by Jo Booth | Feb 1, 2017 | Bluebee News |
We have all read about the wonderful program at the Princeton House Charter School, and the devotion of the parents, teachers, and therapists to the Autism population that they serve. They are a leader in the use of Bluebee Pals for therapeutic use, but what were the apps they mentioned? What is this cutting-edge school using to enhance learning and interaction?
The apps utilized at the Princeton School Charter House in conjunction Bluebee Pals confirm the tremendous impact of technology in special needs classrooms.
** Sheela Sweredoski used Text to Speech App with Reading Activity involving using Dynamic words to expand writing
Bluebee Pals are the one consistent measure to help with that transition every step of the way! By playing the learning app with Bluebee and then using either a book or voice recording to reinforce the lesson with your trusted friend – it helps make the lessons stick with the use of Bluebee as a support and reference point with transitions of materials.
**Carissa Thompson holding Sammy Bear used Proloquo2Go (preprogrammed buttons to ask questions) with Pete the Cat Story. speech therapists: Hannah Kennedy (in the classroom with Carissa) Megan McGovern (speech and language apps and “made visual supports with bluebee via Boardmaker Online software”)
The teachers at the school use Early Reading Skill Building apps, and then pair the apps with activities from familiar books and pictures to help the students generalize the materials being taught.
**Lauren Feel used Early Reading Skills Builder Curriculum
Here are a few of the apps the teachers and therapists are using with Bluebee Pals
Early Reading Skills Builder Curriculum http://www.attainmentcompany.com/ersb – This is a blended curriculum using traditional tools and manipulatives to create an immersive experience. Using Bluebee helps improve motivation and attention by being a non-threatening presence in which to deliver material.
“Text to Speech Apps with Reading Activities 
involving the use of Dynamic words to help expand the ability to write,” said one teacher at PHCS. Favorite Storybooks from Oceanhouse Media, Spinlight, Speakaboos, and many stand-alone books have a read to me option, that can be used to allow Bluebee to communicate the story. Many books have been reviewed on this site under Blogs. It is nice to set up a cozy reading corner with Bluebee whispering the text in your ear. He/She is always ready for a grand story or two!
Proloquo2Go is an AAC app to enhance communication for children that lack a means for verbal communication. At the Princeton House Charter School, teachers are using this app in conjunction with preprogrammed questions for such popular class stories as in the Pete the Cat series. This allows Bluebee to ask questions, have children follow directions, and engage them in conversations to increase their pragmatic/social language skills. Here is a review of the site by our very own Rebecca Eisenberg, MS, CCC-SLP at https://bluebeepals.com/?s=Proloquo2Go
Therapists have made visual supports for Bluebee via Boardmaker Online software to accompany a story or as a precursor to using AAC apps or other devices. Boardmaker has been a standard in the industry for pictorial presentations and visual schedules. Using pictures helps a child learn the sequence of familiar tasks and activities and to identify icons that are most often used in AAC software.
Autism iHelp Apps is a suite of apps that teach vocabulary. It can be scaffolded from presenting a picture, pairing a picture with a label, and then needing to identify the picture from a field of 4 objects. The photos are clean and crisp, but more importantly, clutter-free. There are many options to customize this to a specific child. The app also includes a data collection feature.
Super Duper Publications has an app for everything speech related.They build in fun with their games and activities so children begin to use language in a fluent manner. Learning sticks with these activities, as the material is relevant to its use, and children can then apply it accordingly. Check out their suite of apps under the search “Super Duper Publications” in the iOS app store.
Smarty Ears, another company with fun and fabulous apps for speech therapy, and has a wide following with their suite of apps for parents, teachers and speech therapists. Articulate it was created for and by speech pathologists. They cover a multitude of themes to relate to any child’s interest area. Each app is customizable and has a stellar data collection feature. The apps are flexible for use at home, in the classroom as well as in a therapy clinic.
Splingo Apps, by the Speech and language Store LLP, is another company with exceptional apps for speech and language acquisition. Follow Splingo the Alien around whilst honing your listening skills. Kids listen to Splingo’s instructions and act accordingly to help Splingo build his spaceship to get him home. Kids get a kick out of Splingo and the app can be used with early learners using 1-2 words (18 mos.) all the way up to kids following 4 step commands.
Check out the videos and the comments from the staff of the Princeton School Charter House under the Bluebee Pals Project!
by Becca Eisenberg | Apr 6, 2016 | Becca's App Reviews |
Who is the Bluebee Pal appropriate for? I think any child would enjoy this interactive learning tool. Children with special needs (e.g. Autism, ADHD, Social Communication Disorder, etc) could benefit from this interactive tool because of the various goals that I targeted below. What I found most effective with the Bluebee Pal was the ability to use it for role playing for a child with delayed or disordered pragmatic language.
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by Becca Eisenberg | Mar 28, 2016 | Bluebee News |
The School District Of Lee County, Fort Myers, FL . The Exceptional Student Education Department, the District offers a free and appropriate public education in compliance with the federally mandated Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). A continuum of services and programs is available to meet the individual needs of students requiring special education, ages 3 through 21. Services and related services are provided per an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and are based on each child’s unique needs, as related to present levels of academic achievement and functional performance.
a world-class schools
Nancy Hoppe
OTR, MHS, ATPAssistive
Technology SpecialistSchool
District of Lee County
Bluebee Pals for Speech and OT Therapy : Recommendations
Speech
Support AAC device, especially for students who are verbally Apraxic. Articulation training – especially with the recording feature Pragmatics, especially for students with autism.
