Our son benefits from the ideas we hear about from others. Perhaps one of the following may be useful for you.
Sometimes you may wonder if your efforts are having an impact and then you notice a new milestone. We have been using a computer to produce a variety of materials, including stories and letters. We knew Mike was enjoying it. Then he began to tell us during a trip what he wanted to include in a story when we returned. Also, he is requesting we take certain pictures. He is planning the content in advance of writing it!
To encourage this:
We also use a digital camera. The pictures are in .jpg format and can be cropped and resized using a photo editing program. They are immediately available. We don't have to wait for a roll of file to be filled and then have it processed. Some of the uses include:
A single slide (page) in PowerPoint has been used to create a collection of scanned pictures or digital pictures. Sometimes text boxes are used to add a title with a date and captions.
Our son loves to print and keep a copy of stories and letters he sends. Therefore, we place them in non-glare heavyweight sheet protectors. They are 3-hole punched and fit nicely into notebooks. We also place the PowerPoint printouts in sheet protectors.
To help organize the notebooks, we date the stories, letters, schedules and other materials we make. On occasion we have had to reorganize the notebooks and the dates have been a big help.
Business logos and pictures have been a great asset. All of us watch for business cards, placemats, advertisements, brochures and web sites for suitable materials. Speaking with store managers or owners has been productive, too.
Captions are added to the pictures in photo albums so anyone looking at the pictures with our son can discuss them with him.
A local office supply store carries magnets for business cards (3.5" x 2"). We cut each in half with a scissor. We placed a person's picture who our son will be with, an activity such as work and days of the week on them. We used Writing with Symbols to create a basic schedule on a sheet of paper and then posted it on the refrigerator. A portion is displayed below.
| Magnet (day) | Magnet (day) | |
| morning | (person / activity) | (person or activity) |
| afternoon | (person / activity) | (person or activity) |
The cell for "morning" contains the symbol and text for "morning". Items in parathesis are on magnets and changed each day as the schedule changes. Our son is also interested in what will happen later or the next day so that is reflected too. Since the schedule is on the refrigerator, the extra, unused magnets are kept on the refrigerator near the schedule.
Our son lives with support in our community. Many years ago we provided him with a Polaroid camera. We thought he would enjoy taking pictures but he needed to be able to see the pictures immediately. When he meets someone new who he wants to have included in his communication system, he takes their picture. The next time we see him, he gives it to us so it can be scanned and added. Sometimes the pictures have been used to write stories. We have gotten pictures we would not have gotten otherwise.
Frequently when the picture is taken, someone will note on the edge of the picture the person's name, date or other key piece of information.
So our son understands where we are going or what he may see, depending on the event we do a variety of things:
We needed to prepare our son for an out-of-town wedding. He would be seeing a number of relatives he knew. Some he has seen frequently, but not others. Mike needed a way to know who was who. In addition, he needed a way to share what he was doing and we needed to be able to adapt the tool; if necessary, during the trip.
All of the materials were placed in a 3-ring see through binder. As Mike approached a person with the binder they could already see the first page through the cover. They could tell then what he was going to share with them.
The first page displayed pictures of the family members he could expect to see at the wedding. They were grouped according to a family and labeled with their names, i.e. Aunt and Uncle. All members of each family were together. In one case a cousin wouldn't be at the wedding. Her picture was included with her family but a flag of where she was at was placed next to her picture.
A symbol from Mayer-Johnson's Picture Communication Symbol's (PCS) was used for the groom and inserted into the family with the bride. Then the bride and groom were encircled with an oval to designate who was getting married.
Recent calendars using symbols of activities, work calendars, stories written with symbols and pictures, a copy of the grids from Writing with Symbols 2000 were added to the binder. It also included a calendar displaying briefly what we would be doing for each day of the trip.
A map of United States was placed in the binder. The route we would be driving was highlighted on the map.
Mike used a Polaroid camera to take some pictures and we used a 35mm camera. After the wedding we used a one-hour photo processing lab to process the film. We used magnetic photo pages and added the photos to the 3-ring binder.
The binder was flexible tool for Mike to prepare for where he would be going and what he would be doing and to share with others what he is doing. Throughout the trip Mike was actively adding pamphlets and pictures or asking that we add materials to the binder into its extra page protector sleeves or magnetic photo pages.
By the way, during the trip several times Mike asked us to write down what he did. He was working on the story to be written when we returned!
Mike enjoys staying abreast of what is happening in our community and talking about it. He looks through our local daily newspaper's pictures. If he finds something of interest, he will asks someone to read the accompanying text.
Mike likes to watch building projects. He learns about a project when he is out in the community and then will actively watch the progress. He watches the newspaper, but also watches the broadcast of a city council or other local governmental meeting on our local television station and listens to a discussion about a potential project.
Writing
with Symbols is produced by Widgit Software
and distributed in the US by Mayer-Johnson.
Boardmaker is produced by Mayer-Johnson.
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