Happy New Year and IEP Review

Happy 2012 from Do2Learn! Time to take a deep breath and look towards what you hope to accomplish in this new year. I have always liked this time of year to go over my child's IEP to see if her goals are still appropriate and perhaps plan for her IEP team to have a meeting to review this together.

Being the mother of a daughter (who is almost 19 now) who has Autism, I did not always feel as much a part of the IEP team as I should have. The more I learned, the more confidant I became as a member of this valuable educational team. Who knew my daughter the best in those meetings? Me, of course!

I hope that you will feel confidant as a member of your child's IEP Team. Learning about the process is very important to not feeling so lost in what can feel like a jungle of acronyms at times. Do2learn has several areas to help you begin learning about IEP's and other information to build your confidence when advocating for your child educationally.

Check under the RED, Disabilities box on our website. There is a lot of information under this box, but specifically related to the IEP, is within the Parents & Teachers section of the drop-down. You will also notice areas for Terms and Acronyms here too. Please enjoy exploring this area of our website and I hope you find that the information empowers you as you review your child's IEP for the new year.

All of this information in the Disabilities area is a FREE area of Do2Learn. Don't forget you can follow us on Facebook too.

It's a Whole New Look and More

Your eyes are not playing tricks on you. Our team here at Do2Learn has been working very hard to help your web navigation experience be a fun one. You will find several different ways to find your favorite Do2Learn products on our new website. We hope you will take the time to browse our new website and give us your feedback. You can send us your feedback from any of our pages through the “Contact Us” link, located on the bottom of each web page.

We are also inviting you to visit our blog often for updates as we explore the website together. There will be changes in the look of the blog as we go along, so again, feel free to give us your feedback on that as well. You will begin to see Do2Learn becoming more active on Facebook and I also have it on good authority that Do2Learn will soon be on Twitter too.

Thanks for your continued patience as we here at Do2Learn work to make our educational products better for you!

What Color Are You Feeling?

Are emotions linked to colors? Or, more importantly, can folks with autism spectrum disorder understand emotions better when the emotion is linked to a color? Sometimes, yes! At times, emotion words are difficult to use...some folks find it easier to say "I'm so RED!!!" when they are very angry instead of saying "I feel mad."

Do2Learn's FREE Emotions Color Wheel links the emotion name to the etymology,  color, definition, statement, and photo of a face depicting that emotion. In creating this color wheel, emotions were first divided into six general categories and assigned colors.

Then, more detailed emotions were added in, as were gradients of color. See?

The milder emotions are at the edges of the wheel, while more intense emotions like "hysterical" and "enraged" are closer to the center of the wheel. This is important, as most emotions have a basic state and vary from mild to intense which is shown on the wheel above, or like this!

 To see details on a specific emotion, like angry, simply click on that word in the color wheel...the word will pulse and this information will appear.

Of course, not everyone experiences emotions in the same way or agrees that all emotions are certain colors. If perhaps happy is not "green" to you, don't despair!

Do2Learn has blank emotion color wheels available so you can individualize the color wheel to your own needs! Download the blank wheel here.

You can find more info about Do2Learn's Emotions Color Wheel here! Do you think emotions are linked to colors, either for yourself or for folks with autism spectrum disorders?

FACELAND: A Fun Game to Practice Recognizing Emotions

Many folks with autism spectrum disorder struggle with recognizing others facial expressions. There are many ways to teach recognizing emotions in others: through flash cards, comics, role plays, and even watching television shows and labeling the characters emotions can be helpful. Another option is FACELAND, a game developed by Do2Learn that teaches kids to recognize six important emotions: Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Fear, Surprise, and Happiness. These skills are taught through a video game format with an amusement park theme. The effective strategies in FACELAND include:

• Breaking the entire face down into a smaller concept (a clue). For example, raised eyebrows might indicate surprise or fear
• Promoting clue acquisition via spaced repetition
• Checking for understanding of clues using new examples
• Combining clues for “part to whole” learning
• Utilizing instruction that incorporates photos, mirror mimic sessions, and varied interaction

FACELAND was awarded with the Children's Technology Review's Editor's Choice Award in 2009. Click here to watch a demo of how FACELAND works!

What strategies have you tried for teaching emotion recognition?

Using Schedules the Right Way

Schedules are important for all of us, and especially important for individuals with ASD! For an individual with ASD, a visual schedule:

1.Clarifies expectations of what is going to happen, and in what order
2.Informs the person of when preferred activities or breaks are occurring
3. Promotes flexibility
4. Informs the individual of when change occurs
5. Communicates all this information to the person in a way that is visual, concrete, and meaningful

Object Schedules

Schedules should be individualized and will look different based on the strengths, needs, and interests of the individual with ASD. A very young child may understand objects best, and his parent or teacher may give him his shoes to indicate it is time to go outside, or a diaper to indicate it is time to go to the bathroom. Objects are the most concrete form of communication, and often young children or teens or adults with more significant delays may understand and use objects to communicate quite independently.