Behavioral
Selective Mute – Non threatening way to communicate
Attention to Task – Student engagement
Engagement – Especially for students with autism
Written Language-Text to speech software such as Dream Writer or Co:Writer to engage students in writing and self-editing
Picture Assisted Writing – Pixwriter on computer
Teaching
Cooking activity – low incidence population – Read recipe and pair it with a Powerlink
Text Reader – have books or web-based text read to them ie Voice Dream Reader app, Snap and Read Chrome extention
by Becca Eisenberg | Feb 5, 2016 | App for ACC, Bluebee News |
Julie Fox and her students at Soldier Creek Elementary School are currently using their Bluebee Pals and paring them with The LAMP Words for Life app, a full vocabulary AAC language app.
LAMP Words for Life is designed to meet the communication needs of children with autism.The app is appropriate for beginning communicators who are just learning that they can affect those around them to skilled communicators with advanced language skills. It features structured language and includes three vocabulary files and features within the app to support language development from the current skill level throughout their life.
Here is a brief testimonial provided by Julie:
I have one classroom of mostly Autisitic students who love using the Bluebee Pals. The students set the Bluebee Pals up using the iPad with the LAMP app. The LAMP app is an app that a some of our students use for communication.
The teacher then controls what the Bluebee says and can interact with the student with the student thinking that he or she is interacting with the animal and not the person. The students talk with the animal and have exchanges that are longer than if they were interacting with a human. The students are amazed and are more willing to engage.
We have also used them with one student who is an elective mute. He will talk to the Bluebee but not anyone else, again this is using a communication app……..We love them!
Julie Fox–Soldier Creek Elementary School
Julie is a ASHA certified speech-language pathologist working for the
Mid-Del school district in Oklahoma City. She currently works with 30
students who have the diagnosis of autism. Julie is also on the district
assistive technology team working with teachers across the district to
support children with special needs.
Julie Fox has a Master’s degree in Communication Disorders from
Wichita State University and has been practicing for 26 years. Nine
years she began working on an Assistive Technology Team where she worked
in Texas. While there, Julie provided assistance to IEP teams working
on implementing and assessing the need for AT. Julie moved to Oklahoma
due to a job change for her husband and began working for Mid-Del. Julie
loves what she does, giving a voice to students who don’t have one.
Please read more about Julie Fox and Soldier Creek Elementary by going to The Bluebee Pals Project.
by Becca Eisenberg | Feb 5, 2016 | App for ACC, Becca's App Reviews |
Proloquo2Go is a communication app that is used by individuals who have a limited ability to use speech for communication and need an augmentative and/or alternative way to communicate. I have used this communication app with all ages from young children to adults with complex communication needs.
The Proloquo2G App offer s a variety of page sets for individuals with varying abilities and is easily customized. When referring to these tips below, I find them to be most useful when using the core vocabulary page sets, which give individuals the ability to communicate most effectively. Additionally, it would be helpful to have Proloquo2go on two separate iPads (one for the child if they are using that as their form of communication and the other iPad for the therapist who is using Proloquo2go for modeling purposes with the Bluebee Pal.
Before you start an activity with your Bluebee Pal, ask the child “What would you like to name our Bluebee Pal?” Use the keyboard to create a name or give various choices. For an emergent reader, ask the child to choose one letter from the keyboard and then give choices from there (e.g. the child presses M, therapist asks child “Would you like her to be called Melanie or Mimi? etc). Having the child create a particular name for the Bluebee character will make the activity below even more meaningful. Once the child has created a name for the Bluebee Pal, add that name to the people page so that the child can create sentences with the name, request and comment appropriately.
Invite your Bluebee Pal to a tea party! your Bluebee Pal sit at the table with you, as the therapist use
Proloquo2Go to help facilitate speech and language goals. When the tea party begins, practice greetings by navigating into the chat page and saying “Hello, My name is Bluebee (or the name created by the child)” What is your name? Have the child respond via speech or aided communication throughout this session. During the tea party, you can use Proloquo2go to ask questions (“What do you like to eat?”,“Who is your best friend?”), answer questions (“I like to eat toast.”etc.) and engage in simple conversation.
This activity can help a child work towards initiating communication, sharing preferences (e.g. “I like the pink cup”) and sharing information.
- If a child is working on following directions, use your Bluebee Pal to give directions via the use of Proloquo2Go (e.g. Please give me the blue cup, etc). Encourage commenting by expressing various comments in the describing page (e.g. wonderful, favorite,fun).
- Use modeling and prompts to encourage the child to create 3-4 word sentences such as “This is fun” via using both core and fringe vocabulary.
- Other pages that would be useful during this activity would be the feelings page (e.g. “I feel happy”), actions (“I feed the baby”), and the food page (“I want a cookie”). Don’t forget to say “goodbye” and “all done” via navigating into your chat page and then accessing “all done” on your core page.
