Individuals with regulation concerns and/or communication needs engage more when activities are predictable and when preferred choices are embedded within an activity. Using visuals, even in water activities, provides that predictability, increases understanding of expectations, and allows the provision of choice and increased independence for individuals who may be nonverbal or who may require support with communication.
My daughter loves the water and I love any opportunity to provide her with fun activities that promote her physical health. In the past, I have tried to use visuals with her in the water when introducing new water activities, or when I wanted to encourage more engagement during these activities. However, in the past my visuals, even laminated visuals, did not last long. I even tried laminated visuals attached with velcro to a flutter board. However, these laminated visuals eventually came apart after becoming wet.
When I saw the sublimation Photo Panels by Joto Canada, I could not resist test driving the product and I was very pleased with the results! The pool visual has been used repeatedly this summer to encourage aqua size activities with my daughter in our swim spa. It is always wet and has also been left in the sun for days and has not faded. Engagement is awesome, my joy when watching her …priceless.
A picture speaks a thousand words …
8″ by 8″ sublimation photo panel from JOTO Canada Aquatic Exercise Dumbbells from Amazon.ca
If you would like to order your own poolside visuals, we will be opening a resource section of our website soon.
Have you ever been out in the community and wished you had a visual support handy to help an individual you are supporting? Have you ever been in a classroom or out in the community and you couldn’t find the visual supports you needed? These situations happen often and it can be frustrating for you and the individual you are supporting. If you have been in a situation where you wished you had a visual handy, please read on.
A recent nature walk with my daughter sparked my creativity in using visual supports. If you know my daughter, you would know that she does not like the heat and her ability to regulate seems to decrease with the increase in temperature! With our exceptionally hot weather this summer, I not only needed to have visuals on hand to remind her to use some of her strategies, I also needed her to drink more water (which she is not so great at). A couple of weeks ago, I was out on a walk with my daughter and we had our water bottles with us but no visuals or technology (i.e., iPad). It was very hot and I wished I had access to a couple of visuals to support and engage my daughter when people on our walk would stop to chat with us. I also wanted her to drink lots of water. Then, I looked at the water bottles in our hands; I started thinking how handy it would be to have some visual supports on our water bottles! Then I looked around, and in seeing other individuals with water bottles, I realized just how accessible they are – water bottles were in backpacks, sports bags, purses, bicycles, strollers, just everywhere!
The walk inspired me to think about creating a water bottle with some of the essential visuals that I wanted to have on hand for my daughter, such as regulation tips, supports for making choices, and answers to simple questions.
So, I got to work and made a tumbler with the essentials! Although visuals and regulations supports are familiar to my daughter, having them on a tumbler was new, as were some of the visuals. So, I needed to review the visuals with her in a fun and engaging way. Since my daughter loves to play BINGO, I made a BINGO game for her to review some of the visuals on her tumbler, and have a little bit of fun finding a visual when asked a certain question or described a certain scenario. Although there may only be 16 visuals on her BINGO card, each visual embeds a variety of skills. We also decided to review each skill in a variety of social stories.
We designed a digital chapter book for her to enjoy (using Keynote) where each chapter reviews a social skill or regulation strategy found on her tumbler. We embedded videos, photographs, sounds, and animation to spark her interest and keep it fun! We ended up with seven chapters in total, with each chapter reviewing a certain skill (i.e., whispering, asking for help, using first then, drinking water, and a variety of regulation strategies). We go over the digital book and BINGO game on a regular basis so that when she needs a strategy, we can refresh her memory of the relevant strategies/skills by pointing to a visual on her tumbler.
Being Awesome, Digital Interactive Book
Does my daughter like her tumbler? Oh yes! Does she like her BINGO game? Of course she does. Does she enjoy listening to her new chapter book on Keynote? She sure does, and she enjoys listening to her favourite chapters one at a time, or going through the whole book at once. Is she is 100% regulated this summer? Of course not, that is unrealistic and everyone has their good and not so good days. However, these tools are very very helpful!
Increasing independence is a key goal of most support plans and there are many strategies that have been researched and successfully put into practice. Historically many of these strategies have had a behavioural approach (i.e., forward chains, backward chains, shaping, prompt hierarchies, fading techniques, system of least and most prompts, etc.). I have used some of these successfully in the past but occasionally and more recently, I find that these strategies can often take the joy out of an activity. The repetition and time required to successfully see these strategies through to fruition is not for the faint of heart. And, unless you are very careful, the strategies referred to above can end up creating prompt dependency. That is, the individual you are supporting ends up waiting for the prompt to either get started or continue onto the next step.
