Meet Shelly
Case Study - Communication
Shelly is an eight year old second grader. She also happens to have Down syndrome. Shelly can produce some words and sounds, but is generally described as non-verbal. Shelly uses some sign to communicate, but is not fluent in sign language. Shelly is in the second grade and receives special education services in a self contained classroom with a special education teacher, but attends lunch and specials with her general education peers. Shelly is able to attend to short stories and lessons, but does not yet read. She does display understanding of certain signs, pictures, and verbal language when it is spoken to her. She is a generally well-behaved and happy student. Shelly loves using an iPad at school and is able to manipulate her personal iPad at home. As she has demonstrated the ability to understand the meaning of pictures and associated those pictures with wants and needs, her teachers and parents would like to look into an AAC (Augmentative and alternative communication) device to increase her communication.
What They Decided
Shelly’s teachers and parents reviewed the options and decided to focus on instruction in the Core Vocabulary developed by the Dynamic Learning Maps. The DLM’s Core Vocabulary is a research based list of core vocabulary words that are needed to communicate in academic settings, particularly those that utilize the Common Core Standards. They also wanted to work on Shelby’s expressive language skills at the same time, so they decided on an AAC device for Shelby to use on an iPad. They also decided on a token rewards system to positively reward Shelby each time she correctly utilized the device with a word learned from the Core Vocabulary to encourage continued and proper usage. When looking for an AAC app they soon found there were many options with a large price range. They finally decided on the iSpeak Grid App for the iPad. It came with 650 pre-programmed icons, however it would allow the user to customize the icons and save up to 6 pages, which would allow for easy organization and location of the icons that Shelly would be working with. And with a price of $5.99 it was also affordable. The ability to show one to four icons at a time aligned with the instruction Shelly would be receiving in class.
Example Classroom Assignments
Resources
