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Doctor's Visits - Tell Me Where it Hurts

7/10/2013

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Taking your loved one to the doctor can be especially difficult when he/she is unable to let the doctor know how they are feeling. 

Scene Speak can be an excellent tool to use in order to afford your loved one the ability to express what is happening within their body, and to let the doctor know "where it hurts." 

There are a couple of ways that you can accomplish this. The first would be to use one of the preloaded templates within the app itself to create hotspots that label individual body parts. You can also add a picture of your own as its own VSD, and label your loved one's actual body parts to make it even more personalized for them (this works especially well when you're working with someone who may have a hard time generalizing). 

Scene Speak is one of many ways that Good Karma Apps has available to help you give your loved one back their voice. =)

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Use one or many VSDs in order to create a visual for body parts identification/pain reporting.
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Scene Speak comes preloaded with templates for a boy, girl, man, and woman.
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Other templates can easily be found by using the Internet Search feature when choosing an image.
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A full picture of the individual can be used as well, with multiple hotspots added to identify body parts when touched.
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When the app is set to Playing Mode, hotspots will activate as sound, popup text, or both when the hotspot is touched.
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Teaching Appropriate Dress For Weather

7/7/2013

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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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Road Trips Made Easy Using Scene Speak

7/6/2013

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Taking a long road trip this summer?

Involve your client/student/loved one in any long trip you're taking by taking an image of the area you'll be traveling (for instance, a trip from Northern to Southern California would require a map of California) and using Scene Speak to create hotspots within the image that tell the user where they are on the map. You may want to include rest areas, gas stations, hotels, and any other place that you plan to stop. This helps engage the user in the trip they're on, learn about different places along the way, and will provide them with a point of reference so they can see how far away from home they get each day. Soothing anxieties related to the Unknown during long vacations and trips is essential for a fun, happy, and successful trip!
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Use Internet Search feature to import a picture of your chosen map into Scene Speak as a VSD.
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Add hotspots, places of interest, etc. along your route for a more engaging experience.
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Promoting Family Member Recognition

7/5/2013

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Will you be traveling to visit family this summer?

For many individuals, it is difficult to remember those family members who may not live within the immediate area. When planning a trip to see extended/unfamiliar family, you can use Scene Speak to create a VSD and place hotspots on a map image (one that includes your ending destination). At the end, you can prompt "grandma's house" or whatever relative you may be visiting, to help the individual learn the concept of being far from home, and to provide a visual basis for the reference. This can help individuals who may be "homebodies" or become homesick easily to alleviate some of the resulting anxiety. 

To help with "family member recall," you can also use Scene Speak to create a book of family members, with pictures and audio labels, so that the people you are visiting seem more familiar and less like strangers. This may help your loved one to open up more easily to family members who are likely excited to see them! The VSDs can be individualized (maybe include a personal and relatable detail in text acoss the page, like "Uncle Frank likes to play video games"). The book can have a simple title, like "My Family," and can be engaging on multiple levels. As the individual learns more about their family, they may be motivated to interact more with them, which is good for our loved ones as well as the many people who want to love them!

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Adding family member details and mentioning a previous visit can help with family member recognition/recall.
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Create a book to keep all of your "Family Stories" in for easy access/reference.
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Celebrating Independence Day With Our Apps

7/4/2013

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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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Creating Flashcards Using Scene Speak

7/3/2013

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Letters, Numbers, Reading, and Math (oh my!):

If you want to teach an academic concept involving visual recognition and memory to your loved one, try using Scene Speak to make "flashcards" of the information you'd like to teach. This works well in therapeutic settings as well as at school and home. You can use the internet search feature (or your own image library) to create VSDs of individual letters, numbers, colors, emotions...there are endless possibilities. Each can then be placed into a book of their very own, for easy access and organization. You can further enhance the experience and promote independent usage by adding text or hotspots to the VSDs. 
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Use the Internet search feature to locate free flashcard images online.
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Gather all desired images in Scene Speak's VSD Library.
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Use individual VSDs to create a book of flashcards.
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Easily view and use your new flashcards in a handy, portable format.
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Spotlight:  Create Your Own Storybook Using Scene Speak

