Category Archives: Daily Living Skills

Pick of the Week: Should I or Shouldn’t I?

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New from the Social Thinking team, Should I or Shouldn’t I? encourages players to think about their own behavior choices and compare how their perceptions match—or don’t—those of others. The game is built on the idea of perspective-taking and explores social behaviors from different viewpoints to help develop understanding of how these affect relationships with others. The object of the game is to have players think about their own thoughts and behaviors and those of others in various situations. This week, we’re featuring both the Middle/High School and Elementary School editions as our Pick of the Week with a 15% discount to your order. Just enter in promo code SHOULDI3 to redeem your savings at checkout.

The brand-new Elementary School edition fosters important discussions about social situations that elementary-aged students ages 8-11 may encounter at home, at school, and out in the community. Between the ages of 8-11, the social demands placed on kids begin to change. Teachers expect kids to be more socially aware of others and be more independent in monitoring their own social behaviors. Kids of this age are also expected to successfully navigate unstructured social experiences such as recess and lunch. For many, this is difficult. As kids move through grades 3-5, play also changes from being imaginative to being competitive. Kids “hang out” more, which often translates into increasingly sophisticated conversations where group members must figure out other people’s motives and intentions. Overall, social nuance becomes much more complex.

This game gives kids a chance to explore this shifting social landscape and learn how their own views compare/contrast with the way their peers view things. The Prompt and Challenge cards address a wide range of age-matched situations that arise at school, during down time together, or in the community. However, it is always wise for parents or therapists to read through the cards and remove those that may be inappropriate for any of the players or that are mismatched to their level of social functioning or social understanding.

 

The Middle/High School edition is designed to give preteens and teens a fun and motivating way to improve their social sense, practice taking the perspectives of others, and discuss relevant teen issues in a nonjudgmental setting. Questions posed on the Prompt and Challenge cards address a wide variety of teenage-related situations, such as interacting at home, at school, at a friend’s home, the mall, the grocery store, at a party or the library, at the movies or on a date.  For some alternative ways to play, check out Sam Blanco‘s set of Modified Instructions for the Middle/High School edition of this game.
Each edition can be played 1-on-1 with a therapist or in a group of up to 6 players. Each set includes: 100 Prompt cards to practice perspective taking; 50 Challenge cards that help generalize learning; 6 sets of Voting Cards; 6 copies of the 5-Point Behavior Rating Scale; and a Teaching Guide that provides in depth instruction for preparing students to play and meeting the unique needs of each individual learner.Should I or Shouldn’t I? will be perfect if you are looking for structured activities to teach complex social skills to elementary school-aged and teens with autism or other developmental delays. Don’t forget—this week only, you can save 15% on your order of the Should I or Shouldn’t I? Elementary School Edition or Middle/High School Edition by entering in SHOULDI3 at checkout.

Pick of the Week: Inchimals

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We couldn’t be more excited to introduce these versatile, beautiful animal blocks into our product line. We’ve been playing and talking about the Inchimals and all of the ways you can use them to teach myriad skills to learners of so many ages. Beautifully crafted and thoughtfully designed, Inchimals contains 12 wooden animal blocks measuring anywhere from 1″—the tiny ladybug—to 12″—the towering giraffe. This award-winning game is a fun and effective way to teach measurement, number concept, addition, subtraction and pre-algebra to children of many ages. And this week only, you can save 15% on the new Inchimals by entering promo code INCH25 at checkout.

With exact inch segments, written numerals, representative dots, and cute animals, Inchimals is a multi-purpose toy that encourages creativity, interaction, logic and mathematics mastery. And even better, it comes with a write on/wipe off puzzle book that features 100 puzzles to use in conjunction with the blocks!

With Inchimals, you can:

  • Practice counting
  • Sequence Inchimal blocks from the shortest to the longest
  • Introduce vocabulary – shorter, taller, longer, height, length, distance, perimeter
  • Explore individual segments, numbers & dots on each Inchimal block
  • Learn addition and subtraction concepts
  • Master pre-algebra understandings and balance equations
  • Stand Inchimals blocks side by side or stack neatly to promote fine motor control
  • Invite creative thinking, language & dialogue, and dramatic play

Let us know your favorite use of the Inchimals and don’t forget – this week only, you can save 15% by entering INCH25 at checkout!

