Testing non-verbal students

I have a range of students in my class and my biggest struggle is finding an appropriate and reliable method to test their skills. I have had an influx of new students in my class this term and whenever I get a new student my first question is, "how do I test what they already know?"

In the past I have success with one of my students using an alphabet programme I made on my smart board. However when i tried this method for my three new students I found it was not suitable. They starting popping all of the balloons not just the letter i was calling out. 

This week i have spent some time teaching my new students to "point to" or "give me" a flashcard. This isn't the most reliable method because when they make a choice out of 3 they may accidentally pick the correct card. With this method i will usually retest them multiple times to make sure my data is correct. However testing alphabet and sound knowledge can take a very long time. Most of my students are still learning to attend and sit for extended periods of time which means testing is done in short mini-sessions. 

When researching other appropriate methods i came across a blog that shared the exact sturggles that I have been having with my students. In this blog there were some excellent suggestions for testing phonological awareness. I have a number of students who can identify both upper case, lower case letters and letter sounds but i am unsure if they are able to link this sound awareness to a word.

With the remainder of the term i am going to try assessing their phonological awareness using the testing strategies outlined in the blog (linked above). I am hoping this will give me more insight into their reading skills. 

Teaching visuals for communication

One of my lovely colleagues has been making activity specific core language boards for reading for many years. When I first moved to Sommerville I saw how they could be used to support reading comprehension and I continued to add them to my reading packs.
I have used them to teach visuals to my students who are non-verbal. Once i have taught them what the symbols mean, i then use the board so that the student can answer questions about the book. For students who are unable to verbalise the words in the book, the board can be used to complete assessments so that you can test their understanding.
In this video one of my students is pointing to the object he can see in the book when asked, "what can you see?"

Please note: sound has been removed to protect the child's identity

Literacy and Communication

This term i have two new students joining my class, both students are non-verbal and have no communication system currently set up. A huge focus in special education is communication and many classes at our school will have a variety of systems to support the student with communication.
Communication is at the core of all my lessons as it is woven throughout the class programme. Having acess to communication weather it is through a iPad or a core board is vital. I usually modell lamguage on a large core board for the whole class, the support sdtaff working in my classroom will also support individual students who have funded devices or are trailling devices so that the language that i am using is modelled on their individual devices. It is a time consuming and difficult process which makes it more difficult when you have different students using various devices however seeing the results long term is worth it!

In the holidays i watched a very inspiring Ed Talk video about literacy expert, Sally Clendon. At Sommerville we are fortunate enough to get professional development from Sally, i have implemented many of Sally's literacy recommendations and seen the students success as a result.
If you have students in your classroom who are non-verbal or using AAC (Augmentive and Alternative communication) i would highly recommend looking into Sally Clendon's work.
You can find her short Ed talk video by clicking here. 

Making reading accessible through AAC

As mentioned in previous posts, i now have 4 out of 7 students using AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication). I am working on implementing all devices into my class programme which is no easy feat considering one person needs to work individually with that child while using their device and i only have 3 staff members.

However creating opportunities for communication while it should come naturally i have found it is best to plan sessions where i will use each device. I am trying to get my students to carry their devices with them so that they can take ownership over their own communication as well.

Each week i make an activity specific language board to go with their communication device for a student to use while they are reading. This particular student was trialing a device that has sound output and recordable buttons. I used language from their weekly reader and recorded the symbols on the device. For the first time, this student was able to answer questions about the story, and  they were able to answer correctly! Because of the success we had during reading, this student is going to trial a similar device with more icons available. From 9 icons on a screen to 32!

Planning communication opportunities isn't always easy in the chaos of a busy classroom however making it part of your new "normal" makes it manageable; especially when you start to see success for that student.