Picture or Photo Schedules

Other children or adults may understand pictures or photos, which are more abstract than objects. Do2Learn offers several resources that provide various pictures for making schedules, picture lists, and story boards. Free printable picture cards are located here and include cards for self help, leisure, home, school, social skills, and other activities!

Make-a-Schedule is an easy-to-use program that gives you access to thousands of picture cards. In minutes, you can create schedules, story strips, and forms. Users subscribe to the Make-a-Schedule program for one year. Here is an example of picture cards that can be printed and made into a schedule for a trip on an airplane.

 

Written Schedules

Individuals with ASD who are able to read and comprehend fluently may excel using written schedules, reminders, and lists. The individual should be taught to interact with his schedule by checking or marking it off, and may eventually begin to create his own schedules. Some folks enjoy having their schedule on a portable device such as a small notepad or a  smart phone.

Tips to Using a Schedule the Right Way
1. Pick the appropriate cue: object, picture, or written word. The schedule is an organizational tool, not a time to work on building vocabulary. The schedule should make sense to the person with ASD on his or her worst day - when it is raining, their stomach hurts, and their favorite shirt is dirty!

2. Vary the schedule every day to promote flexibility. The person should not memorize the schedule and routine, but instead should refer back to the schedule each day to see what is happening in what order on that day.

3. The person should be prompted to check the schedule via non-verbal means. Telling someone "check your schedule" causes them to be dependent on you, their parent or teacher. But teaching them that every time they see a certain pen or a checkmark to check their schedule will promote independence!

4. Encourage and teach the person to interact with their schedule, not just look at it. Some folks with ASD have excellent memories and can look at their schedule in the morning and memorize it for the rest of the day. But if they are not interacting with it during the day by crossing off tasks as completed, they will not know if a change has occurred or may get upset if they forget a task and then are redirected. Interacting with the schedule promotes thoroughness and independence.

5. Consider the length of the schedule. Some individuals like to know what is going to happen the whole day. For other folks, that amount of information is overwhelming. Some individuals are on a "What's Next?" schedule and are simply given one object at a time. Others do best with a First - Then schedule, or a part day schedule.

6. Mix preferred and non-preferred activities. Just as we schedule coffee breaks or chat breaks during our work day (sometimes without even thinking about it!), folks with ASD need breaks as well.

7. Incorporate choice and, as much as possible, teach the person to begin creating their own schedules and lists.

Have you had success with using a schedule with a person with ASD?

Parents' Frustrations and Confusion: Where do I Begin?

Entering into the world of disabilities is like entering into a country where you don't speak the language and don't understand the people who live there. This new land is full of signs and road maps and, worst of all, acronyms...but you don't know what they mean and you aren't sure who to trust for help.

Do2Learn has developed some content that can be helpful as a cross cultural guide into the world of disabilities. Our Disabilities section includes:

• definitions of disabilities as written under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
• information on the evaluation and identification process

• characteristics and strategies for twelve different disabilities.

A screenshot for just some of the info on strategies for individuals who are Twice Exceptional



• Individualized Education Plan (IEP) development tips
• Acronyms and Terms defined in a way that makes sense
• Teacher Toolbox including Classroom Management, Learning Strategies, and Education Resources

These are just some of the resources available under the Disabilities tab on our home page at Do2Learn. Tell us...what did you find most confusing about navigating the new world of disabilities? Is there anything else you think we should add?

JobTIPS for Folks with ASD

Do2Learn has developed JobTIPS, an exciting free program designed to help individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) gain meaningful employment.

Finding employment is tough for many individuals right now, but this is especially true for individuals with ASD who are seeking work. Communication, social, and organizational deficits often cause challenges and misunderstandings in the workplace in terms of task completion, interpersonal interactions, and coping with stress. These are challenges all of us face, but again, people with ASD may struggle more with managing these stressors.



JobTIPS approaches the goal of obtaining meanginful employment for folks with ASD in two ways:



1. JobTIPS provides a free web-based curriculum that the user with ASD can access himself in order to learn strategies on how to find, get, and keep a meaningful job. This includes videos, printable materials, situational stories, Why? boxes, and coping comics to make the content interactive and fun while facilitating deeper understanding of concepts and generalization of skills.

2. The Transitional Toolbox educates teachers, job coaches, parents, transition coordinators, Vocational Rehabilitation staff, and clinicians how to teach appropriate employment skills by providing them with strategies across the developmental range as well as materials. The content for this section is being developed now, and should be ready this summer!



