Light it up Blue for Autism Awareness

These are the shirts I had made at a local shop that matches my bumper sticker. We all plan on wearing our shirts on Monday, April 2nd, 2012.  I encourage you to wear blue for autism awareness as well!

A Serious Note...

A Serious Note....   

There are many strategies for working with students with autism spectrum disorders out there.  There are people who are praying on parents looking for a miracle and getting quite wealthy at the expense of the child and parents.  Before expecting a new technique to cure your child with autism, please read the National Standards Report from the National Autism Center.  Please research the efficacy of any promise to cure your child of autism thoroughly.

Writing Aps

Writing Applications


Students with ASD often have difficulty with fine motor.  These are my favorite applications that help students writing. These applications have are transferable to handwriting if used with a pencil shaped stylus.


1. My Name.  This application is from injini.  They make nice applications that are visually appealing and generally expensive. This application was only $1.99 when I bought it.  My students love the application, because they like the chimes that let them know they are doing the right thing.  One of my students calls it princess music.  I like the application because I can customize my own words or student names by creating the text and adding the spoken name of the word.


I do not like that there are not separate accounts or names for each student I have use the application.  I do not like that the application does not keep data on how the student does other than a check as they do each letter or word.


2. Pocketphonics.  This application is from Apps in My Pocket Ltd. It comes in a lite/ free version and $2.99 full version. This application is my favorite handwriting application, not my students'.  This application lets me create different players and it keeps track of how my students perform during their session.  It also has a password locked parent zone and settings.  I have the option of Zaner Bloser, D'Nealian or cursive in lowercase or uppercase.  You may also adjust the difficulty from easy to hard.  I also like that the app prompts the student to make the sound as they write the letter and gives positive as well as negative feedback.


3. Dora's ABC's. This application is made by nickelodeon and chewy software.  This application is like walking into an episode of the popular television show.  Multiple students can log in separately and there is a grade card to show how the student is performing.  The levels are uppercase, lowercase and both upper and lowercase.  After the student traces over a series of acorns with an airplane, the student is given a game of tilting the iPad to make the acorns from like letters to make a secret image that starts with the letter. This activity uses gross motor skills that may be more difficult than the fine motor of writing as acorns that bounce speed up faster and faster.

What is Sensory Processing Disorder?

What is Sensory Processing Disorder?

I love this little short.  It's a down and dirty that explains why some student just don't learn the way 'normals' do.  It also explains a lot of the students with ASD that I have met.

So, next time your ask a child, "Why can't you sit still?" Think of this video.

Fav Weather Ap

 

My favorite weather ap for the iPad

iDress Well worth the $1.99, this application is a visual way of displaying the weather for your student with ASD. The settings allow you to change the units of measure for temperature, location, and temperature levels for what you consider hot, warm, cool, cold and really cold. the first page is an image of the weather including sun or moon, clouds or none, and trees.  There may be animated rain, snow or wind as well. When you slide the page over you get a closet of clothing options that match the weather for hot, warm, cool, cold, rainy, and really cold. You may change the closet if you chose. 

I like this application because not only does it illustrate the weather, but gives the clothing options appropriate for the weather.  In the ASD Resource Room, we have students with lots of sensory issues.  These sensory issues mean they do not like certain types of clothing.  Some do not like having to wear long pants or socks with their shoes.  Others want to wear a sweater no matter how hot it is.   The closet option really helps with talking about appropriate dress. 

Misses 

Dress Chris for the Weather This application has a very low tech look and should be called, "Dress Chris for the Season."  While at first the it seems adorable, the functionality is very limited.  The app shows a boy in a unitard that can be dressed in either summer, spring, fall or winter clothing.  This does not help students dress for the weather. When I tried to use this in the classroom, my students with ASD were quite bored and lost interest quickly.  The ap always starts with winter and then transitions through the seasons in order.

My Sunny Day This application reminds me of a Nickelodeon cartoon.  However, students quickly recognize the pattern and repetition without learning anything new. The student has the choice between boy or girl and 'helps' them through their day. The children have milk, eggs and bread which seems harmless, but if you are a child with gastrointestinal issues or on the DAN diet, this is not indicative of what you eat each morning. The app is not customizable to change what the children have for breakfast.