children for at least 12 months before they respond in a verbal fashion. It takes 12 months of modeling and speaking to them and not getting anything in return! And even when we do get something in return, it is inconsistent at first and in little one or two word chunks like "mama", "dada", and "bye-bye". 

So long story short, I was going to have to be patient with the process.  Patient with myself and my staff as we learned to communicate using the PODD books and patient with our students as they watched us model its usage and started to dabble in the communication process themselves.   

For those of you who know me, you know that patience is not my strong suit.  I want to see progress and I want to see progress quickly.  There is no time to lose!  So as my staff and I started dabbling in communicating with the PODD books, we also began carrying a core word sheet in our aprons to support our kids in communicating. 

We were much more fluent in using the sheet than the PODD book so our students were able to pick up on using it pretty quickly.  By December of our first implementation year, we noticed the kids needed more. They were acting out and behaviors were off the charts!!  

In that moment, I had to reframe the behavior.  I remembered from early trainings with TASN-ATBS that behavior is communication.  The kids were trying to communicate but they didn’t have enough words to do it so as you might remember from my earlier post, we created a 5 page mini-communication book.

Page One: Core Words

Page Two: Manners & Action Words

Page Three: Greetings & Feeling Words

Page Four: Food & Hygiene 

NOTE: Page five is not available as it is the people page 

with specific photos of staff and students.

Page Six:  Colors & Shapes

You can access the mini-language book in the Boardmaker Online Community.  NOTE: Boardmaker has recently changed it's look and features a bit to better meet the needs of educators.  Feel free to use and change this template under Boardmaker Share to meet your students' needs. You can get the coil spiral binding at Binding Depot.  If you do not have access to Boardmaker and/or you are interested in the updated version check out this product on Teachers Pay Teachers.

You may also remember that from the 5 page mini-book came a little language cuff for one of our little gals.  She was in love with the 5 page mini-book and would try to take it from our staff aprons as she jabbered and pointed.  At first this made my staff and I reluctant to keep the mini-language books in our aprons as her behavior was such a distraction for herself and others, but then as my speech path and I were talking we began to reframe her behavior.  She was trying to COMMUNICATE and we would be doing her an injustice if we took her voice away.

So we changed our perspective.  We often reminded ourselves that although she had limited verbal language, her behavior of grunting and pull on any and all language boards she could get her hands on was a bit disruptive...However, it was her way to communicate! She had soooo much social communication in her just bursting to come out!  She was and still is a little social butterfly. She just needed a way to get it out.  And lucky for you, her parents have given me permission to share her journey with aided language supports. 

It's my pleasure and pure delight to bring you...Miss Lilly!  

This video is of Lilly the first time she attempted to use her language cuff.  Notice the cuff was Prototype 1.0. It was a toilet paper tube and in hindsight not the right fit.  It was not flexible enough for her little arm and it got wet every time she washed her hands. 

After recognizing the concept of the original language cuff was good but not functional, we moved on to Prototype 2.0, a very high-tech cutoff tube sock with the words hot glued to the outside. 

This version was function for communication purposes but did not fit Miss Lilly's very fashionable style so one of my fabulously talented paras, Miss Molly, created Little Miss Lilly this very high fashion cuff.  She knitted it with a plastic pocket insert in which we could change out the words as needed.  

It was such a hit that her mom asked Miss Molly to make her two more as Christmas gifts.  What a great idea, Mom!  There is no better gift than the gift of communication! :)  

At first, the words on Lilly's language cuff were just enough.   She used it to communicate she wanted to be "all done", wanted more, needed help, or was sad, happy or mad.  But in May behaviors returned, Lilly communicated with all her being that she needed more words.  She would touch sad or just continually tab the cuff in frustration with no functional means.  Lilly wanted and needed more words!  

To make the added words functional and purposeful for Lilly, we incorporated her interests and strengths.  Lilly's has a strong interest in interaction with others.  She likes to greet people, interact socially, sing, and go on functional walks in the hallway.  So purposely, we added communication pages to her cuff that would be motivating for her to use.

We added a social page in which Lilly could greet people, ask how they were, what their name is and tell them what her name is.

And then a page in which she could communicate her need to be all done, and move onto preferred activities such as delivering tools to the janitors room, delivering mail, or singing with teachers.

These additions are pretty specific and not necessarily general enough for her cuff at home.  They were created to motivate her to use her communication device and turn pages to get what she wants. As she starts to get the hang of it, more words will be added and then eventually she will move to a full PODD book as the language cuff is set up in the same turn-the-page fashion as a PODD book.  