Wouldn’t it be great to just find ways of adapting activities enabling more independence? I am constantly searching for ways to increase independence without losing the engagement of my daughter (or myself). I am also interested is ensuring that the end result continues to be increased independence or the production of a product that is valued by all —- that is, it must look good!
So, I have been collecting a variety of strategies, products, templates, that have increased independence, engagement and Joy. and will gradually share each with you.
Adapting a Shower Routine
For many reasons (hygiene, self of well-being, safety, etc.) increased independence in the shower is a blessing. I have tried to adapt this activity and have finally come up with a couple of ideas that have increased independence. In the past I have used visuals as reminders to complete certain steps within a routine. Visuals provide the structure and routine many individuals with disabilities need to engage, participate, and hopefully become independent. However, in a bathroom even laminated visuals wear away (and they don’t look the greatest when they are attached to the mirror or shower).
I replaced my traditional visuals with vinyl visuals on certain products with great success! For hand washing, I have used Simply Human soap dispensers with vinyl clipart from Cricut as an adaptation. This dispenser works great for those with fine motor challenges as it has a built in sensor for automatic dispensing eliminating the need to pump, I give it three out of three stars.
Simply Human Soap Dispenser
My daughter struggles significantly with fine motor delays, and using one hand to pump can be challenging; this Simply Human soap dispenser was a great solution. So, I thought I could use these dispensers in the shower as well for shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Initially this worked great, but the heat and condensation from the shower often clouded over the sensor making it difficult and frustrating to use. Also, the thicker conditioners were challenging to refill as well as dispense. They looked lovely but if they fell and landed on your foot ….. ouch! I only give the shower dispensers one star out of three.
So, I started looking at products used for seniors or individuals with arthritis. I came across a Better Living Product in an online catalogue that was recommended for individuals with arthritis. It was reviewed as ‘easy to pump’ and could work with thicker liquids. Unfortunately the product would not ship to Canada, but I did find it on Amazon (Aviva Three Chamber dispenser) …. and yes, we have success!!! I put my vinyl stickers on the dispenser, placed it on the shower wall, and yes she can manage to pump! Beautiful adaptation, three out of three stars.
As for the shower head, my daughter does not like hot showers and for safety reasons, we have had the water thermostat set to a safe ‘hot’ setting. However, that setting it still too hot for her but setting the temperature any lower would be too cold for the rest of us. So, I brought out the vinyl stickers again and placed them on the shower handle. Every day she is getting a little more independent with adjusting temperature and turning off and on the shower head. Another success.
One of the places that I love to visit is a picnic area in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park located in Kananaskis Country, Alberta. The area has kilometres of accessible trails and facilities in some of the most beautiful landscapes in Canada. The accessibility of the area is the result of the vision of Alberta’s late Premier Peter Lougheed and his wife Jeanne, who came up with the idea of removing barriers (including financial barriers) so that individuals with disabilities and their families could access the beauty of the Rocky Mountains. When I was a student at the University of Alberta, I was fortunate to visit this area as a support person for individuals with disabilities. When my daughter was born years later with a developmental disability, I introduced my family to the area. I have been visiting this area with my family for over 25 years now. If you are unable to visit the area, a cheap seat view of this place can be found in movies filmed in the area such as Brokeback Mountain (2012), Heartland (2007-), RV (2006), and Superman (1978). For those of you who know the area, the picnic site I am referring to is the furthest picnic site (number nine) overlooking Bill Benson Trail at William Watson Lodge, it is a place that has brought me much joy.
Visitors enter the picnic area through an accessible path which passes through a pine tree forest. The creator of this path was imaginative and ensured that the path wound through and around the trees making interesting leading lines for the photographers among us. The leading lines created by the path guides you to heaven on Earth because God’s paintbrush is very evident in this space. The picnic area overhangs a pine tree forest and beyond the forest Kananaskis Lower Lake draws your eye towards Mount Indefatigable. On a clear day, the view almost looks two-dimensional, as if someone painted it, or it is a backdrop for a movie. My husband tells me that this two-dimensional phenomenon is due to the clarity of the air which brings everything into focus as if there was no depth of field. I have tried over and over again to capture the beauty of this place in images and words but I have yet to do it justice.
