Tag Archives: conversational skills

Pick of the Week: “The Asperkid’s Secret Book of Social Rules” – A teen’s guide to not-so-obvious social codes

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It’s not easy for any teen or tween to fit in, but it can be especially tough for Asperkids. Jennifer O’Toole knows this first-hand, and has written a book she only wishes she had when she was a teen with Asperger Syndrome.

This week only, save 15%* on The Asperkid’s (Secret) Book of Social Rules by entering promo code ASPERKID at check out!

In The Asperkid’s (Secret) Book of Social Rules, O’Toole doesn’t offer advice on what Asperkids should not do, but on what they should do with witty and wise insights into baffling social codes. With helpful tips, practice scenarios, checklists, and quizzes, Asperkids will learn how to:

  • Thank people, apologize, and offer compliments
  • Build and maintain genuine friendships and how to deal with bullying
  • Actively listen and have a meaningful conversation
  • Step back and see the “big picture” instead of focusing on the details
  • Make a correction and let go of the need to be right

With over 30 social rules and logical explanations, this illustrated handbook offers information that tweens and teens can truly digest. And having been there herself, the author shares her experience and points out the potential pitfalls with humor and sensitivity.

Don’t forget to save 15%* on The Asperkid’s (Secret) Book of Social Rules this week by using our promo code ASPERKID at checkout!

*Offer is valid until 11:59pm EDT on September 16th, 2014. Not compatible with any other offers. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in your code at check out!

Tip of the Week: Teaching Language—Focus on the Stage, Not the Age

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Teaching language skills is one of the most frequent needs for children with autism, but also one of the most misunderstood skillsets amongst both parents and practitioners. The desire to hear your learner speak in full sentences can be overwhelming, making it especially difficult to take a step back and consider what it means to communicate and how communication skills develop in neurotypical children. Many times we get hung up on what a child should be capable of communicating at a certain age, rather than focusing on what they are capable of communicating at this stage of development.

Many practitioners and curricula utilize Brown’s Stages of Language Development.* Brown described the first five stages of language development in terms of the child’s “mean length of utterance” (or MLU) as well as the structure of their utterances.


From aacinstitute.org

Sometimes it is necessary to compare a child to his or her same-age peers in order to receive services or measure progress, but it can be detrimental to focus on what a child should be doing at a specific age instead of supporting them and reinforcing them for progress within their current stage.

Research has suggested that teaching beyond the child’s current stage results in errors, lack of comprehension, and difficulty with retention. Here are some common errors you may have witnessed:

  • The child learns the phrase “I want _____ please.” This phrase is fine for “I want juice, please” or “I want Brobee, please,” but it loses meaning when overgeneralized to “I want jump, please” or “I want play, please.” It’s better to allow your learner to acquire hundreds of 1-2 word mands (or requests) before expecting them to speak in simple noun+verb mands.
  • The child learns to imitate only when the word “say” is used. Then the child makes statements such as “say how are you today,” as a greeting or “say I’m sorry,” when they bump into someone accidentally. Here, the child clearly has some understanding of when the phrases should be used without understanding the meanings of the individual words within each phrase.
  • The child learns easily overgeneralized words such as “more.” This is useful at times, but the child can start using it for everything. Instead of saying “cookie” he’ll say “more.” Instead of saying “train,” he’ll say “more.” And he may say “more” when the desired item is not present, leaving the caregiver frustrated as he/she tries to guess what the child is requesting. Moreover, as language begins to develop, he may misuse it by saying things such as “more up, please.”
  • The child learns to say “Hello, how are you today?” upon seeing a person entering a room. A child comes into the classroom and the learner looks up, says “Hello, how are you today?” The child responds, “Great! Look at the cool sticker I got!” Your learner then doesn’t respond at all, or may say “fine,” as he has practiced conversations of greeting.

These are only a few of the common language errors you may see. While you may want your learner to speak in longer sentences, your goal should be to have them communicate effectively. With this goal in mind, it becomes essential to support them at their current stage, which means it’s essential to assess them and understand how to help them make progress.

This is why I always use the VB-MAPP to assess each child and make decisions about language instruction. I need to have a full understanding of how the learner is using language, and then move them through each stage in a clear progression. I may want the child to say “Hello, how are you today?” But when I teach them that, do they understand those individual words? Do they comprehend what today means as opposed to yesterday or tomorrow? Do they generalize the use of “how” to other questions?

As you make treatment decisions for your learner, think about their current stage and talk about how to support your child with both a Speech Language Pathologist and an ABA therapist.

