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Money Smarts: Using Scene Speak to Teach Monetary Values

8/30/2013

1 Comment

 
Scene Speak is one of our most versatile, multi-purpose apps. In addition to creating social stories, digital scrapbooks, etc., it can also be used to teach everyday concepts, like money recognition and management. 


If the individual has not mastered basic monetary concepts, you can always begin by creating VSDs to define and identify different types of currency.
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Show front and back of each denomination to help the individual be able to recognize it in everyday situations.
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Highlight the name of the coin or bill by capitalizing it. This will help it stand out and will help with word recognition.
You can also combine different types of currency to help the individual learn how to count change, payments, etc.
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Showing the money up close, but in tangible situations will help the individual relate to the act of exchanging currency.
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Whenever possible, try to find clear and large images to highlight the size difference in appearance among coins and bills.
Once each denomination is mastered, you can show the value in practical settings.
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Start by introducing highly motivating and familiar activities that the individual will easily relate to.
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Showing money being used in real time can help the individual generalize it across environments.
Now, to work on spending wisely!
1 Comment

Creating Memories With Scene Speak

8/12/2013

2 Comments

 
Summer is almost at an end! For those of you not in year round school or day programs, it's likely been a VERY long couple of months - full of the usual day-to-day activities, and maybe some fun day trips and vacations thrown into the mix. 

For a fun and interactive way to create a digital "scrapbook," take all of those pictures you've been snapping all summer long and upload them into our SceneSpeak app. From there, you can add text for a more book-like retelling of your summertime adventures, or take it to an interactive level by adding hotspots to your images that come alive when your loved one or client taps them. 

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Adding details about the trip to the images can bring them to life in the individual's memory.
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Hotspots can be added (with colored popup text, audio, or both) that can create an interactive and fun experience when recalling trips.
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Don't forget large family events! Include visiting friends and family to show the individual how many people care about them.
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Once you've created all of your summertime VSDs, you can then add them to a Book, creating your very own personalized digital scrapbook.

This way, the individual can look back upon all of the amazing things they did this summer and recall all of the fun they had. Who knows? It may even become one of their favorite leisure time activities.
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Is This Person OK, Or Should I Stay Away? - Teaching "Stranger Danger" Using Scene Speak

8/8/2013

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Do you have a love one/client that fails to recognize the difference between "stranger" and "friend?" 

Everything from inappropriate touching (i.e., hugging strangers, talking to people in public they do not know, etc.) can lead to misunderstandings - and sometimes worse.

To help with this, you can create flashcards/books using our Scene Speak app that address and reiterate who is safe to approach and who should be kept at a safe distance. Mix in familiar people (doctors, teachers, aides, therapists, family members, and friends) with randomized pictures of people the individual has never met before, and pair them with questions (or use language of your choice to describe "stranger danger") in order to establish familiarity with those who are all right to approach while separating them from people who are unknown. 

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Use pictures of familiar people paired with "stranger danger" language of your choice.
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Use diverse and random images of unfamiliar people to teach the individual how to distinguish between "safe" and "stranger."
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Using an image of the individual's household members is a great way to provide a concrete example of who is "safe" to touch.
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Use images of places/people that the individual may gravitate toward during public outings. This will help them learn more quickly how to interact with strangers in public.
This can also be used for young children, who can benefit from learning the difference between "familiar person" and "stranger."
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Creative Tips for Long Road Trips

7/22/2013

15 Comments

 
Taking a trip this summer? Whether it's a few hours or a few days, we've got apps to help maintain structure and make transitions on vacation much easier. 

For example, use Scene Speak to take pictures of car logos, then use the VSDs to create a book of cars to look for on a long road trip...or First Then Visual Schedule HD to create a travel itinerary, complete with stopovers. Our apps are so versatile, the potential uses are only limited by your imagination!

