Below is a link to free cause and effect apps you could utilize at home as well as a video on how to use Guided Access.

Cause and Effect Apps to Help Individuals with Severe Cognitive and Communicative Challenges

Our word of the week is MORE. Give your child many opportunities throughout the day to request MORE while playing or eating. Children tend to be motivated to communicate their wants during fun, playful activities that they find rewarding. Your child may communicate his or her wants through a combination of facial expressions, eye gaze, body movements, gestures, sounds, or words. When your child does or says something that you interpret as a request for MORE, you can comment “MORE” or “I want MORE” and pair it with a MORE picture symbol to reinforce your child’s intentional communication. Please see the following examples…

• TOYS: If your child enjoy’s stacking blocks, only give her a few blocks at a time. If, for example, she uses eye gaze to communicate, when she looks back and forth from the blocks to you, give her a few MORE blocks, say “MORE” and point to the MORE symbol on the communication board.
• ACTIVITIES: If your child enjoy’s throwing a ball and watching you retrieve it, pause before giving the ball back to him. If, for example, he uses vocalizations to communicate and says “ma”, give the ball back to him, say “MORE”, “MORE ball” or “I want MORE ball” and point to the MORE symbol on the communication board.
• FOOD: During snacks or meals only give your child a small amount of food or drink at a time. If, for example, she uses gestures to communicate and points to a bag of crackers when she finishes her bite, give her a few more crackers, say “MORE” and point to the MORE symbol on the communication board.

Keep practicing with your core board and doing your daily activities for the word “want.” Check out the great songs and videos below that will help you practice! Have a wonderful weekend.

I WANT a Fun Friday!

I WANT to listen to music!

• I WANT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAtLMyf5Rdo
• I WANT to Build a Snowman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-zXT5bIBM0
• I WANT Candy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZA_BC5SW-8
• I WANT to Hold Your Hand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLI8tvSripE

I WANT to Read!

• Do You WANT to Be My Friend? by Eric Carle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke4fi2qwLlw
• I Don’t WANT to be a Frog!by Dev Petty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41dgVHRDZsc
• When I Grow Up (I WANT to be…) by Andrew Daddo and Jonathan Bentley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCR_QCqT_WY

Children learn about the world through active exploration of things around them. Active Learning, an approach by Dr. Lilli Nielsen, provides learning opportunities for individuals with multiple disabilities through exploration of objects in their environment. Active Learning Spaces are environmental structures that facilitate this learning by making objects accessible. The spaces include common household objects, play objects, sensory items, etc. that the child can explore through touch and other senses. 

You can make Active Learning Spaces using common household items or play items from your home. Click on the link below for some examples:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IP2VWoIKZyvHcoAXPMkVC4-xSQeJm1EgZ0HP0DMQjas/edit?usp=sharing

With your child, read the short story titled “Bus.”  If your child is able to, assist them with pointing to each word while you read.  If they are not able to point with assistance,  hold the paper so they are able to track the words you are reading and pointing to with their eyes.

After you read the paragraph, point to the picture of the bus to reinforce that the story is about a bus.

Complete the comprehension questions by reading the question out loud, then pointing to all of the pictures and answer choices. Go back to each answer choice individually and use the core vocabulary board for your child to respond with “yes” or “no” by pointing or with eye gaze. If their response is incorrect, model using the correct core vocabulary word for each answer and reference where you found that answer in the paragraph above. Also, continue working on your daily core vocabulary activities for our word of the week “want.” Listen to the story below and each time you heard the word “want” point to your core board!

Hi friends! We are going to continue working on activities to help us tell time! In your work packets, you have materials for creating a daily schedule! Using the different times of day and activity cards in your packets, work with your family to cut out and paste what your day will look like together to create a visual schedule.

Once you have completed your schedule, grab your core vocabulary board and use the words “today,” “tomorrow,” “yesterday,” “first,” and “later” while reviewing your schedule out loud together.

For example – “TODAY” is Tuesday and the “FIRST” thing we will do together is morning routine.

OR

“LATER” today we will have free time and a music break! Once you’ve completed your activity listen to the video about telling time below and don’t forget to practice your daily activities for our core word of the week “WANT.” Have a great day friends!

Happy Friday friends! This week flew by. I hope you’ve been working hard at home!

Today is another great day to have a FUN FRIDAY of dancing and reading! Grab a partner and a core board and see if you can point to or look at STOP each time you hear the word in these songs and books! Don’t STOP until you’ve listened to all of them!

Don’t STOP the Dance Party!

• Can’t STOP this Feeling from Trolls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhfkYzUwYFk
• The Body Boogie by The Learning Station https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZeM18fPbvI
• STOP and Go by Greg & Steve https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=641JCdL5Qbs
• STOP from Speech and Language Songs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FOgYlYfsrI&t=26s
• STOP by Patty Shukla https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJnfhYCC-Bo
• Walking Walking Hop Hop Hop by the Kiboomers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6cJB7k6eEk
• Red Light, Green Light from Super Simple Songs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoyEDrMDirA