Conversation Pie

I'm sure many of you have heard of Joel Shaul.  His blog, Autism Teaching Strategies is a common source of therapy ideas for us.  Recently he spoke to a group of autism teachers in surrounding districts.  Of course, he gave a great presentation -the kind that are rejuvenating.  He provided many ideas and resources, some of which are located on his website.

After working hard throughout the year on foundational skills for conversation such as whole body listening, joining a conversation group, eye-contact, understanding different types of questions and comments, and generating "friend files,"we finally found the direction we needed to go, thanks to Joel.  Conversation pie charts.  Genious!

This activity was perfect for our social skills groups.  It seems that most of our groups are compromised of several different types of students: the one who talks (all the time), the passive one, the inattentive one, the off-topic one, the one-upper, etc. On many occasions, the students serve multiple roles!

We started the first session of the week by having an unstructured conversation in which the students were able to talk about whatever they wanted - a preferred topic.  The ASD teacher and myself took data, tallying each speaking turn each student took.  Next, we showed them the conversation pie charts on Joel's website, which you can find here.  We discussed that the pie represents a conversation and that everyone should have a similar-size piece, or talking turns.

Next, we showed them this visual, agin from Autism Teaching Strategies.  We asked the students to share how each person might feel (using the Zones of Regulation).

We explained to the students that we had taken data at the beginning of the session and would graph it for the next session.  Before they left, we asked them to make a prediction about the size of their piece of pie.  

When the students arrived for the next session, they were anxious to see the conversation pie. We just used our data and plugged it in to the pie chart found on Word or PowerPoint.  (It honestly took less than five minutes.)  We even added the students' pictures to their piece of pie, which they thought was a hoot!

Most of the students were surprised at the size of their piece of pie, and a few were not.  We talked about ways that they could try to balance the size of the pieces, including asking others' questions to bring them in to the conversation or even making supportive comments to show an interest in what others say.  At the end of the session, the students were given a few minutes to have another conversation, and again, we took data.  Although the concept was fresh in their minds, they had shown marked improvement in their ability to gauge the amount of talking they were doing, notice who wasn't involved in the conversation, and include others.  We know that the students are expecting us to take data at this point, so our plan is to do it intermittently to give them feedback.  Thanks for the fantastic idea, Joel!

What's In The Bag?- Valentine Articulation

This year I have several students who are at the sentence or even conversation level for articulation. To incorporate some holiday fun this week we will play What's In The Bag. Let me just state that there are maybe a dozen ways to play this game and none are wrong. I will tell you how we plan to play but you can change it up as you see fit.To start you have one student leave the group with the bag full of the objects. They will return with just one object in the bag. Other students in the group ask yes or no questions to see if they can figure out the object. If they need additional clues the student in charge of the bag can give them more of a description. Everyone practices their sounds in sentences or conversation. This game does not have a winner per say, but is fun and something different. 

It can be changed to a directions following or describing, comparing/contrasting activity as well for language students. 

Here are the photos:

The objects we have are a combination of things from a dollar store or left over decorations from past school years. 

Protect Your Voice

If you rely on your voice throughout your day (like most people), you cannot risk losing it. Professions like teaching, singing and broadcasting often have a higher rate of voice disorders because of misuse. Even so, about 1 in 3 people will experience hoarseness of their voice at one time or another. Losing your voice during cold season while suffering with the common cold happens to many adults and children. However, if the hoarseness lasts more than two weeks, it may mean you need some additional testing from a voice specialist such as a speech pathologist or an otolaryngologist (ENT). Most voice disorders are preventable. Here are the top the four things I try to tell clients to do to reduce vocal strain.

1. Hydrate- drinking lots of caffeine, or not drinking enough water will dehydrate you over time. Your vocal chord work best if you keep them hydrated. You can do this by drinking water and other  decaffeinated drinks. This sounds simple but can be hard on the go. Bringing a bottle of water is always a start.

2. Change Proximity- If you are across a room and need to talk with someone, move closer so you do not have to yell. Your vocal chords can then work at volume they are used to without strain.

3. Rest-You and your vocal chords need enough rest. Resting your voice means giving it time away from being used for more than 10 minutes at a time (I also need work with is as like most speech therapists, I like to talk).

     

4. Amplify When Needed- If you have to talk to a crowd or a group many days a week like many actors, teachers, or public speakers do, you may need to use a microphone or FM system. 

Pop-up Pirate Pragmatic Skills

This summer in while thrifting I discovered Pop-up Pirate. by Tomy. My hope was to use it as a reinforcer, but found it to be a great visual way for my students to think about conversational turns and staying on topic. This is how to play:

1. The pirate is placed into a spring-loaded barrel and rotated to randomize the unlucky slot.

2. Players must take it in turns to insert plastic swords into slots in the side of the barrel.

3. If a player inserts the sword into a specific slot (which changes randomly every time the game is played), the pirate is launched out of the barrel.

This is how I modify it:

There are four colors and each color has six swords, making it perfect for a group of up to 4 students to take up to six conversational turns (each with a different color). Every time they add to the conversation they place a sword in the barrel. It can also be played by designating the colors as questions or comments to encourage a mix of both comments and questions if a student only makes comments or only asks questions. When the pirate pops up we end a conversation topic. Students take turns picking a topics.

I am finding that this game also motivating to students as they like to pick topics, watch the pirate pop-up and think of questions and comments. Overall very fun for Summer Social Skills.