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Create books of VSDs with different things you can easily spot on the road for a fun road trip game.
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Find motivating and interesting images to import into your book that will keep the individual occupied while traveling.
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Create a travel itinerary for the individual to follow along with as the trip progresses.
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Knowing what comes next on the trip can alleviate a lot of stress from the unknown while traveling.
15 Comments

Surviving Vacation Transitions

7/20/2013

3 Comments

 
Summer Trip Survivial Tip:

If you're taking a big trip to a theme park or other large area requiring many transitions this summer, try using our apps to alleviate some of the stress involved in changing activities. 

Scene Speak can be used to give your loved one complete visual access to the entire facility/area, and hotspots can be created to allow them to have input over where you go next and what comes next. Simply label the desired area with a hotspot, make several "places" available, and allow the user to touch the space they wish to visit next. This will foster an excitement and involvement in the chosen activity, and give them the power of choice during an activity.

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Easily upload a map into the app, add hotspots, even link to another VSD of individual places within the theme park.

You can also simplify it for an individual who may already be familiar with the vacation spot by using My Choice Board to offer them a choice between activities, rides, etc. To avoid indecision, it may be helpful to offer one preferred and non-preferred place. That way, the individual still feels they are having a "say" in the day's activities, and pictures can be taken and used quickly.

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Create an individual choice board with rides, restaurants, etc.
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Give the individual as many or as few choices as they are able to use.

For lunchtime, toileting, and any other shorter activity, First Then Visual Schedule can be used to create a step by step guide for your loved one to know exactly what is coming next within a specific activity. For users who are good at generalizing, you can also use the app to plan out each activity beforehand, and offer choices (or even a video of a rollercoaster or other applicable activity) to further enhance the experience/choice making. 

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FTVS HD can be used to compliment the other two apps by providing an outline for the day's events & activities.
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Try to create a schedule that is clear, contains all possible events in the day (including toileting and meals), and has an ending/departure time.
3 Comments

Potty Training/Prompting Using FTVS HD

7/17/2013

1 Comment

 
Potty Training/Prompting Tip:

Make toilet training/toilet reminders fun by using our First Then Visual Schedule app as a reinforcement tool. Take a picture of a toilet or other symbol and another of a highly preferred object (food, fidget, activity, etc.) Use the split screen mode to display them, and turn the labels on in the Settings menu (remember, these label names can be customized in FTVS HD). This will show the user that they must first use the toilet before they can have/do the preferred photo, working toward future toileting independence! Since it's fully portable, you can take it with you on public outings and long trips, making generalization to public toileting facilities much easier.
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Create a two-step schedule for your toileting reinforcement First/Then chart.
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In User Mode, view the chart in Split Screen View.
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Add a choice board to the reward/reinforcement step with a variety of preferred/highly motivating choices.
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When the choice is made, the chosen reinforcer will flip around and become the second step in the schedule.
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You can change the "First" and "Then" labels to reflect your preferred wording/language. You can access this feature in the Settings Menu.
1 Comment

Shopping Trips Made Easier Using FTVS HD

7/14/2013

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Shopping Trips Made Easier:

First Then Visual Schedule HD can be used to create a shopping list, complete with pictures and audio prompts. If there are multiple brands of an item that you use, it is easy to add a choice board to reflect those options as well.

At the store, you can give your loved one/client the device, and allow them to take part in locating the items on their "digital shopping list," checking them off in one of the five available viewing modes before moving onto the next item. This promotes independence when shopping for essential items.

If you have a younger individual, this can also come in handy to keep them engaged when shopping with an adult while also involving them in a routine practice that encourages the development of self help skills and helps them learn how to navigate a routine outing.