*Brown, R. (1973). A first language: The early stages. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

WRITTEN BY SAM BLANCO, MSEd, BCBA

Sam is an ABA provider for students ages 3-12 in NYC. Working in education for ten years with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental delays, Sam has developed strategies for achieving a multitude of academic, behavior, and social goals.

Pick of the Week: “Expanding and Combining Sentences” Interactive Workbook

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For students who are already able to talk or write in simple, choppy sentences, this interactive workbook will open gateways to success in language and literacy! Save 15%* on your purchase of Expanding and Combining Sentences by speech and language pathologist Marilyn M. Toomey this week only, by applying or mentioning our promo code EXPAND8 at check out!

Color picture pages, along with specific instructions, provide a means of evoking interesting and descriptive sentences from students.

Students will learn how to expand their sentences by using the color cues provided in the book, as pictures become progressively colorful and a new detail is added to the sequence. In no time at all, young learners will be able to tell an entire story by using complex and detailed sentences!

97 pages in total with 40 colored pages.  Preview the book.

This interactive workbook will be the perfect resource to teach the challenging task of making sentences more interesting with descriptive words.  Don’t forget – this week only, take 15% off* your order of Expanding and Combining Sentences by applying code EXPAND8 at checkout!

Marilyn M. Toomey is also the author of several other popular speech and language workbooks, such as Talking in Setences, Verbal Reasoning Activities, The Language of Perspective Taking, and much more.

*Offer is valid until 11:59pm EDT on 6/10/2014. Not compatible with other offers. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in your code at checkout!

Introducing Little Mixers: A Weekly Social Skills Playgroup in Brooklyn

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Little Mixers BklnStacy Asay, one of our wonderful and beloved consultants, is launching the Little Mixers series, a social skills group based in Brooklyn! Headed by Stacy and Sharon Alkalay, this weekly Little Mixers series will be a special mix of fun, food, and friendship for young children between the ages of 3 and 7. Sessions will be held at Beansprouts at 14th Street and 6th Avenue in Park Slope.

Each meeting will consist of a guided lesson, group discussion, interactive games and a cooking activity, all thematically focused around a particular social skill. Each week a new social skill will be introduced with the session, culminating in an expanded repertoire of social skills and perhaps a new friend!

Parents will be provided a hand-out with suggestions and strategies to practice throughout the week in order to facilitate carry-over of a target skill.

Little Mixers will be holding 2 sessions for Spring/Summer 2014:
Mondays: 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. (ages 5-7)
Thursdays: 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. (ages 3-5)

For more detailed information, please visit the Little Mixers website at www.littlemixersbrooklyn.com, or email Stacy Asay at littlemixersbrooklyn@gmail.com.

About the Group leaders

Sharon Alkalay, MS, CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist with over 8 years of experience working with infants, toddlers and children. As a classically-trained musician, she enjoys incorporating multi-modal/multi-sensory techniques into her therapy sessions through use of music, art, movement, sensory integration and dramatic play. She believes that successful engagement with a child should be accomplished gracefully with creativity, humor and compassion. Her special interests include working with children with social-language difficulties, apraxia of speech, autism spectrum disorders and language/learning disorders.

Stacy L. Asay, LMSW, is a licensed social worker, providing home and school based services to children and their families in the New York City area. With nearly 16 years of experience, her work with special needs children integrates a strengths-based, holistic approach to child and family augmented with the tools of Applied Behavior Analysis, a methodology that allows for reliable measurement, objective evaluation of behaviors, and the systematic teaching of language and learning skills.  This results in an individualized curriculum that equips children with the tools they need for learning and living while honoring their unique spirit.

Pick of the Week: Snap Shots Critical Thinking Photo Cards

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Promote higher-level thinking with these cards that combine critical thinking and visual literacy to teach students to look at the “big picture” as they investigate complex ideas and reach reason-based conclusions. Save 15% on your order of the Snap Shots Critical Thinking Photo Cards this week only by entering in our promotional code SNAPSH6 at checkout!

Sample

We have two beautiful sets of photo flashcards available for students in PreK and Grades 1 and up. The photos on these cards are all brain-teasing, eye-sharpening scenes that press students to look a little deeper as they develop complex ideas such as cause and effect, predicting, and making inferences. Each photo flashcard depicts a scene on the front and contains four accompanying questions on the back of each card. Over 150 prompts in each set encourage personal responses from students and help boost speaking, listening, and writing skills.

The PreK set contains photo cards that depict scenes of young children in various playtime, home, and classroom activities, such as cooking, reading, gardening, blowing out birthday candles, playing piano, and much more.

The photo cards in the Grade 1 set depict scenes of nature, as well as children and adults in various situations and settings, such as hitting a baseball, packing and moving, cooking, grocery shopping, and much more.