Modified Instructions for “All Around Town”

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We’re excited to bring you the second installment in our new series of Modified Instructions, created by Sam Blanco, BCBA.  Sam’s Modified Instructions present 3-4 additional ways to play a mainstream game to make it most useful and accessible for our students with special needs.  These alternative instructions break down each adapted game by:

  • Age/Skill Level
  • Number of Players
  • Object
  • Skills Required
  • Materials Needed
  • Prep
  • Instructions
  • Considerations

We’re thrilled to introduce Modified Instructions for the All Around Town game, an all-time favorite around here. The game helps reinforce logic, sorting, and social skills in your student.

All Around Town is a multi-player game that engages students as they explore stores in the neighborhood and develop sorting, thinking, and organizational skills.  The shops in this town are just like the ones you have visited in your neighborhood!  As you move around the game board, you’ll visit the grocery store, furniture store, book store, clothing store, pet store and art supply store.  Race around town and collect a card from every store and match them to your game mat.  In addition to developing logic skills, players will also sharpen their social skills and awareness of community locations.  Don’t forget to download our free Modified Instructions for All Around Town today!

Pick of the Week: “Introducing Inference”

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Our ability to infer or to draw conclusions given partial information is a cornerstone of our reasoning process. It is important for students to be able to infer or draw conclusions in their daily lives as well as in academic settings comfortably and confidently. Guessing, implying, hinting, suggesting, supposing and reasoning are just a few of the mental processes in which we draw inference. For language students, using inference as they problem-solve will also enable them to explain how they come to their conclusions. This week only, we are offering a 15% discount on one of our favorites, “Introducing Inference” by Marilyn Toomey, to help you make inference more friendly to your student. Just enter in our promotional code INFER11 at checkout to redeem your savings.

The aim is to teach students that using inference in their reasoning process is using their best judgment. In the first part of the book, students identify missing parts of people, objects, or animals.  For example, an image of bike with a missing wheel is accompanied by “A bicycle is supposed to have two ______, but this bicycle has only one. One ______ is missing.”

Sample

In later activities, students move on to looking for missing information in sequenced events that are presented in pictures. They are asked to explain what part of the sequence or process is missing. Finally, students will learn to predict and analyze outcomes as they read or listen to simple scenarios.

Click here for a preview of the inside of the book!

Remember, this week only, save 15%* on your order of “Introducing Inference” by entering in promo code INFER11 at checkout!

*Offer is valid through Feb. 11, 2014 at 11:59pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in the code at checkout!

Pick of the Week: On Track! Responsibility and Behavior System

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On Track! Responsibility and Behavior System

Start off the New Year on the right foot with this great tool to keep your family organized: the On Track! Responsibility & Behavior System. Establish clear expectations and logical consequences so that you can reduce the day-to-day arguments and chaos. The On Track! Responsibility and Behavior System incorporates household chores, daily to-do lists, money management, and behavioral issues into life lessons that teach organizational skills, accountability, and self-reliance. Targeted towards children ages 8 and up, the On Track! Responsibility and Behavior System is ideal for middle school-aged kids. Using the system will help instill independence in your child by establishing clear expectations and logical consequences. And this week only, you can save 15% by entering promo code BLOGTRB8 at checkout!

Worksheets, to-do lists, dry-and-erase markers, behavior contract, and more!The On Track! Responsibility and Behavior System includes:

  • Dry-and-erase Markers
  • Behavioral Contract
  • Dry-and-erase To-Do and Chore Lists (2 each)
  • Family Rules Sheet
  • 16-page Instructional Guide & worksheets to help families work together
  • The deluxe pocketed caddy – so it can be displayed on the wall, door, or any area

Remember, this week only, take 15% off your purchase of the On Track! Responsibility and Behavior System by entering in BLOGTRB8 at checkout.

*Offer valid through 01/14/14 at 11:59pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in the code at checkout!

Pick of the Week: Sorting Suitcase

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We’re delighted to share one of our favorite products with you as our Pick of the Week – the Sorting Suitcase!  This wonderful activity kit allows learners to practice matching and patterning skills, as they learn to sort shirts, shoes, shorts, and socks by one or two attributes.

Order the Sorting Suitcase this week and save 15% off the usual price of $19.95.  Just enter the Promo Code BLOGSORT3 at checkout to redeem your savings.

The suitcase comes with 40 double-sided clothing cards and 10 double-sided activity cards that ask children to “find all the blue items” or “find all the shirts with stars.” Even better, the cards are all write-on/wipe-off and can be used over and over again with dry erase markers. Finally, 5 blank write-on and wipe-off cards in the kit allow you to customize the activity to your student’s needs. This kit is perfect for easy clean-up and portability for those on the go.

