| When
I first heard Dr. Temple Grandin, Ph.D., inarguably
the most well known adult with autism, speak about
how autistics think in pictures, my son, James,
was 4 years old and had just been diagnosed with
autism. I was desperate to gain an understanding
of how to communicate with my inaccessible and remote
child. Her words gave me the window I needed into
the world of a visual thinker and helped me understand
the strategy I needed to use to pull him out of
his seclusion into my world.
For
Grandin, an extreme "visual" thinker,
there is no language based information in her memory.
To access spoken information she replays a "video"
in her head of the person talking.(1) Making words
into pictures became the principal way I communicated
with my son.
In
combination with an intensive behavioral program,
assistive technology gave me essential tools I needed
to communicate with and then instruct my visual
learner. First, we made words into pictures. Second,
we used visually motivating computer based software
to maintain attention to an educational task and
reward compliance with our behavioral program. Third,
we used graphic organizers and word prediction software
to make written language easier to use.
Sign
language and pictures are the simplest means of
transforming a word into an image. When we first
began his behavioral home program, we needed a source
of pictures of objects and actions. Early in the
program, we cut pictures from catalogues and magazines.
Technology now provides a large lexicon that can
be easily accessed. Software such as Boardmaker™
and Writing with Symbols™ have data
bases that allow you to type a word and a picture
will appear that represents the meaning of that
word.
When
James was first diagnosed we had to teach him how
to ask for things he wanted. For example, when it
was time for a snack, we would have a picture of
his choices. (2)
He would have to hand us the picture of the snack
he wanted. Because children with autism can be very
literal, we often used a digital picture of an item
and paired the word with the picture.
Second,
visually motivating computer software that kept
him engaged in and focused on an activity for increasing
amounts of time was also important. Because James
enjoyed interactive computer programs we were able
to use these as rewards for positive behavior and
compliance with his behavioral program. Reader
Rabbit® and Dorling Kindersley programs
offered opportunities for him to play and learn
at the same time.
The
third key component to his progress was graphic
organizers and word prediction software. Graphic
organizing software allows writers to visually arrange
their thoughts so that when they begin to put word
on paper, they have an easier time of arranging
everything in order.
PixWriter
was the first graphic organizer we used. It also
has a text-to-speech feature that reinforced for
James what he was writing and how it sounded. We
could add words and pictures in boxes that could
be selected with the mouse to be placed in a sentence.
This way, at first, James did not have to create
his own words but could select what he wanted from
a preplanned topic. If he was being asked to write
about his dog, Jake, we would put words like “yellow”,
“big”, “my”, “he”,
“dog”, “is”, “I have”.
Then, James would click on the words in the order
he wanted to place them in the sentence. “I
have a big dog.” “My dog is Jake.”
Co:Writer®
is word prediction software that will work with
any program that accepts text. As the person types,
it helps determine which word he is typing. This
is good for beginner spellers whose word comprehension
is more advanced than their typing skills. Then,
once the phrase or sentence is completed, the speech
feature will read it back. We used this for homework
assignments.
Kidspiration®
and Draft:Builder® are more advanced
graphic organizers that help draw a picture of how
the writer will put the words on a page. There are
templates that are already prepared that you can
download from web sites.
Another
useful photograph or graphic image data base can
be found at the Google ™ web page under the
"Images" category. Copying and pasting
these images into a Microsoft Publisher®
document is a simple way to use the web if you don’t
have access to other picture-creating software.
I use this method for new vocabulary words. I will
try to find a picture on the web and paste it in
a Publisher document with the proper spelling. Then
a good spelling practice technique is to match the
picture with the word that he is learning. PowerPoint®
is also a very versatile tool that has the capability
of getting pictures from the web or from clip art.
The pictures can be coupled with buttons on the
slides and by selecting answers, the information
becomes an interactive activity.
On
a daily basis, we use Writing with Symbols
to make a daily schedule for James. Like anyone
else, he likes to know what is expected of him throughout
the day. We all use a calendar, PDA or "day
timer" to remind us of our commitments. James
has pictures paired with words since he is a visual
thinker. When he was younger we would also use PECs
to post reminders or visual prompts. For example,
on the back of the bathroom door we had a sign with
pictures that read "did you wash your hands?"
To show James how to set the table we made a sample
placemat with pictures of food and the dishes so
he could follow the visual and learn how to place
the dishes on the table.
Using
assistive technology to conveniently transform vocabulary
into an image is an important tool for anyone living
or working with a visual thinker.
(1) My Experiences with
Visual Thinking Sensory Problems and Communication
Difficulties
by Temple Grandin, Ph.D.,Assistant Professor Colorado
State University, June, 2000.
(2)
http://www.dotolearn.com/
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