Remember – this week only, you can take 15%* off your purchase of one or more of the PreK and Grade 1 levels of the Snap Shots Critical Thinking Photo Cards by using code SNAPSH6 when you check out online.

*Valid through March 25, 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: Early Learning Language Library

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Help your young learner build vocabulary, expressive and receptive language skills with the Early Learning Language Library. This week only, we are offering a 15% discount on this set of 160 photographic learning cards to help you stimulate conversation and social awareness in your student or child. Just enter in the promo code BLOGELL7 at check out.

Suitable for children in preschool and kindergarten, these cards include photographs of everyday objects and people with guided questions and encouraging prompts on the back of each card to help teach effective communication skills and improve critical thinking.

Each card measures 8 ½” x 5 ½” and the set even comes with a resource guide with word lists and activity ideas in English and Spanish!

Save 15% on your purchase of the Early Learning Language Library by entering in the promotional code BLOGELL7* at checkout!

*This offer expires on October 15, 2013 at 11:59 pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces in the promo code at check out!

Pick of the Week: Funny Faces

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This week’s Pick of the Week features the interactive game Funny Faces, which promotes children’s recognition and awareness of emotions and expressions. Teaching student son the autism spectrum to recognize facial expressions is a key step in ultimately reducing their stress and anxiety by teaching them how to express their needs and wants and how to best interpret the actions of the people around them.

DRG 383 Funny Faces

This week only, SAVE 15% on your order of the Funny Faces game by entering in the promotional code BLOGFNNY5 at checkout!

Funny Faces requires players to take turns mimicking a face from a game card, while the other players try to guess the expression and match it to one on the board.

 

Kids will have fun while being asked to recreate and identify the game’s silly faces. The game includes 60 face cards, 30 face tiles, and a mirror so players may practice their funny faces!

DRG 383 Funny Faces_Opened

Take 15% off your order of Funny Faces by entering in the promo code BLOGFNNY5 at checkout!*

*Offer expires on July 15th, 2013 at 11:59 pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces after the Promo Code when you enter it at checkout!

Pick of the Week: ConversaCards

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Many strategies to help individuals on the autism spectrum organize and prioritize their daily activities propose using visual supports, color coding, lists, and other teaching materials such as timers and sequence cards. Understanding the concept of time and honing critical thinking and expressive language skills early in development is especially vital to  creating plans and making conversation independently later on in life.

ConversaCards_Blog&Emailer

Our Pick of this Week this week features the ConversaCards, which were developed to encourage organization, critical thinking, and conversation skills in children. The ConversaCards include six different packs: What Comes Next?, What Do You Do With It?, What Do You Like?, What Do You Need?, What Happened?, and Where Does It Go?

This week only, save 15% on your order with any one of these packs of ConversaCards by using promo code BLOGCNV3 at checkout!

What Comes Next? invites young learners to speculate about sequences of events. Full-color photographs on the cards show children performing sequential activities in identifiable scenarios in series of 2 and 3 cards. Designed to develop effective conversation, listening and social skills, these cards are easy to use and are developmentally appropriate for all levels.

WhDoYouDoWithIt

What Do You Do With it? invites children to speculate about the uses for the everyday objects shown. The photographic objects contain relatable images such as a toothbrush, piano, towel, alarm clock, keys, and ice cream scoop. This set ultimately improves conversation and critical thinking skills, in addition to social skills and sorting in learners.

What Do You Like? invites young learners to identify and share their preferences as well as their reasoning. Designed to promote effective communication and social skills, these cards depict photographs of common objects and scenarios that will encourage analysis and self-awareness.

WhDoYouNeed

What Do You Need? cards were developed to encourage sequencing and critical thinking and invites children to speculate about the possible next steps necessary in order to continue with an activity. Created to promote listening, conversation, and social skills, these cards also inspire creative story-telling.

What Happened? cards were developed to build language skills while inspiring story-telling. These cards are fun and easy to use, so children will enjoy working with them independently or in lessons.

Where Does It Go? cards will encourage children to categorize and place identifiable items, furthering critical thinking while building conversation skills in creative story-telling and sharing experiences.

The back of each card in the ConversaCards™ series contains questions and prompts that can be used for independent work, in one-on-one sessions, or in group lessons. Learning to respond to “what” and “where” questions is the foundation of conversation and expressive language. These flashcards can be used to teach sequencing, storytelling, and logical thinking for a wide range of ability levels. Each deck contains 54 3″ x 5″ cards, a resource guide containing helpful prompts, questioning strategies, and suggested lesson ideas.

