How to Help Your Child Defend Against Bullies

Often times children, particularly those with learning disabilities, find themselves the target of schoolyard bullies. As part of their "Start School Strong" campaign, the team at Understood.org discusses what you and your child can do to prevent bullying, defend themselves against bullies and protect others who may be bullied. Within this post you will find hyperlinks that will lead to other resources to support your anti-bullying efforts.


















At a Glance 

• It’s normal to want to protect your child against bullying, no matter his age. 
• Help your child understand what bullying is and how best to react to it.
• Consider role-playing different bullying scenarios.
  
• Encourage your child to recognize his strengths so he feels worthy of defending himself.
  

It’s natural for parents to try to protect their children. But if your child has learning and attention issues, you’ve probably done more than most. Chances are you’ve had to stand up for his needs in and out of school.

You can’t always be there when your child needs protecting against bullying, however. That’s why it can feel so important to empower your child to defend himself. Use these tips to help him respond well when students act aggressively toward him or others nearby.

Define “bullying” for your child. 

Use the word “bully” at home and when you see it out in the community. Encourage your child to use it to describe what bullying truly is. Bullying is serious, hurtful behavior that happens repeatedly. It also is done on purpose. And most of all, make it clear that bullying is not acceptable.

Remind your child that it isn’t OK for others to pick on him and it isn’t OK for him to pick on others. Not because “everyone is doing it,” and not because it makes him look cool around his friends.

Tell him to report bullying.

Remind your child that when he sees someone picking on another child in person or online, he has a choice. He can be a passive bystander. Or he can be a brave “upstander.” As an upstander, he has a responsibility to report bullies to adults who can help.

Tell your child that this isn’t “tattling.” Instead, it’s acting out of compassion and concern for another child. And the more he looks out for other students, the more likely they’ll help defend him against bullies, too.

Assure your child that he won’t get in trouble for sharing his bullying experience with a trusted adult. That goes for incidents that happen to him or to another child. Talk through who your child could tell in different circumstances.

“When your child is somewhere safe, he can and should express his feelings. Bullying hurts, and he’s allowed to feel hurt.”

Role-play ways to respond to bullying.
 
Help your child think through ways he could react to being picked on in different circumstances. Who would he tell if someone was pushing him on the bus? What would he say to someone who called him a name? How should he respond if other students exclude him from a game?

Tell him to:

• Ignore the bully, when possible. 
• Walk or move away, if he can.
  
• Tell the bully to stop in a loud voice. Even if he feels nervous, he should try to speak and act with confidence. This can sometimes stop a bully in his tracks.
•  Ask for help from friends or trusted peers.  
• Try not to get too emotional—this can egg bullies on. 
• When your child is somewhere safe, he can and should express his feelings. Bullying hurts, and he’s allowed to feel hurt.  
• Avoid bullying back! Retaliating can be dangerous.  
• Always tell an adult (teacher, coach, principal, parent, etc.) afterward.
•  Encourage “self advocacy.”
  

When a child is a victim of bullying, he may start to feel bad about himself. (This is especially true when bullies pick on kids who have learning and attention issues.) The worse your child feels about himself, the less likely he is to try to make the bullying stop.
 
Empower your child to speak up for himself and become a self-advocate. Help him take responsibility for his own reactions to bullying. Ask him for his ideas on dealing with aggressive situations. This gives him a sense of control over bullies.

Bullying can take a big toll on a child’s sense of self-worth, so give your child opportunities to increase his self-esteem. Point out ways in which he’s special and help him to recognize his own strengths. Having that self-awareness can make him feel better about advocating for his own safety and happiness.

Key Takeaways

• Students with learning and attention issues are bullied more often than other kids. 
• Teaching them to defend themselves against bullies is important. 
• Help your child learn to recognize bullying. 
• Teach him ways to respond without making the situation worse. 
• Remind him which adults he can tell.
  

Encourage self-advocacy, a skill that will be important throughout his life.

Click for the original article

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13 Tips to Support Your "Socially Worried" Child

With the new school year rapidly approaching, the following 13 expert tips can help those children who need a little more support overcoming their social anxiety. 

Motivational Monday

Friday "Appy" Hour: Proloquo2Go's Language Opportunities for Using AAC at Home

 The following article, written by the creators of Proloquo2Go (AssistiveWare) focuses on strategies to promote the continuation of your child's language outside of the work or school setting. Not only does this article discuss excellent strategies to help support your child's communication, but it also shares new printable Proloquo2Go Crescendo core word boards that can be utilized at home.