When I visit this place, I almost always have my daughter with me. In our early years, the teacher in me would constantly label things, ask questions, and essentially turn the walk into a teaching moment. I was not Miss Trunchbull from the movie Matilda, and I wouldn’t drill her, but I definitely did not pass up on an educational teaching moment. Despite my efforts, I often received few responses from my daughter and the more than occasional protests. My bug catchers, magnifying glasses, binoculars, bird whistles and visual supports did not live up to the hype that was in my mind (which was a definite photo op for the Parenting Special Needs Magazine). And, if I were to be honest, my daughter was often not a willing participant. Usually, by the time we arrived at the picnic area she would be asking to go back to the cabin. I have become wiser over the years and have learned to stop always expanding her language and to stop the constant incidental teaching. Of course these strategies have their place and my daughter has undoubtedly benefitted from them, but I have learned to let her take what she is able to out of this place and in her own way. There is a balance now and I feel that because I have backed off from the probing and have given her space, I can see her blossoming and finding her own joy in the picnic area that has brought me so much joy. If you were to ask me which was more influential on her development, the incidental teaching or the passive support of letting her just be or explore in her own way? I would say that the incidental teaching has taught her to achieve many educational milestones such as reading sight words, counting and sorting. However, the passive participation on my part, of just letting her be in this space in her own way has brought her joy. And, isn’t finding joy what we all want for our children?
Two weeks later and our daughter is somewhat independent with playing games with her support worker!!
During COVID 19, our support worker for our daughter is unable to work in our home and like many of you we were concerned about her engagement and missing her routine. We had to get creative in keeping her engaged and finding things for her to do. I work for a school division and schools were going online, so I thought maybe we should set up a routine for our daughter to also be online. Now not all activities are great for online interactions, so we started by digging out of her favorite games and sent photos of the games to her support worker. Her support worker sets one of the games as her backgroud in ZOOM and plays a game (or two) with our daughter daily. They also work out daily too. We use an extra camera (my phone) to display the actual game board and over the last two weeks our daughter now looks forward to these games and is becoming fairly independent. Activities include BINGO, Opposites, and Prepositions from Super Duper Speech, step-by-step crafts (found on Youtube), and reading activities from News-2-You. Please share other ideas for keeping your unique adult engaged during COVID 19.
I liked the idea of Hand Talker as a activity to develop vocabulary for students. Super Duper sells several books with hand talkers (also known as ‘fortune tellers’ or ‘cootie catcher’). I decided to try making one myself and made a template with Creative Memories that I could add my own vocabulary and even sentences too. The students love them. I now have the template in Creative Memories and just change up the visuals and words based on themes or subject areas.
I love the idea of adding qrcodes to a students’ flashcards, step-by-step instructions, stories or posters. A qrcode is an easy way to link a student to a video on Youtube or any Internet location which can provide additional background informtion. So many students have smart phones …. imagine a video illustrating a step by step instructions for a student learning a new concept, or simply adding background information! Technology is wonderful!! As a scanner there are so many to choose from. I like the app called Best Bar Code scanner by SimpleAct Inc. because it has a simple user interface which is – you guessed it – easy for students with special needs to use!
Try the flashcards below (made Boardmaker Software) and scan the qrcode. As a student, I think using a qr reader would be not only educational but fun! I like the site http://www.qrstuff.com/ to develop a qr code because you can color code your image. I am very new to qrcodes so sorry if this all seems so simplistic!
My first video …. I love crafts and for many reasons over the years it has been difficult to find a craft that my daughter could be successful at. Well we finally tweaked a craft that both of us can do together and enjoy!. Laura enjoys giving cards to families and friends and if you have a circuit, you can make sand cards that look fantastic! You just need to keep your design simple and kiss cut your design on label paper and glue onto a blank card. All Laura needs to do is peel and sprinkle and voila, beautiful cards! Take a look at the video and see what you think!
Well here goes my first post at Visionary Adaptations. I have had this name/idea for years and finally decided it was time to share some of my ideas. My background …. I work in special education and have had many roles throughout my career (teacher, consultant, coordinator). I am the proud parent of two daughters and the proud wife of one amazing environmental biologist. My daughter Laura has Down Syndrome and mild Cerebral Palsy. Laura and I enjoy technology as a learning tool and of course having fun too!
Visionary Adaptations 