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Angela Nelson received her BA and JD from UCLA where she studied and practiced behavior psychology under Dr. Ivar Lovaas, and her Ed.M. at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, with a focus on technology innovation and education. As Founder and CEO of Stages Learning Materials, Angela has created autism, special needs and early childhood curriculum products since 1997. In addition to her duties at Stages, Angela writes for multiple industry publications and does development consultation for CS4Ed Consulting Services for Education.
Emerging Technology for Autism
In the field of autism technology, probably the most talked about recent development has been iPad apps that are bridging the communication gap often associated with autism. Six months ago, a simple iTunes store search for “autism apps” turned up 243 results. That same search this morning rendered 1054 apps. Apps, however, are just one isolated example of the range of technological advances that are being applied to autism. Further, many apps, are not necessarily transformative, or even particularly novel. Rather much of what is available via iPad and tablet computer for autism is simply a digitization of existing content.
The Importance of Categorization
Learning to categorize items is a basic task for young children. Close your eyes for a m
oment and picture a typical pre-school classroom: children are sorting little plastic bears, red bears in one tub, blue in another, and green in a third; another group of children arranges pictures into different piles of animals, vehicles, and foods; and still a third group is reading a book about animals that live in the sea vs. animals that can fly! We instinctively know it is important to sort things into categories… but do we know why?
Start Healthy Eating Young
Our first experiences with food have a large effect on our eating habits for the rest of our lives, so the best time to teach good dietary habits is during the early years. Think about some of your best and worst food habits... don't you wish you had started better habits at age 3, rather than trying to change those habits at age (fill in the blank!)?
Puzzles: Playing or Learning??
Puzzles are classic toys that come in many forms: jigsaw puzzles, peg puzzles, framed board puzzles, block puzzles, and more! When a child starts to put together puzzles they are learning about shapes and space.
The most basic puzzles we see babies play with are simple stacking toys that can be clumsily manipulated with one hand. Putting together a basic stack of rings like this helps build reasoning skills as well as fine motor skills, but when you first watch a child try to stack the rings on the peg, it may seem that luck plays more of a roll than skill!
New Language Builder Software
I am happy to report that Stages Learning Materials has finally taken the leap into the 21st century!
The Language Builder cards have become a staple in autism and speech therapy programs across the country, and even abroad. I regularly attend conferences where parents and therapists alike tell me that they use the cards every day at home or in their practice. The other thing I hear at every conference I attend ... "When will the Language Builder Cards be available in a software program I can use on the computer?" That day has finally come!
Building Language for your Autistic Child
Emerging Language and Building Vocabulary
Language development varies from child to child, and there are wide ranges of expected “normal” language development in young children. If you have specific concerns about the pace of your child’s language development, you should definitely discuss this with your health care professional. However, for reference sake, by the age of two a child is expected to be able to:
Back to School Success for Students with Autism
New routine, new teachers, new classrooms…. New, New, New! This can be stressful for all children, but even more so for children with autism and related special needs. What can you do to minimize stress and maximize success in the new school year? Here are some ABC’s to help you and your child.
Activities:
What will your child do on a day to day basis at their new school? Which activities will they be doing with a mainstream class? Which activities will they be working on in a one-on one setting?
Language Milestones
How many professionals have been asked: “How do I know if my child is behind in language development?” How many parents have asked the question, or at least wondered to themselves?
Language development varies from child to child, and there are wide ranges of expected “normal” language development in young children. If you are using Stages Learning Materials products with your own child, and you are concerned about language development, you should definitely discuss this with your health care professional. However, for reference sake, in general:
Building Full Sentences
The most popular use of the Language Builder Picture Card Series is to build vocabulary. The realistic and current photos help students to learn the name of various nouns, occupations, and emotions. In the beginning, this task can be very repetitive and basic, focusing only on learning single-word responses. When a child with autism begins to gain expressive language skills, parents and educators are thrilled to watch these new words emerge.
Why Real Photo Games for Early Childhood Education?
A growing trend in Early Childhood Education is the focus on using materials with real photo images rather than illustrations.
Teaching ideologies such as Montessori have long understood the importance of focusing on fact rather than fiction in the materials used for teaching young children. The closer the educational experiences are to real life, the easier it is for children to make the links and connections to their real world experiences, and to recognize and transfer the learning value when they later encounter the real thing in nature.
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Emerging Technology for Autism In the field of autism technology, probably the... Read More |
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The Importance of Categorization Learning to categorize items is a basic task for... Read More |
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Start Healthy Eating Young Our first experiences with food have a large... Read More |
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Puzzles: Playing or Learning?? Puzzles are classic toys that come in many forms... Read More |
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New Language Builder Software I am happy to report that Stages Learning... Read More |