As you can see by looking at page one of the language cuff, it has colored tabs for turning and a "more to say" icon in the upper right corner.  

The pages are ziploc name badge holders. (I purchased mine for $0.70 a piece at a local office supply store.) Then, I punched tiny hole punch circles on the sealed side of the holder to spiral bind together that way I can slide new communication pages in and out as needed.  

Note:  That my staff and I continue to model the PODD book alongside Lilly's language cuff so when she is ready to manage more words we can move to her own PODD book.  

In the beginning, we granted any request she communicated with her cuff but as time went on we set limits using the later and time to work icons on her cuff.  For example, if she communicated that she wanted to sing during direct instruction or small group learning rotations, we would honor her communication by saying you want to sing, then we would point and say "sing later, work first."

Here's Lilly in action again the first day she was given her cuff with more pages and words. 

WOW!  Right?? She is a rock star!!  And you haven’t seen anything yet.  On the second to last day of school (last May), Lilly surprised me with this amazing play session.  


For specifics about the play kit in this video click here.  

What a great way to end the year!  And for me who moved on from the classroom over the summer it was bittersweet.  I know that her amazing family and teachers will continue to help her grow and expand her communication skills but I am totally sad that I won’t be in the frontlines to witness her greatness.  Her love and enthusiasm to communicate and be social are contagious.  I would like to thank Lilly's parents for allowing me the opportunity to share her enthusiasm with all of you!!

Take her enthusiasm and run with it in your own journey with verbal and aided-language communication!

Best, 
Lindy

Improving Communication Skills for Non-Verbal Children Through the Use of Aided Language Boards

This week I'd like to share with you some classroom-friendly ways to incorporate aided language boards.  This tool facilitates and increases the amount of words nonverbal students have access to in the classroom setting. 

The techniques I am sharing with you derived from my attempt to use PODD communication books based on the work of Gayle Porter and Linda Burkhart. If you are unfamiliar, PODD stands for Pragmatic Organization Dynamic Display. Here are two sites you can visit for more information on PODD:  Novita Children's Services and Linda J. Burkhart's website.You can also watch amazing footage of their clients using PODD communication books on YouTube.
  
I attended a workshop by Linda Burkhart and loved the technique. If you ever get a chance to go to one of Linda’s trainings... JUMP AT IT!  It will give you a whole new perspective on augmentative communication and the importance of language. After returning from the training, I couldn't wait to get started with the PODD books. Although I had the best intentions, it was difficult for me to implement the technique because of everything else that goes on in the classroom.  

I feel the books are extremely beneficial and will continue to work on my implementation style but in the meantime I really needed some simple words for my staff and students to get started with so I came up with a core word page.  My staff and I keep them in our aprons for easy access. 

Here is a video clip of my son and I modeling how to use it. We shared these video models one at a time during large group for a few weeks when we first started using the board. 

They prove to be very helpful and by last December, we realized that the kids needed more words so I created this mini language book.

Page 1:  Core Word Page w/ a Few Additions

Page 2:  Manner & Action Words

Page 3:  Greetings & Feelings

Page 4: Pictures of staff & students (Not pictured here.) 

Page 5:  Personal Hygiene (Toileting & Snack in Our Classroom.)

If you have Boardmaker, you can access this mini book from Boardmaker Online to edit it to meet your students' needs.  If you do not have Boardmaker, you can go to my TPT store to access the new version!  It is not editable but it has some new action words and play items:

Here is a clip of my sons and I modeling the use of the mini book. NOTE: My older son has had a little experience with the book and is starting to become a reader while my younger son has not seen it before. Therefore, it is more of a model of language for my two-year old. The game featured in the video is Design and Drill.



That video brings up a good point. Some games, books, and activities we do in the classroom require different words than the ones in the mini book. In those instances, we create an activity specific board.  Here is and activity specific board for a game we play around Easter.

Here is a book example. The book is Baby Foods by Saxon Freymann and Joost Elffers.  It is one of our favorites. By having the PODD available the kids can tell us what animals they see and what fruits and vegetables the animals are made out of. 

Teacher's Organizational Tip: Recently, I started a binder of aided language boards for our children’s book collection. 

I keep each board in a page protector inside the binder. Then, I have the binder available for staff at the literacy center. As my staff and I need a board for a specific book, we can simply pull it out. It is definitely a work in progress because I make the boards as books come up in our lesson plans.  Hopefully by the end of the year, I will have a vast collection of them!☺ 

I also keep the activity specific boards in page protectors and store them with the activities in my thematic tubs. (My thematic tubs are a whole other topic...maybe we will open that can of worms at a later date!)