Don’t forget, this week only, take 15% off* your order of the Sorting Suitcase by entering in our code BLOGSORT3 at check out.

*Offer valid through 12/24/13 at 11:59pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in the code at checkout!

Tip of the Week: Scanning – Best Teaching Practices

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Scanning is one of the first skills we teach learners with autism. This skill, (looking at each item presented and using that information to make decisions,) is essential for almost every other skill we teach children in early childhood. Historically, we have taught scanning skills through matching and listener responding activities by lining up 3 pictures or objects, then having the learner choose the correct match out of the three items or point to the item we have named. However, this is not representative of the way scanning skills are used in the natural environment.

Toddler boy reaching for carrots in grocery storeConsider how you use scanning in your own life: searching a row of books on a shelf to find a particular title, trying to find your favorite tomato soup in a supermarket aisle filled with soups, or looking through a box of Legos for one blue square Lego to complete a structure. None of the ways we scan in the natural environment present materials in a field of 3 neatly lined-up items.

There are steps you should take in order to help prepare your learner for scanning in the natural environment. When working on matching items or identifying items, you should quickly reduce prompts (as discussed in this previous post) and increase the difficulty of scanning. There are two ways to do this: (1) increase the number of items in the field and (2) make the array of items messy.

If we take a look at matching, here is a sample of the steps for a matching program you might use to help teach the skill:

  1. Match an object to 1 of 3 objects placed on the table
  2. Match an object to 1 of 5 objects placed on the table
  3. Match an object to 1 of 5 objects placed in a messy array on the table
  4. Match an object to 1 of 8 objects placed in a messy array on the table
  5. Match an object to 1 of 10 objects placed in a messy array on the table
  6. Match an object to 1 of 5 objects with similar but non-matching items in the messy array (example: you’re trying to match a red car, in the array there will be a red car as well as a blue car and a red truck.)
  7. Match an object to 1 of 8 objects with similar but non-matching items in the messy array

As the learner masters each step, he/she is getting closer to what that skill looks like in the natural environment. Lastly, here are a few examples of how children use scanning in the natural environment. These can be used to practice the skill in ways that are motivating to your individual learner:

  • searching for all the pieces to a costume for dress up play
  • finding a specific piece to complete a puzzle or block structure
  • looking for his/her favorite candy or snack at the supermarket
  • finding a specified item in a picture (for example, if I have a learner that loves Elmo, I’ll find many pictues with Elmo shown and have the learner point him out)
  • retrieving shoes from a shelf or closet
  • picking out a nail polish color
  • choosing their favorite tv show from a DVR or computer menu
  • playing “I Spy”
  • finding the right tool from a messy utensil drawer for a cooking activity
  • retreiving his/her favorite train from a bucket of trains

Pick of the Week: In, On, and Under

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Teaching prepositions can be greatly enhanced if children are given ways to manipulate objects. The use of images and hands-on activities can help students better grasp what prepositions are and how they are used. To help your child get started with learning prepositions, this week only, we are offering a 15% markdown on the In, On, and Under kit. Enter our promo code BLOGPREP8 at checkout to redeem these savings.

In, On, and Under is a charming kit that teaches the prepositions “in”, “on”, “under”, “next to”, “in front of”, and “behind”. The game asks children to match a card with a penguin or chick in a hat or wooden tub to a game board.  The game includes 4 boards, 24 cards, 4 chicks, 4 penguins, a wooden tub, a felt hat, a metal carriage, as well as teaching notes. These appealing objects can also be used with and without the game boards to help your student expand spatial awareness and develop vocabulary and language skills.

This week only, save 15% on your order of In, On, and Under, by entering in promo code BLOGPREP8* at checkout.

*Offer is valid until Nov. 26, 2013 at 11:59pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces in the promo code at checkout!

Pick of the Week: Social Thinking Books

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Social thinking is what we do when we interact with people–how we think about people affects how we behave, which in turn affects how others respond to us, which in turn affects our own feelings. More than 15 years ago, Michelle Garcia Winner coined the term Social Thinking® and developed the related treatment approach for individuals with high-functioning autism, Asperger’s and similar challenges as she treated her students. The term social thinking now encompasses many treatment programs broadly described as “teaching social thinking and related skills.” These strategies share common traits and differ from “social skills” teachings by building specific thinking strategies that occur prior to social communication and interaction.

