In honor of Autism Awareness Month let’s explore 5 tips for using Boardmaker Studio with students with autism. Boardmaker Studio is full of supports for students with a range of needs, many of which can be particularly valuable for students with autism.
- Collection of Studio Starter Templates for visual schedules and sequences
Students with autism benefit greatly from a predictable environment and visual schedules can help provide this structure as well as assist with transitions. With over 30 onscreen templates and over 50 print templates a range of schedule formats and strategies are represented. The templates are very simply populated using the most basic Boardmaker Studio skill, Edit in Place. Go into Play mode to use the onscreen schedules or print out and use the schedules in a variety of settings. Schedules are easily customized for the needs of the specific student including the number of scheduling items, the use of Symbolate for sentences, and the inclusion of digital images for schedule items.
- Timer Bar Gadgets
Many students with autism benefit from a visual representation of the time remaining for a specific task or activity. In Boardmaker Studio simply drag one of the six timer bar gadgets onto the workspace to provide an instant and automatic onscreen visual timer for your students. The Timer Bar Gadgets are located in the Time Gadget folder and are available for 30 seconds and one, two, three, five and ten minutes.
- Symbolate type
Students with autism are often presented with symbol supported text. When done appropriately, this can be a very valuable support. Sometimes, however, full symbol support is presented which may result in symbols for abstract words, misrepresentation due to limited symbol access and symbols for words for which the student already has a clear understanding of the meaning. In Boardmaker Studio you can specify which words will receive automatic symbol support: nouns, verbs, adjectives, content words, words on list, words not on list and noncommon words. You can set the Symbolate type for all Symbolate buttons and for Message Windows. You still have the ability to further customize Symbolate results, but what a great starting point to make deliberate decisions regarding symbol support!
- Symbol word processing
Symbol support can be a beneficial support and reinforcement when students are creating their own writing. In Boardmaker Studio not only is Symbolate a tool you can use to provide symbol supported reading materials and activities, it is also a tool students can utilize in Play mode! As students type, symbol support will be provided using Symbolate (with specified symbol supported content), toggled show/hide symbols option, symbol review support and symbol-based spell check system. The symbol review support is a unique way for student driven symbol support when symbols are hidden. The student can select Show Symbol, click on a word and a symbol prompt will be presented for two seconds and then disappear.
- Studio Starter Templates and Gadgets that utilize video
Video can be a powerful learning and behavioral tool for students with autism. Whether it's used for video modeling, social skill instruction, or curriculum instruction, videos can easily be integrated into Boardmaker Studio. Boardmaker Studio offers several templates that incorporate video including: Picture Bank, Slideshow Quick Setup and the use of Reward Videos. In addition, use the Popup Video Button Gadget to easily incorporate a video onto any activity!