7/2/2013

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Given the versatility of Scene Speak, there are multiple ways to use its functions to promote expressive and receptive language skills. Scene Speak can also be used as an effective tool to encourage literacy, by keeping the individual's favorite books contained in a portable form. For those of you that have a sensory-seeking child who may rip pages out of conventional books, this can be a wonderful way to create a custom version of a favorite book in a digital format. This blog will serve as a "how to" guide to create an interactive storybook using the popular children's book, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" as an example.

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If your default bookcase (located within the "Settings" menu) is set to "VSD," then you're ready to begin. If not, simply tap the "VSD Library" icon at the bottom of your screen to begin adding the images you will need for your storybook. Don't worry if your pages are out of order... you can arrange them later when you add them to your book.

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Now that you're in your VSD Library, you want to make sure that you are in "Edit Mode" so that you can begin adding in your images. To do this, tap the "Edit Mode" icon in the upper right corner of your screen. The icon in the upper right corner will now read "Playing Mode," and two icons will appear below each image in your VSD Library (an "edit" and "delete" icon). To begin adding the images that will eventually become your book, you can use either of two "Add" methods. In the upper left corner, there is an "Add" button, and at the end of your image library, there is a blank page with a "+" symbol that reads "Touch to Add." 

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Before you can choose your image, you must first give your image a title. In the field provided at the top of the screen ("Input Name Here"), I have chosen to create the page that will serve as the book cover, simply titled "Brown Bear Cover." 
The next step is locating a suitable image. By tapping the "Choose Image" icon at the top of the screen, a drop down menu will appear, prompting you to choose your image source. When creating custom storybooks using existing templates, you can either use your device's camera to take a picture of the book page itself, or use the Internet Search feature. For this example, I will use "Google Search."

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The name used to title your image will automatically import into the Google Search field, which should show a variety of options to choose for your image. If the results do not match your desired image, you can use another description in the search field to refine the search. I prefer images that have a higher pixel size (larger dimensions) for easier editing and image clarity. Tap the desired image to bring it into viewing mode. 

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To select, tap the "Full-Size image" link to the right of the image. This brings the image into Full Size view with a "Use Image" icon underneath. If there is no icon, it is copyright protected. In this case, tap the double arrow at the top of the screen to go back and choose another image.

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Once you have the image imported into Scene Speak, you can resize the image to fit the screen by pinching and pulling the image itself. This is especially helpful if you want to maintain the integrity of the original book.

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Now that the image is properly imported and resized to your satisfaction, make sure to tap the "back" icon in the upper left hand corner. This will save the image automatically to your VSD Library. Now, you have your book cover!

Using the same process as I did for the "Brown Bear Cover," search and import in each page of the storybook from the Internet, until you have the complete set of images that you want for the story. When you have all of the pages to make your book, your VSD library will look like this:

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Now that all of the pages are imported in, you can create your book! From the VSD Library, tap the "My Books" icon at the bottom of the screen. This will bring up all available books in your library. Adding a book involves the same process as adding a VSD - just tap the "Add" icon, which will show the icon for a new book. You cannot add a new book until you choose a title. I chose the traditional title for this book.


Now, select the VSDs that will comprise your book, and you're ready to read!

Creating a "touch to play" feature:

Hotspots can make your storybook come alive. For each VSD that comprises your book, create hotspots with audio recordings of your voice reading the words in the story. That way, when the individual touches the words, the text will be read aloud to them. For anyone who has ever been forced to read "Goodnight Moon" ten times per night, this can be a truly life-changing feature!
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Adding audio hotspots creates an interactive read-along storybook experience.
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Each page will present like a storybook, which will "read" the words as they are tapped.
Good luck with your own storybook! If you have a creative idea for an interactive storybook using Scene Speak, feel free to leave it in the comments section for other visitors. Sharing is caring!
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