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Does communication stop when you get home from work or school? No!

Should AAC only happen at work or school? No!
Successful communication happens when people with communication difficulties can use their Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) system in all environments. And families are so important in this process. 
In this blog post you will find some general strategies for getting AAC happening at home, as well as some practical ideas to try out and get you started.

General strategies for home
Your home is a busy active place, with many comings and goings. But two things need to stay consistent for your child who uses AAC. Firstly, your child needs to have easy access to their AAC system. And secondly, your child needs to see their AAC system being used by people at home to communicate real messages in real situations (aka “modeling”).
 
Always available
Is your home set up for AAC? Can you grab the AAC system ready to communicate quickly and easily? Can your child access their AAC system independently? It’s important to give your child access to an AAC system all the time. It needs to be in easy reach and/or always in the same place. 
If your child uses a high-tech AAC system (such as an AAC app on an iPad), it can be a great idea to have light-tech (or paper-based) version of it in places around the house. Could you stick laminated boards to places such as the mirror in the bathroom, cupboard doors or table tops? This means that the AAC can be grabbed and used easily! Having a light-tech or paper based backup of the AAC system is also useful if something happens to the AAC device. Follow the steps here to get yours started.

AssistiveWare Core Word Classroom
We will soon be making our Proloquo2Go Crescendo core word boards available. You will be able to download these boards and print off as many as you need to use around your house! Sign up for our newsletter to get more information about the release.

 
Modeling

Right… you have your house set up for AAC, with the AAC easily available - now you can MODEL!
Kids learn how to speak by hearing their parents, teachers, siblings and other people around them speak all the time. Similarly, AAC learners also need to see what it looks like to communicate using their AAC systems in real conversations. So how do you do this?
You need to model words and sentences on the AAC system regularly. Never heard of modeling before? The idea is to use the AAC system, by pointing to words, when you talk with your child. You don't need to model every single word you say. Instead, model the core words - the most important words. Make sure you model one step above your child’s level. Learn more about modeling.
Click here for a quick video for how you could model during playing bubbles with your child.

Practical ideas and activities at home
Once you have the AAC system in place and you’re modeling as much as you can, provide fun and motivating reasons for your child to use their AAC system.
The more often you build in opportunities to model AAC with your child in natural and fun ways, the more easily your child will learn to use AAC. These ideas and activities are easy and engaging ways to interact with your child using their AAC system:

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Look at a family photo album Talk about the pictures, the people, what happened, what you like, what you see, etc.

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Read through junk mail, catalogues or magazines Talk about things to buy, birthday wish lists, gift ideas for friends, things of interest, stories about celebrities, recipes, etc.

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Arts & Crafts Talk about what to make, how to make it, describe the colours and what you see, what to use. You can also talk about art projects brought home from school.

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Watch a TV program or movie Talk about what happened, who’s your favourite character, which part do you like most, is it scary/exciting.

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Cook together Talk about what you have to do, the ingredients, the taste, what you like or dislike about it, etc.

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Read a book together Talk about the pictures, the characters, what happened - you don't always need to read the words! Model the core words on the AAC system.

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Play hide and seek or action games with toys Talk about the game while you take turns. Make the toy do all kinds of fun actions. Model WHERE words like: in, on and under, and ACTION words like: jump, sleep, etc.

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Tidy up and put things away Talk about what you have to do. Eg. folding and putting laundry away, discuss where socks and other clothing goes. Or putting away the groceries and talk about what goes in the fridge and what in the cupboard.

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Discuss routines Talk about what you are doing during everyday routines like brushing hair, bath time, getting dressed, etc.

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Mirror play Talk about things when you are looking in the mirror and pulling funny faces and making funny sounds.

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Listen to music and sing Talk about favourite music and songs, sing and listen and play! And model words like: more, loud, quiet, nice, like, go, stop and much more!

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Give the wrong item, like a fork to eat yoghurt or give them paper for drawing but no pencils Talk about what they need and want, why the item you have given does not work!

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	Play with favourite toys and games Talk about the toys and games, take turns and model words like: more, play, on, off, like, all done, and much more!
	Symbols © 2016 SymbolStix, LLC.

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But I know what my child is trying to say….