We are excited for more people to learn and use JobTIPS, and are thrilled that JobTIPS has received such attention and praise recently! The Autism Society of America profiled JobTIPS in April, which you can check out here. Autism Speaks noted how JobTIPS helps to level the playing field, and the National Institutes of Health remark that JobTIPS fills a critcal gap for teenagers leaving school and therfore most of their ASD-related services.



Check out JobTIPS and tell us what you think! What do you think is the hardest part of gaining meaningful employment for folks with ASD? And...what's your favorite part of JobTIPS! We love feedback!

JobTIPS - Helping Folks with ASD Find Meaningful Employment

Do2Learn has developed JobTIPS, an exciting free program designed to help individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) gain meaningful employment.

Finding employment is tough for many individuals right now, but this is especially true for individuals with ASD who are seeking work. Communication, social, and organizational deficits often cause challenges and misunderstandings in the workplace in terms of task completion, interpersonal interactions, and coping with stress. These are challenges all of us face, but again, people with ASD may struggle more with managing these stressors.

JobTIPS approaches the goal of obtaining meaningful employment for folks with ASD in two ways:

1.      JobTIPS provides a free web-based curriculum that the user with ASD can in order to learn strategies on how to find, get, and keep a meaningful job. This includes videos, printable materials, situational stories, Why? boxes, and coping comics to make the content interactive and fun while facilitating deeper understanding of concepts and generalization of skills.

2. The Transitional Toolbox educates teachers, job coaches, parents, transition coordinators, Vocational Rehabilitation staff, and clinicians how to teach appropriate employment skills by providing them with strategies and materials across the developmental range. The content for this section is being developed now, and should be ready this summer!

We are excited for more people to learn and use JobTIPS, and are thrilled that JobTIPS has received such attention and praise recently! The Autism Society of America profiled JobTIPS in April, which you can check out here. Autism Speaks noted how JobTIPS helps to level the playing field, and the National Institutes of Health remark that JobTIPS fills a critical gap for teenagers leaving school and therefore most of their ASD-related services.

Check out JobTIPS and tell us what you think! What do you think is the hardest part of gaining meaningful employment for folks with ASD? And...what's your favorite part of JobTIPS! We love feedback!

JobTIPS for Folks with ASD

Do2Learn has developed JobTIPS, an exciting free program designed to help individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) gain meaningful employment.

Finding employment is tough for many individuals right now, but this is especially true for individuals with ASD who are seeking work. Communication, social, and organizational deficits often cause challenges and misunderstandings in the workplace in terms of task completion, interpersonal interactions, and coping with stress. These are challenges all of us face, but again, people with ASD may struggle more with managing these stressors.

JobTIPS approaches the goal of obtaining meanginful employment for folks with ASD in two ways:

1. JobTIPS provides a free web-based curriculum that the user with ASD can access himself in order to learn strategies on how to find, get, and keep a meaningful job. This includes videos, printable materials, situational stories, Why? boxes, and coping comics to make the content interactive and fun while facilitating deeper understanding of concepts and generalization of skills.

2. The Transitional Toolbox educates teachers, job coaches, parents, transition coordinators, Vocational Rehabilitation staff, and clinicians how to teach appropriate employment skills by providing them with strategies across the developmental range as well as materials. The content for this section is being developed now, and should be ready this summer!

We are excited for more people to learn and use JobTIPS, and are thrilled that JobTIPS has received such attention and praise recently! The Autism Society of America profiled JobTIPS in April, which you can check out here. Autism Speaks noted how JobTIPS helps to level the playing field, and the National Institutes of Health remark that JobTIPS fills a critcal gap for teenagers leaving school and therfore most of their ASD-related services.

Check out JobTIPS and tell us what you think! What do you think is the hardest part of gaining meaningful employment for folks with ASD? And...what's your favorite part of JobTIPS! We love feedback!

Do2Learn - What's It All About?

Do2Learn is a great online resource that offers educational materials for educators and parents of children with special needs.

Our Mission:
The mission of Do2Learn is to use technology and the web to provide special learning resources for individuals with disabilities and the professionals and caregivers who serve them.

Working with leading educators, clinicians, and parents, we develop games and learning materials targeting specific deficits of individuals with neurological disorders including ASD, fetal alcohol effects, intellectual disabilities, attention disorders, learning and communication disorders and others. We specifically address deficits in the areas of behavior, socialization, communication, coping, and daily living skills.

Do2Learn has many tools and strategies online, including visuals for schedules, educational games, emotions and coping printables, and JobTIPS, a program for helping adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder seek and gain meaningful employment.

We will be profiling our programs on our blog, and we love feedback, so let us know what you think! Until then, check out our website at http://do2learn.com/