Verbalizing and Visualizing is a reading comprehension program intended to help children support reading comprehension by developing visualization skills.
Category: Intervention
Contemporary Approaches to Intervention: Structured Methods in Language Education (SMiLE)
(SMiLE) is a multi-sensory program that teaches speech, reading, and writing in a cohesive way to individuals with the most severe language-learning and literacy disabilities. Read More
(English) Cleft Palate Practice for B and P
Downloadable pdf: Penny & Benny.
(Mandarin) Cleft Palate Practice for P and B
Downloadable pdf: Baby Loves Mandarin B and P.pdf
AAC Sellers Market Cards in Ethiopia
Dr. Cate Crowley and several students from Teachers College, Columbia University traveled to Ethiopia to visit the Ethiopian National Association for Intellectual Disabilities (ENAID). Read More
AAC Market Cards in Ghana- French
The AAC market cards were created in response to a desire from the families that their children be able to participate in a typical activity for Ghanaian children: buying food for the family at the market. The AAC market cards have the name and picture of the item the students are to buy for their families. The cards also have the cost; that is how much of the item the family wants the student to buy. How to use the cards has been disseminated through annual professional development retreats so they are now used by students with autism, intellectual disabilities, and cerebral palsy throughout Ghana. The video tutorials are dubbed into several African languages including Swahili, Amharic, Kikuyu, and West African French.
Parents and Palates: Nehemiah and Cleft Palate Training Day 3
1/11/15 Gregorian —– 5/3/2007 Ethiopian
Back to the wonderful Nehemiah Autism Center! This morning we held a parent training. To our delight, twenty parents and family members attended. We incorporated a visual schedule as we did for the teacher training day to show what we worked on. And as we did that day, as each activity was completed, as a group we, in unison, exclaimed, “alekah.” For introductions, the parents shared something they loved about their child (i.e., “My child is as handsome as me,” “My child is affectionate and loving”) which made a deep impact on our day at Nehemiah. Social stories, which we (credit to Dr. Edmondes) had renamed Stories for Effective Communication (SEC) and communication passports were introduced. The parents were eager to create the SECs and communication passports for their children. They expressed their appreciation and how their child would benefit from these. GO TEAM TC!
One unforgettable moment was when we entered one of the classrooms and saw the calendars, name tags, and visual schedules we introduced at the teacher training. Teddy described that they had started using them in the classrooms right after they returned from Christmas break! SUCCESS!
After the training we were off t0 Yekatit 12 Hospital for our third day (half day to be exact) of Cleft Palate Training. We made it just in time for the therapy sessions. We split up into groups of 3-4 therapists-in-training. We saw roughly 15 patients. Different therapy techniques that were learned in class were applied. Each group created goals and homework for each client that would be seen the next day. It was a very productive and educational experience!
Back at the hotel, with no break, we had a mini lecture to make up for the first half of the Cleft Palate Training day we missed. Dr. Crowley made sure all the TC students take the quiz that was missed due to attending the parent training at Nehemiah Autism Center. LEVATOR VELI PALATIIIINI~~~ aka the muscle we will never ever forget.
Stay tuned for the remaining days we have left here in Ethiopia!
Love,
Özge (Ozzie) and Amika
TICCA & GGEAM <3
Communication, Collaboration and Community Integration at ENAID!
Today we had a fun and successful half day at the Ethiopian National Association on Intellectual Disabilities (ENAID), a vocational training program for adults with intellectual disabilities. The director of the center, Mihret Nigussie, gave a tour and provided background about the adults that attend the center. She explained that some Ethiopian primary and secondary schools have special education classrooms where the adults would have been educated as children. At 18, they leave those classrooms and come to ENAID where they continue with some classroom learning and receive physical therapy. However, the primary training they receive is vocational. They design and weave beautiful and high-quality goods such as scarves, dishcloths and welcome mats from cotton and wool. They also have paint blocks that they use to print designs on some of textiles they create. There are currently 60-70 adults who attend the center, and the day we visited there were approximately 40. The others did not attend due to the Christmas Eve holiday.
When we arrived, the members (adults participating in training) greeted us with smiles and handshakes. Almost immediately they started to show us the looms and how they make the different products. During these interactions, it was evident to us that they had limitations with verbal production that did not allow us to understand what they were trying convey about their goods and which would also prevent them from interacting directly with customers at the markets without assistance from staff. We saw this as a perfect opportunity to help facilitate functional communication with low tech AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication)! To do this, we decided to create a modified market card, which are used in Ghana to allow children with limited communication to go to the market alone to buy items for their family. With collaboration from the Director of ENAID, we designed the Market Seller Cards to contain an introduction and ENAID’s name on one side and the names and prices of the items for sale on the other.
Before we got to work, the members performed a dance for us, which we quickly joined! We were also offered coffee and popcorn as part of a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony! After the festivities, Cate and a group of TC students explained the cards and how they would be used. The members immediately understood the purpose of the cards and got very excited about making and using them!
Once the plan was hatched, we got to work and created an assembly line of sorts! We had an artist and lamination team composed of members from ENAID and TC students and supervisors. After the text was complete, the artist team drew and colored pictures of some of the top selling items (welcome mats, scarves, and mops) and the other team laminated with packing tape.
One of the highlights of this process was that our van drivers jumped right in to help write materials in Amharic, making this a true community effort!
Once the cards were created, the most exciting part of the day was setting up a market to allow the members to learn to use the cards.
Because many of us wanted to buy so many of their beautiful products, these training sessions, which we videotaped for future training purposes, quickly evolved into a bustling marketplace. In fact, the members become so adept at using the cards that they began to move around the crowd to offer their cards to us and the drivers to initiate and complete purchases. And it worked, because many of us left with armfuls of scarves, mats and other items!
Our half day was finished with a presentation of a $200 donation to ENAID from TC International Inclusion Project and a group photo of all of us from TC and ENAID. All in all, this was a most exciting day, as we were able to provide a simple and sustainable AAC tool for the members to enable them to be more integrated into the community at market and to sell their wares more independently.
After our half day at ENAID we had a very educational tour at the National Museum, where we learned more about Ethiopian and why it is considered the cradle of humankind. We then enjoyed a relaxing and delicious Italian meal at a local restaurant before attending a Christmas Eve midnight mass at an Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It was truly a day packed with new friends and colleagues, educational opportunities and integration with the local religious customs.