Without a doubt, no-one knows your child better than you. And in many cases you may be able to guess what he/she is attempting to tell you, without their AAC system. But beware - it is important to not always assume that you know what your kid is trying to tell you! They might have SO MUCH MORE to say! And we want to give them every chance to SAY it!
Here is a very powerful blog from a parent of an AAC user, who does a great job at putting into words what can happen when we think we always know what our kids are trying to say! 
Look at every conversation and every interaction as an opportunity to model and build language and communication with your child.

Start today!

These are just some examples to get you started. It’s easy to create opportunities for your child to communicate by being a little creative! Think about your daily schedule and things you do with your child every day. Can you find ways to build some AAC modeling into those activities?
You may wish to talk to your teacher about how the words your child is working on at school can be used in these home activities too.
Have fun with AAC at home! Start today!
Original article written by~ Amanda Hartmann
Amanda is a Speech-Language Pathologist with over 19 years experience working in schools and with families and as a technology consultant. All this has led to a passion for working with children and young adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. She gives lectures on Augmentative and Alternative Communication at the University of Queensland and loves sharing what she knows about AAC and literacy!

AAC - Curious George Gets a Talker

When children are provided something that they perceive makes them different compared to their peers, many children can experience resistance, frustration, embarrassment or just a general feeling of being uncomfortable. The Nieder Family posted on the Uncommon Sense blog a book displaying how Curious George, a well-known and beloved character, received an AAC device. The hopes of producing this book are to alleviate the less desirable feelings for students being introduced to or currently utilizing augmentative modes of communication. Not only is this resource helpful, but it is also printable. Please continue to read the original article below and view the printable book! 

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Who doesn't love Curious George? He's a clever, lovable monkey who cheerfully dives into one adventure after another. He's also uniquely relatable to children with limited speech, because he doesn't talk. He communicates in a variety of interesting ways (gestures, sounds, signs, presenting clues, etc) . . . but his lack of speech often leads to confusion.

Seems like he would be a perfect candidate for AAC.

George would really benefit from having a robust AAC system, and AAC users would really benefit from seeing a popular cartoon character learn to use an AAC system.

So, without further ado . . . Curious George gets a talker.

This is a 20 page (plus a cover and an intro page) book in which Curious George experiences communication challenges, receives a talker, learns to use it (with modeling help) and has new communicative success.

(Disclaimer: Curious George and associated art is by Margret & H.A. Rey and their artists. I've just inserted some talkers and wrote a story around the pictures. This "book" is a printable homemade PowerPoint project, not an actual text to order.)

The entire thing is available as a free downloadable powerpoint file here.

When we thought Maya might need hearing aids, a lovely friend of mine sent us a stuffed animal that wore hearing aids. Maya loved it, it made the hearing aids seem cool and fun, and it was a great jumping off point for discussion. I hope that this book serves a similar purpose for some AAC users, their families, their friends and classmates, and the professionals that serve them.


PS. I'll post a few behind-the-scenes photos of the making of this book on the Uncommon Sense Facebook page in the next day or two. I'm sure tech people will cringe at my very very low tech production.


As a side note, I experimented with whether to include quote bubbles coming out of the talker (quotes from George or from communication partners who are modeling). On one hand, the story is about gaining a new voice, and it seems important to hear that voice. On the other, I felt like it would be more beneficial for readers to leave that to the imagination---it provides a discussion point on each page ("What do you think George is saying to the librarian?") and an opportunity for the readers to add to the story.

SLIDE into Accessibility

  
As stated in an article by NEA regarding UDL (Universal Design Learning), "Educators know that a one-size-fits-all approach does not work when it comes to designing curriculum, instruction, and student assessment. Not all children learn the same way. Not all children express themselves in the same way. And, not all children engage in learning in the same way. Students come to the classroom with a variety of needs, skills, talents, interests, and learning styles."

"For many learners, the typical curriculum is littered with learning barriers and roadblocks. In contrast, a universally designed curriculum is responsive to today’s diverse classrooms and designed from the outset to meet the needs of the greatest number of students. It allows teachers to choose from a menu of tools and strategies embedded in the curriculum and instructional materials."

When working on another blog post regarding accessibility features, I happened upon another fantastic infographic created by Luis Perez. Luis created the "SLIDE" handout/infographic for a seminar at 2016 ISTE conference. SLIDE is an mnemonic device for Styles, Links, Images, Design, Empathy.  

It is important to keep in mind that document accessibility is a complex topic. The following infographic is not intended to be a comprehensive guide, but instead act as a starting point for educators to more seamlessly make their content more accessible. By using these the tips provided as a guideline, educators can work towards creating more inclusive learning environments that allow all learners  access to information.

