Beyond PECS: Academic Activities

for the Visual Learner

West Kentucky Special Education Cooperative

Serving the Schools of Western Kentucky

What you've been wishing for....

I wish he understood what symbols mean…..

Teaching that symbols represent actual items Pg. 1

I wish he could do more with PECS…..

Using the onscreen PECS to train computer use Pg. 2

I wish he could write better using letters…..

Using Writing Assistance With Symbols Pg. 3

I wish he could use the same materials as his peers…..

Converting Textbooks to Symbols Pg. 4

I wish he could write a paper…..

Using Symbols to Write a Paper Pg. 5

I wish WWS-2000 had more symbols…..

Increasing the Writing With Symbols Library Pg. 6

I wish he didn't confuse word order…..

Static Presentation of Word Order Pg. 7

I wish he had more social skills…..

Developing Expression Templates for Reference Pg 8

I wish he would follow directions…

Capturing Video for Video Self Modeling Pg. 9

Teaching the Student That

Symbols Represent Real Objects

Use the program Teach Me To Talk to demonstrate the representation of a symbol for a real item.

This program will show an actual photograph with music and motion to grab the student’s attention. The verbal label is spoken with several voice options; the photograph is morphed into a symbol. And finally the new symbol is compared to the original photograph. This entire sequence occurs in approximately 5-10 seconds

Picture Exchange Communication Program

Using Writing With Symbols to expand the student’s Picture Exchange Communication System skills.

· Open Writing With Symbols

· Click on File

· Click on Open Environment

· Double click on Hi-res

· Double click on scanning

· Double click on Sentence Building 1 or other preprogrammed boards

Writing Assistance

It is recommended that symbols be used to verify correct spelling or word choice.

Often students will be able to begin spelling a word, but can’t complete it.

Use WWS-2000 with Read and Write Gold

The Word Prediction feature of RWG is designed to provide choices of likely words that the student is attempting to type.

The student will be able to type the initial letters of words and Word Prediction will assist with choices as he writes. The words are instantly converted to WWS-2000 for visual verification. When punctuation is selected, the sentence is spoken.

1. Open WWS-2000

2. Open Read and Write Gold

3. Open Word Prediction to begin

4. Click on the text box in WWS to eliminate symbols for printing.

Converting Textbooks

to Symbol Books

Text found in books or on handouts can be converted into symbols by scanning or if it is already digitized, send the text to the Writing With Symbols 2000 program. The text will be converted to symbols instantly or copy and paste the text into WWS-2000

· Open WWS 2000

· Minimize the entire program

· Open scanning program

· Scan page in text only format

· Send text to another program

· Maximize WWS 2000

· Click Edit

· Click Paste

Digital books may be acquired from

http://apps.kde.state.ky.us/kamd/index.cfm

4
Writing System

Typing a paper by clicking on symbols.

The computer will convert symbols to text.

Begin by creating a symbol environment relative to the topic that the student will write about. After the Environment is created, the student will be able to type sentences using symbols rather than letters.

Creating a symbol environment

· Open WWS-2000.

· Click on the lowest Minimize button.

· Click on File.

· Click on New. A small screen will appear.

· Click on File.

· Click on New. A second screen will overlay the first.

· Click on Window.

· Click on Tile.

· Size windows, as you prefer. Remember one window is the symbol window that will send text. The other is the text only window that will print out.

· Begin creating the student’s vocabulary. It can be coordinated anyway that suits him best.

· If more vocabulary is needed, the Items can be reduced in size. A fairly extensive vocabulary can be placed on screen.

· After the library is complete, press Ctrl + Q. The screen will become yellow and it becomes the send screen. Items clicked on will be sent to the text screen.

· Click on the text screen.

· Click on Text on the tool bar.

· Click on Make Text Version.

· Choose Remove All Graphics.

· Print text by clicking in the text screen and then clicking the print icon on the tool bar.

Increasing The Symbol Library

Getting a picture onto the computer hard drive for use with WWS-2000

1. Scan a photograph or picture from textbook etc.

2. After scanning is complete, click on File.

3. Click on Save As…

4. Give your file an easily recognizable name.

5. Save as type Windows Bitmap (*.bmp)

Getting a picture from the hard drive for WWS-2000

1. Open WWS-2000.

2. Click on Images.

3. Click on Link to External Graphic.

4. Click on Find a Graphic

5. Look in My Pictures.

6. Double click graphic name.

7. Type in the name of the graphic, as you would have it appear in WWS-2000.

8. Click OK.

Permanently save the new graphic

1. Click on Images.

2. Click on Save Word List Changes.

3. Choose Add All.

Teaching Grammatical Form

The student may need to see grammatical rules as static without the option of rearranging words into neologisms. The Wheel Of Language will allow the student to rearrange words to create new sentences, however, the connecting axis does not allow construction of sentences free of rules. It will provide visual support of sentence structure.

A creative therapy tool that is easy to use, fun, and tremendously helpful in teaching sentence formation and grammar. By turning from one to five concentric circles, you can create sentences containing two to five critical elements, such as “The boy ate” or “The boy ate breakfast at home,” making the Wheel of Language easily adaptable for early stages to more advanced levels of language practice. Literally thousands of sentence combinations are possible (including many wonderfully silly ones), so this therapy tool remains interesting and challenging session after session.
Clear, colorful, high quality Pick ’n Stick illustrations have been used to depict adjectives, subject nouns, verbs, object nouns, and location and time. Some or all of these can be used to create a sentence depending on the level of your client. If you do not want to use a category (such as adjectives) then turn the “adjective” circle to the spot that is blank. If you don’t want an object noun, turn to the blank on the circle with the object nouns. There is blank space on each circle so you can leave out whatever grammatical constructions you like. The instructions explain how to use the wheel to improve creative thinking, asking and answering questions, logic and reasoning, development of grammatical complexity and verb tenses, and improving auditory memory.
Words are included with the pictures so that both readers and nonreaders can use them. Both individuals and groups can enjoy using the wheel. It is fun to use in a noncompetitive way just by moving as many circles as the leader decides. To play competitively, an up-to-three numeral die is included. By rolling the die, a player moves from one to three circles of the wheel and also takes that same number of chips from a pile. The winner of the game is the person with the most chips. For adults and children age 4 and up. www.proedinc.com $51.00

Pragmatics

Teaching Facial Expressions

Facial expressions can be difficult to learn and may require logical teaching of the message behind the expression.

The Senteacher has created a program to meet this need. The Rubber Face program can be downloaded at their web site www.senteacher.org . This program will compare and contrast facial expressions based on expressive emotions. Quizes are provided to confirm understanding. The result is the skill to match facial expressions with templates stored in the student’s memory.

Capturing Video

For Power Point Presentations

For quick inexpensive video capture, use a digital camcorder with Windows Movie Maker. The software will guide you through the rest of the process.

Your movies will be captured as mpeg files and saved in your “MyVideos”. Simply open your Powerpoint presentation and insert movies from a file. The movie clip will play on your slide.

You can use TV shows, movies or your own videos.

You are now able to pair video clips with detailed descriptions of the situation presented, as well as, a label for behavior exhibited.