Every child deserves the opportunity to be heard!

I love children! This is my passion! I am sure the same is true for you, which is why you do what you do! We are blessed! I spent another day in my space trying to get everything put together. I can now say I have almost everything unwrapped. I believe the only thing(s) I have left to free is/are the interactive computer games. What a relief! I am sure I spent at least two full days unwrapping plastic from the outside of board games and punching out pieces/trying to fold along the perforation provided for question cards. My fingers hurt! 


As I was putting the final touches on one of my file cabinets, I had an idea. I will be working with some precious little ones who are "nonverbal". This is a controversial term in my mind because I believe everyone is verbal. Some just may not use their voices to get the point across! Anyway, because the term "nonverbal" is so widely known, I will use it for ease. More can be said on my thoughts on that later! Back to the point! I, rather my school district, purchased something that looks like this at my request.

This contraption consist of music blocks. If you are interested in this product, and don't have one, you can find it at Amazon. 


I had placed this on a shelf in my cabinet and realized that I wanted to make something that could be used with those "nonverbal" kiddos. This is my thought...I took a picture of all six sides of the five blocks you can see. Each side represents a different shape. For those students who need that extra push in understanding their speech has meaning, provide a picture option for them to select. Once the selection is made for the red block, move on to the subsequent blocks. After all blocks have been chosen, the red button on the device can be pushed and a song is played. As you can see, there are magnetic pieces around the shapes. Each side of the blocks plays a different song, so multiple tunes can be formed!


If you have a student who is beyond the picture level, which I don't know if I have because I am new in the building, use color symbols and shape symbols from Boardmaker. I don't have access to that as of yet because I haven't been issued the laptop computer assigned to me, so I can't provide you with those, but I'm sure Microsoft Word/Google could do the trick if you aren't hooked up with Boardmaker! I will add those to the post when I get my hands on the computer and if I remember ;). 


If you have a student who is beyond the "picture symbol with word" level, then you can make this even more abstract by only giving word options. I love literacy!


This is what the blocks look like with the shapes on them in case you are interested...

This same activity could be used for those beginning PECS or AAC devices. As I already mentioned, this is another option when working with those children who are struggling to understand that speech has meaning.


I have not completed all the tools necessary, but this can be completed with the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads as well. If you withhold the pieces until the child selects a picture, provide the verbal expression to them, and give them what they have requested, then you have provided another way to elicit communication!


That's all for now!