To help you get started on the Social Thinking® curriculum with your child, this week only, we’re offering a 15% discount on our Social Thinking books: Think Social! A Social Thinking Curriculum for School-Age Students, Thinking About YOU Thinking About ME (2nd Edition), Social Thinking Worksheets for Tweens and Teens: Learning to Read In-Between the Social Lines, and Worksheets! for Teaching Social Thinking and Related Skills. Use promo code BLOGSOCL4* on your online order at checkout.

Think Social! A Social Thinking Curriculum for School-Age Students addresses methods for teaching social-cognitive and -communicative skills to students with deficits in those areas using the Social Thinking Model. This is a core Social Thinking curriculum book and complements Thinking About YOU Thinking About ME.

The 69 included lessons teach students the basics of working and thinking in a group. Each chapter addresses how to use and interpret language (verbal and nonverbal) to understand the contexts where real communication happens. The lessons contained can be used from kindergarten through adulthood, and parents and professionals are encouraged to modify the activities to make them age-appropriate. The beginning lessons introduce the Social Thinking Vocabulary to students and caregivers, so that it can be used throughout the day. Each chapter concludes with IEP goal suggestions to reinforce the concepts. Each chapter also provides a list of educational standards to tie it to the academics of the classroom. An included CD-ROM (Mac/PC compatible) contains all the handouts that accompany the lessons in the book.

Thinking About YOU Thinking About ME presents concrete lessons and strategies for enhancing perspective-taking in students across all ages, as well as information on how to apply them in different settings. It is designed for use by both parents and professionals with students from kindergarten through grade 12. Packed with assessments, teaching methods, and worksheets, this manual covers Michelle Garcia Winner’s perspective-taking model, the four steps of communication (which creates a framework for understanding the complexities of social thinking), sample IEP goals and benchmarks along with complete lessons that can be used in a school or therapeutic setting, Social Behavior Mapping (which presents visual ways to teach students the impact of behavior on themselves and others), the Social Thinking Dynamic Assessment Protocol (which explores why many assessments fall short and provides 25 pages of templates to use as an informal assessment strategy), as well as concrete strategies and templates to help students build their own dynamic social thinking abilities.

Social Thinking Worksheets for Tweens and Teens focuses on (pre)adolescent social concepts that explore how social rules and expectations change with age and require more mature social thinking and social skills. This book covers lessons on friendship, being bossy, participating in groups, and more. There are 160 worksheets across 9 lesson sections along with a PC/MAC compatible CD that contains all the worksheets for downloading. The material in this book may also be used by older students who are less mature or who learn this type of information more slowly.

Worksheets! For Teaching Social Thinking and Related Skills encourages students with Asperger’s Syndrome, autism spectrum disorders (higher functioning), ADHD, NVLD and undiagnosed others to process more deeply what social thinking means to them. This book provides parents and educators with ways to explore breaking down abstract social thinking concepts into concrete ways for students to work on them individually or in group settings. Lessons are organized into categories that include friendship, perspective taking, self-monitoring, being part of a group, problem solving and more. Some worksheets are appropriate for grades K-4, but they work best with grades 5-12.

Remember, this week only, save 15% on your order of any of our Social Thinking® books by entering in the promo code BLOGSOCL4* at checkout!

*Offer is valid until Nov. 19, 2013 at 11:59pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces in the promo code at checkout!

Pick of the Week: Reading Focus Card Combo Pack

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Readers who have difficulty focusing and comprehending text will benefit from this effective tool designed to improve attention and focus. This week only, we are offering a 15% discount off our Reading Focus Card Combo Pack. Enter in the promo code BLOGRFC3 at checkout to redeem your savings on your online order.

Reading Focus Cards enable a reader to see 1-2 lines of isolated text and block out the surrounding text and images, encouraging attentiveness and reducing distractions. The optional included colored filters can also help decrease visual stress sometimes caused by white page backgrounds. Cards are available in a random variety of colors and in two sizes to accommodate virtually every book or periodical. Reading Focus Cards are appropriate for readers on all levels and can be used either independently or by facilitators in language building lessons.

The main advantages of using the Reading Focus Card are:

  • Promotes better concentration and comprehension
  • Is portable and easy to store in a pocket or a purse
  • Can be used as a bookmark for easiest access
  • Can also be placed on a binder ring for safe keeping
  • Assists with reading charts, graphs, and stock quotes

This week only, take 15% off your purchase of the Reading Focus Card Combo Pack by entering in the promo code BLOGRFC3* at check out!

*Offer is valid until Nov. 12, 2013 at 11:59pm EST. Not compatible with any other offers. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in the promo code at checkout!