 "When it comes to making documents more accessible and useful for all learners, small changes can have a significant impact!" - Luis Perez

 

Article written and graphic created by Luis Pérez, Ph. D. 
Click to access the original infographic

5 Accessibility Features Every Learner Should Know

The following  infographic, created using Piktochart, highlights some of the iOS accessibility features that can benefit a wide range of diverse learners, not just those who have been labeled as having a disability.

This post is an alternative representation for those who cannot access it as an infographic.

It’s built in.

Every iOS device comes with a standard set of accessibility features that are ready to use as soon as you take the device out of the box. Let’s take a look at a few of these features that can benefit all users in the spirit of Universal Design.

Get started by going to Settings > General > Accessibility!

#1: Closed Captions

Closed captions were originally developed for those with hearing difficulties, but they can help you if you speak English as a second language or just need them as a support for improved processing. Captions can also help if your speakers are not working, or the sound in the video is of poor quality.

80% of caption users did not have any kind of hearing loss in one UK study.

Learn how to enable and customize closed captions on your iOS device.

#2: Speech

All iOS devices support built-in text to speech with the option to turn on word highlighting. Starting with iOS 8, it is possible to use the more natural Alex voice formerly available only on the Mac. TTS supports decoding, which frees you the reader to focus on the meaning of the text.

Breathe!: Alex takes a breath every once in a while to simulate the way we speak!

• Learn how to enable and use Speak Selection on your iOS device.
• Bonus tip!: Don’t want to make a selection first? No problem. Just bring up Siri and say “Speak Screen.” This will read everything on the screen!

#3: Safari Reader

Safari’s Reader is not really an accessibility feature (you will not find it in Settings) but it can help you if you find that you get distracted by all the ads when you are reading or doing research online. It is also a nice complement to the Speech features mentioned above. With iOS 9, you can now customize the appearance of the text and even change the background and font to make it easier to read when you surf the Web.

Left my heart in…San Francisco is a new system font available in iOS 9. It is designed to be easier to read, and is one of the font options available for Reader.

Learn how to use Safari Reader when you surf the Web.

#4: Dictation

Whenever you see the iOS keyboard, you can tap the microphone icon to the left of the space bar to start entering text using just your voice. This can help you get your words down on the page (or is it the screen?) more efficiently.

Try It!: Dictation can handle complex words. Try this: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Dictation supports more than just entering text. Follow the link for a helpful list of additional Dictation commands.

#5: QuickType and 3rd Party Keyboards

QuickType is Apple’s name for the word prediction feature now built into the iOS keyboard. Word prediction can help you if you struggle with spelling, and it can speed up your text entry as well. Starting with iOS 8, it is now possible to customize the built-in keyboard by installing a 3rd party app. The 3rd party keyboards add improved word prediction, themes for changing the appearance of the keys and more.

17 Seconds: World record for texting. Can you beat it?

Learn how to use QuickType and how to set up and use 3rd party keyboards.

Bonus Tips

Struggling to see the screen? – make sure to check out the Vision section in the Accessibility Settings. You can Zoom in to magnify what is shown on the screen,  Invert Colors to enable a high contrast mode, make the text larger with Dynamic Text, and much more.

• Learn how to Invert Colors on your iOS device.
• Learn how to use Zoom on your iOS device.

Sources:

• http://www.3playmedia.com/2015/08/28/who-uses-closed-captions-not-just-the-deaf-or-hard-of-hearing/
• http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/fastest-time-to-type-a-text-message-(sms)-on-a-touch-screen-mobile-phone/ 

Article written and graphic created by Luis Pérez, Ph. D. 
Click here to view the original article

Back to School....Teaching With Tech

Back to School is around the corner for millions of children in the U.S., and for many of those students, with special needs and learning disabilities, the thought of the daily demands of the educational setting can be overwhelming and stressful.

All too often, learning disabilities and special needs are not only challenging for the students, but for parents and educators as well. Thinking outside the box, and coming up with new ways to implement learning is an ongoing, ever evolving process. Educators are beginning to discover that traditional learning methods, including worksheets and textbooks, leave students lacking. Thanks to technology, many students are now learning and retaining more information in ways they have never done before.

Take a look at this infographic from www.masters-in-special-education.com, which outlines how educators and parents are using technology to help children with special needs and learning disabilities.

 Adapted from the original article written by Avatar Generation