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Create a "schedule" that will serve as your shopping list.
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Try using the checklist view for a more traditional look/feel to your shopping list.
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Choice boards can be added to the list in order to promote independent decision making. This further enhances the shopping experience by encouraging input during the outing.
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Tuning In to Dining Out

7/12/2013

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Restaurant Outings:

Use the "Choice Board" feature of our First Then Visual Schedule HD app to create a menu of preferred items within a schedule for your restauraunt outing. You can use either preloaded generic graphics, your own camera pics of menu items, or you can find images using the internet search feature of the app. 
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Create a choice board for the restaurant you wish to visit, with all preferred menu items.
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Allow your loved one/client to choose between preferred menu items using My Choice Board.


Our Scene Speak app is also a handy tool for using an image of the entire restaurant menu and adding in hotspots that will "talk" when touched. You can add voice or text to the hotspot so that the user can "order" from the virtual menu by simply tapping within the hotspot on the menu image.
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Create a VSD with the restaurant menu image. Add multiple menus into a book for easy reference when dining out.
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Use hotspots to encourage expressive language while ordering.
This enagages the user in actively participating in the outing in a meaningful way by giving them a choice in what they wish to eat while promoting expressive language.

Happy dining!
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Teaching Appropriate Dress For Weather

7/7/2013

1 Comment

 
Teaching Appropriate Dress For Weather:

There are many reasons an individual may not be able to dress themselves appropriately for the weather. Sensory aversion to certain fabrics, lack of body awareness, etc. can all contribute to an individual's inability to properly dress according to the weather outside. Here are a few suggestions that may help - while also teaching the individual how to dress comfortably for hot, cold, and/or inclement weather.

Scene Speak can be used to create social stories about different types of weather. Hotspots can be added with text or speech that further enhance the story. Read along text can also be added to each VSD in order to make the story even more dynamic.

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Create a book of clothing descriptors, or build your own social story.
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Add details about the types of clothing available during certain weather, and the function of accessories.

Our My Choice Board app can be used to quickly get images and display them efficiently for the app user to choose their own initial outfit. 
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Create a choice board with a variety of different clothing types, or multiple choices within the same category, depending on the ability of the individual.
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Make sure all choices within the choice board are available and appropriate.

For those individuals who already use First Then Visual Schedule (HD) for dressing schedules, adding in a choice board - for example, "Put on shirt" could flip to a field of several choices, long and short sleeved...or "Put on pants" could flip to a choice board containing both shorts and long pants - can afford the individual the opportunity to learn how to gauge what should be worn according to the weather outside. Further prompting can be used to promote the environmental awareness necessary to gauge for themselves what articles of clothing should be worn in different types of weather.
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If the individual cannot offer input on their entire outfit, try targeting one specific clothing item.
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Include up to eight different choices within the category per choice board. You can choose to include options for the clothing item itself, or weather-based choices.



We strive to provide apps that are as multi-dimensional as our hopes and dreams for our loved ones. =)

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Celebrating Independence Day With Our Apps

7/4/2013

0 Comments

 
Fourth of July celebrations can be chaotic and noisy, especially if you have a loved one with sensory issues. To alleviate stress this holiday, try using Scene Speak to create a social story about viewing fireworks and/or entertaining guests. It can be as simple or as complex as you'd like, but social stories help individuals get through unfamiliar or potentially aversive activities, and can ease some of the stressors that accompany such a festive day.

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Add popup text to VSDs in order to create a portable social story.
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Give the individual some coping strategies if the sensory input becomes too much to tolerate.

You can also use First Then Visual Schedule to create a "timeline of events" - including visitors as well as celebratory events (try pairing the fireworks step with a short video of fireworks to help prepare/desensitize your loved one) and offering some preferred choices at the end of the schedule. It can be easier to "get through" an unfamiliar event if there is an anticipation of an ending. 
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Create a schedule for the night that explains the order of events in an easily accessible format.
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Include any extended family/friends who will be attending, and give the individual something to anticipate when the event is done.

Using headphones and soft music on the device during the fireworks portion of the evening can also help decrease some of the stimuli involved with Independence Day celebrations. Holidays are infinitely more fun if everyone can be involved to their level of comfort!

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