After seeing how activity specific language boards impacted our students, I realized I should make center specific boards. Instead of laminating them or putting them in page protectors, I place them in 5X7 plastic frames so they can easily set on a table top for frequent use. They are always out and available as I velcro them to the furniture in each center when they are not being used. As a result, the students have access to them for communication at all times. 

If you have Boardmaker, you can download these from Boardmaker Online and modify to meet your needs, if not check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store for a new and improved version that includes extras!

The day after I put the boards up, a student who does not have many words in his vocabulary walked right over to the art center, pointed and said word approximations for “I” “want” “scissors”. Oh, the things that warm a teacher's heart!  It was so exciting!!!  If the language board was not at easy access, he would have never had the words to request what he wanted. The day he learned that his words have power. Ever since, that is the first thing he does when he arrives in the classroom. He hangs up his book bag and immediately runs to a language board to communicate where he wants to play. Leading me to a great point, if you can strategically place items of interest out of reach or in a way that students have to request your help to use them, they are more likely to use the boards and pick up on their purpose. 

For example, one of the first boards our students started using was for our sensory table as it is a highly motivating center and kids can’t open it without our help. They would go to the board and point to “I want open.”

Teacher Tip:  Another great feature about the plastic picture frames is you can use vis-a- vis markers to mark off things that are not available for the day or to emphasis something to a student visually. 

Before I say so long, I want to share one final discovery that we recently started using in our classroom. We have a student in our classroom with limited verbal and nonverbal communication skills. She is very social but tends to use only one noise to interact.  It's a grumbling sound. She has interest in the PODD books that her speech pathologist and I wear, and also the mini language books we use. But we have found she only has access to those words when in close proximity to us. We tried giving the student her own mini book. Unfortunately, she is not functional with it because she does not yet have the skills to navigate it by herself and her fine motor ability inhibits her to turn pages.  

As a result, we cut the top of a tube sock off and hot glued words she most frequently would want to communicate.  

She wears it as a wrist band and absolutely loves using it to communicate. It is not completely functional yet but we are getting a lot less of the grumbling noise and more pointing to words with some speech sounds attached like “bye-bye” and “a du” for all done. This method really speaks to her!! As we continue to model its use, I think we will start to see even more verbal and nonverbal language attempts.  CLICK HERE TO SEE THE UPDATE ON THIS LITTLE GAL'S JOURNEY!

With that, I leave you with one final note that Linda Burkhart shared at her training that really spoke to me. She asked how long do we speak to a typically developing baby before we hear them speak back? Around 12 months, perhaps?  Well, that's 12 months of modeling and speaking to them and not getting anything in return. It may take 12 months or even longer (especially for students with cognitive impairments) for you to see significant growth with a student using aided language boards and PODD books.  

So I encourage you not to give up.  Model! Model! Model! The ability to communicate is a true gift that we take for granted. Being able to give nonverbal students this gift is priceless. It can change a student's whole life.  And that, folks, is what keeps this teacher going!

Native American Headband: A November Art & Math Small Group Project

Like many classrooms, our students make Native American headbands.  Although in my classroom this activity serves as a small group art, social, language and math activity.  

In advance, I cut out red, blue, yellow, orange, green, and purple feathers. I also cut out the brown strips of paper to make the headband. I draw 3 to 8 purple lines on the headband to serve as visual marks for the students to know where to apply glue.  We use purple glue sticks from Elmer's so the children can use the match-to-match philosophy by putting purple glue on top of the purple marker lines. This tells the student how much glue they need to use and how much work they have to do to complete the activity. 

This headband will require five feathers.
Instructor's Insight:  For children with shorter attention spans, add fewer lines!

The students start by writing their name in the middle of the brown strip of paper.  Then, we turn the paper over and begin playing the game.  The children take turns rolling a color die.  (You make one with free printable dice from http://www.toolsforeducators.com/ or you can purchase a colored die at any teacher supply store in the early childhood section.)  

My son adding feathers to his headband.

After rolling, they request that color feather from the teacher leading the small group.  If the student is nonverbal or do not yet know color words, he/she can do this by pointing to the corresponding color on an Aided-Language Board.   They then glue the feather on their headband while the next player rolls the dice to make his/her feather selection. 

An Aided-Language  Board

Aided Language Boards are similar to Picture Exchange Systems without the added velcro and pull off component.  You can read more about Aided Language Stimulation and work by Linda Burkhardt.  

This is one of my favorite Thanksgiving activities because it serves so many purposes--- color naming, turn-taking, gluing, and requesting.  You can even incorporate counting, and concepts like more and less.