Intervention with Tommy

According to Heather Kabler Ball, Tommy responds well to learning new vocabulary both discretely and within the context of real communication experiences. Just for practice, he enjoys using flash cards where the icon sequences for various words are shown. Tommy enjoys working with the flash cards independently as well as with an adult quizzing him on the words after he has practiced. Tommy is able to apply what he has learned in these discrete learning situations to novel and new communication situations.

"We can't wait to follow what I think he might need to know. If he wants to say it... we teach it." Heather Kabler Ball.

"We also do lots of real life language learning experiences where Tommy will need to generate responses, questions and comments related to the activity or situation," says Heather. This provides many opportunities for Tommy to apply language and see new ways to use his Vantage to communicate in various settings, whether that is talking socially with someone, getting information, delivering a message, sharing an idea about something that happened in class or requesting something based on his basic needs.

"He learns things that we haven't even taught him because he can explore," says Kathy Gordon, Special Education Teacher

One-on-one therapy work has changed since Tommy first received his Vantage because he has simply learned so fast. The initial plan was to follow a strictly systematic approach, give Tommy practice opportunities and then slowly integrate into a generalized setting. Now, however, Heather works with Tommy to automatically generalize vocabulary as it is needed rather than following a specific list or hierarchy.

Future goals for Tommy's intervention include enabling more use of the Vantage in school and in the community. Heather plans to continue to work on building sentences and questions with Tommy so that he has the skills to carry on a conversation and participate with his peers.

During our visit to Fouse Elementary, Heather used an "Apple"reading lesson with the special needs class and then worked on the "Apple Smiles" activity with the students. If you want to try the reading exercise or the activity, Linda Pratt has shared her materials. Download Apple Reading Exercise and Apple Smiles.