POTW_BLOGCNV3_Worm

This week only, save 15% on your order of any one of our six ConversaCards by entering in the promo code BLOGCNV3 at checkout!*

*Offer expires on May 28, 2013 at 11:59 pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces after the Promo Code when you enter it at checkout. 

Pick of the Week: “I See I Learn” Books

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Early childhood is a period of vital learning through sensory experiences. Visual learning and comprehension are expressed long before children learn to read and utter a wide range of vocabulary. The I See I Learn series by visual learning specialist Stuart J. Murphy applies this natural capacity of young children with engaging and stimulating stories that are reinforced with visual strategies that help young learners prepare for school and other situations.

I See I Learn BooksThe I See I Learn series introduces a neighborhood of gentle, caring individuals, who respect and nurture each other. The stories are infused with experiences in which our fictional friends Freda, Percy, Emma, Carlos, Camille, and Ajay learn basic life lessons by effecting positive results.

 

This week only, SAVE 15% on the I See I Learn books, by entering in the promo code BLOGISIL3 at checkout.

The books are divided into the comprehensive domains of Social and Emotional Skills. Each title addresses a particular issue relevant to the experiences of young learners. In Percy Gets Upset, readers learn how to deal with frustration. Good Job, Ajay! helps children build confidence. Emma’s Friendwich explores the fun and challenges of making friends. In Camille’s Team, the gang must work together to share in the fun and learn cooperation. Percy Listens Up gently helps children understand that not listening often leads to missing out on great fun. And Freda Stops a Bully explores how it feels to be teased and bullied and what strategies kids can use to stop it.

Informative illustrations paired with diagrams that illustrate various issues encountered in children’s daily lives help make these lessons easier for young learners to remember.

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Additional activities and questions in the back of the books also help educators and caregivers further explore each issue discussed in the stories with their children.

Experts in the field of educational development for young children agree that learning tools need to have the ability to apply children’s own viewpoints in solving the conflicts that they may face on a daily basis. Stuart J. Murphy does this exactly with a positive-child approach in his series. Each layout – each word – reflects Murphy’s ability to see scenarios and dilemmas “as a child” and to present them in natural, kid-friendly language with solutions that make sense from their perspectives. The dynamic illustrations in each story are engaging and help generate excitement in young learners when you decide to introduce a new title.
 
 

BLOGISIL3 Promo Code

This week only, SAVE 15% on any one of our selections from the I See I Learn series by Stuart J. Murphy, by entering in the promo code BLOGISIL3 at checkout.*

 

 

 

*Offer expires on May 14, 2013 at 11:59 pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces after the Promo Code when you enter it at checkout.

Wait, What Are We Talking About?

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I typically work with very young learners in Early Intervention but there was a time I was working with older children, which necessitated work on conversation skills and topic maintenance. With the start of a new academic year and changes to my caseload I am currently finding myself with students who again need some assistance in this area.  Children with autism spectrum disorders often struggle in conversations because of limited or restricted interests, attending issues, difficulty determining what is relevant or salient to the topic and might also struggle with the rapid transitions necessary to shift between speaker and listener.  This change in my caseload has meant that I’ve found myself digging into old files and unearthing some ancient DIY efforts of mine that I had used in the past.  What I came across that I wanted to share was a visual support that I had used in small groups to facilitate a variety of skills.  It’s something I called Chit Chat and it helped to cue the students in shifting from speaker to listener while maintaining a balance in the conversation with turn taking and reciprocity as well as staying on topic.

The idea was that we would all sit down for a “chat” and initially I would go first in order to model how the board was used rather than providing explicit instruction until the group could use the board on their own and I could fade myself out of the conversation.  The first speaker would choose a token corresponding to a topic of interest, make a statement relevant to the topic chosen and then pass the token to a friend.  The token would provide a prompt for the speaker to maintain the chosen topic as well as cue the rest of the group to visually reference the child whose turn it is to be speaker.  Depending on the level of the group I would individualize the number of conversational exchanges on one topic required before bridging to a new topic. The group I was working with at the time was able to talk about more general topics but this could be individualized to more specific topics depending on the group of students you are working with.

I’m excited embarking upon a new academic year with all it’s unique challenges and successes and am happy to dust off Chit Chat and give it another whirl this year with all new students.  I would be curious to hear from other educators and therapists what tools they’ve created that they find themselves going back to year after year.  You might be surprised what you find at the bottom of your file cabinet!

Also, check out this great link I stumbled across from POPARD Provincial Outreach Program for Autism and Related Disorders in British Columbia, Canada.

https://www.autismoutreach.ca/elearning/social-skills/conversation-and-topic-maintenance