Group items tagged

"These projects provide ideas and strategies to promote play through better access to play materials, and use assistive technology to give the children this critical access. Typical solutions revolve around "low tech" assistive technology. By building on what the child can do, and by creating interactive play environments, families can reclaim play as a critical component of childhood! Look here for information on selecting toys for play, toys for children with disabilities, adapting toys to make them easier to use, locating specially designed toys as well as other resources to promote play."

JUdie and Cindy's resources for Wanna Play ATIA15

"Pizza boxes are a fantastic tool for play!  They are small and can be stacked easily for storage purposes.  They are portable and are perfect for on the go.  Simply open the box to store all of your extra parts or pieces.  Pizza boxes are also super versatile and rather inexpensive. "

This article provides creative ideas for providing access to play and learning through adapted toys and games.

Welcome to Tar Heel Gameplay, a collection of free, easy-to-play, and accessible games. Each game is speech enabled and may be accessed using multiple interfaces, including touch screens and 1 to 3 switches. You may create your own games using videos from the huge collection at YouTube.

It's based on creating switch stop/starts in YouTube videos, and you can also set it up with your own videos by cutting and pasting the link. You just don't want to save those home videos to the GamePlay website where everyone searches. http://tarheelgameplay.org/ It works best if you use it in a Chrome browser, but on my iPad, I've been using it in Safari okay. Check out some of my favorites - Disney Princess Medley - from one of my Bridge Camp buddies - A Ornie the Pig - the stops emphasize action verbs that the character is going to do if you activate the swtich, not just hit the switch to make it go Nascar pit Stop - if you want lots of switch activations and fast action and of course, Scat - because who doesn't love ya some Ice Age squirrel thing?

Games in the Classroom

The LCPS Assistive Technology team has created adapted play guides for some of our switch-operated toys that we provide to our students. These toys are often used to teach students about cause and effect, but as this sample activity guide shows, there are many other uses for concept development and social interaction.

This LiveBinder on "Accessing the POWER of Switch Activities for Students with High Sensory Needs" provides a wealth of resources, including assessment tools, activities for the senses, adaptation tips and tricks, and social engagement.

Sensory Needs & Switch Activities Live Binder from CTG 2014 Gretchen Hanser

Great Expectations brings popular picture books to life using a multi-sensory approach - songs, tactile play, picture descriptions, body movement, engaged listening - all designed to promote active reading experiences for children with visual impairments.

Ten ways to incorporate Mr. Potato Head in speech and language activities.

How to make a manipulative mitt to go along with your child's favorite songs/finger-plays. Give it a try and add a little more fun to your lives!

"Create your own customized HTML 5 widgets using our simple online generator then drag and drop into iBooks Author. Bookry widgets let you engage, challenge, entertain and interact with your readers like never before. Readers can play games, solve puzzles, draw pictures and save any data they enter into your widgets to the cloud. They can also share their data with others by email,Twitter, Facebook and Evernote."

Livebinder of resources sharing the #notatiste15 hashtag

This site presents training, resources, and information related to early communication assessment and instruction for students with significant disabilities. It is part of a larger effort to address the needs of students with significant disabilities who participate in the alternate assessment across the state of North Carolina. The goal of the larger project is to provide educators with the training, resources, and support they need to meet the needs of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities across three critical domains: Academics, Communication, and Transition.

Hold Everything! Twenty "Stay-Put" Play Spaces For Infants, Preschoolers and Developmentally Young Children With Sensory Impairments and Other Special Needs

Brains On! is a podcast featuring inquiry-based science explorations. Each episode poses an authentic question and an entertaining examination of the answer. Sometimes that means talking to a nutritionist or a reptile expert. Other times that means putting on a play about sound waves or singing songs about sleep. It's a science lesson for your ears!