A look at creative storytelling with people with dementia

Clinicians and carers working with people with dementia would be familiar with approaches such as reminiscence therapy, but may be less au fait with the use of creative storytelling.

The creative storytelling approaches used encourage people with dementia to tell stories based on a picture or photo.  One of the important aspects of this technique, is that there is no “right or wrong”. Indeed this method allows and welcomes storytelling of all types – including made up stories.

The benefits that clinicians using this approach noted included:

• An opportunity for people with dementia to engage in conversation
•  An opportunity for verbal expression not bound by “rules”
•   Individuals were observed to have increased confidence, quality of life and positively altered behavior

The TimeSlips approach by Basting is a more structured format. Researchers from the University of Missouri found that participation in the TimeSlips storytelling programme improved communication between patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and had a generally positive effect on patients.

Working in 20 care homes, researchers studied the effect of storytelling among residents with Alzheimers. Using a method developed by the TimeSlips Creative Storytelling Project, residents were encouraged to tell stories inspired by photographs. Working as a group, patients created a narrative inspired by the picture. The method replaces the pressure to remember with encouragement to imagine.

In examples where it was used in care homes, the whole community was reported to benefit.  Read more about one particular study here https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.timeslips.org/cms/files/46/files/original/I'm_a_Storyteller!_.pdf

Two of the ColorCards apps lend themselves nicely to this approach – Everyday Objects and What Can You See? Using either or both apps, you can quickly create picture and photo based stimuli to make your own storytelling aids.  Consider using personal photos of the individuals in the care home; images that provoke discussion or images from a particular time in that person’s history.

The iPad apps can be easily projected onto a larger screen using an HDMI cable and connector to the TV; Apple TV  (http://www.apple.com/uk/tv/?afid=p238%7CsB9pCor4O-dc_mtid_187079nc38483_pcrid_85504187533_&cid=aos-uk-kwg-btb-slid-) or via Reflector app (http://www.airsquirrels.com/reflector/).  This makes it a great point of focus for group based activities in care homes or day centres. Clinicians or carers can facilitate the storytelling using the images as the discussion point for the group members. 

Autism and technology in classrooms: what apps can teachers use?

It’s certainly not a new topic. Much has been made of the use of iPads and other devices with students with autism. Both mainstream media and academic journals have looked at the pitfalls and benefits of using apps and computer software for therapy tasks and for alternative and augmentative communication purposes.

Today, we’re exploring the use of some mainstream apps for students in classrooms to help with three aspects that can cause difficulties for older students with autism: organisation, socialisation and accessing the curriculum.

Organisation

Some of the native features on the iPad/iPhone or Android smartphones and tablets can help higher functioning students to meet teachers’ expectation of managing class and homework more independently in preparation of life beyond school.  Using calendars and reminders can help, with alert set either at the time of the deadline or ahead of time to allow for preparation.

Apps such as the cross platform (free, with in-app purchase options) Evernote can be used to aid productivity for higher functioning students. It allows students to write notes; prepare checklists and organise articles from the web.  The uncluttered workspace is helpful for people who benefit from avoiding unnecessary distraction.

A simple app such as Any.do: To-do List is another useful example for task planning, with time and location reminders. It can be accessed by speech recognition if required. Again a clear interface is useful for students with autism.

Socialisation

Sosh app contains over 60 well-designed screens presenting exercises, strategies, and practical information to work through social situations in a step-by-step manner. The paid app offers a journal, a goals area, a to-do list, and a rating scale to rate anything from your school day to an interaction with a peer. You also get a behaviour tracking area, a voice meter, and an interest log.

Another app, Social Navigator allows students with ASD with socialising or behavioural challenges to learn how to interact with others through questions about everyday scenarios. Its focus on skill building rather than discipline helps users resolve issues and quell agitation in a constructive way.

Accessing the curriculum

The ColorCards suite of apps all allow for teachers to customise and personalise content based on the individual’s learning needs and also curriculum content. This is useful across the Sequences Apps (Basic, 4-Step and 6&8 Step) where students can use curriculum-based images that need to be rearranged into the correct order. This might be for science or maths based topics, or for more vocational classes.

How do I know if my child needs speech therapy?

As parents, its very hard not to compare your child’s abilities with other children of similar ages. While children all develop at different paces and in different ways, there are certain milestones that help parents in deciding whether their child is more-or-less on track.

Talking Point, a service funded by The Communication Trust, has some easy to read handouts which set out important communication skills that you can expect to see at different ages (http://www.talkingpoint.org.uk/directory/free-resources-parents). This is a useful starting point for considering your child’s development more objectively.

The term ‘speech and language difficulty’ covers a whole range of problems including:

• Difficulty listening
• Difficulty attending to spoken information
• Difficulty understanding what others say
• Difficulty learning and using new words
• Difficulty constructing sentences
• Unclear speech
• Difficulty getting words out
• Stammering
• A strained, hoarse or whispery voice
• Difficulty following conversations
• Difficulty with the social parts of conversation, like using or understanding body language or facial expressions

If you have any doubts about your child’s speech or language you should speak with your GP or health visitor and request a referral for a speech and language therapy assessment.

Speech and language therapists are professionals who work with people of all ages on all aspects of communication. A referral to a speech therapist would result in an initial assessment session. You can expect the therapist to take a thorough case history to understand all of the potential factors which might influence speech and language. In addition, he or she would probably do a formal or informal assessment. Informal assessments include observing the child’s communication during play and conversation. They will look at how the child interacts with others. Formal assessment can include a range of tasks, depending on the nature of the difficulty, but can include tasks such as naming objects of describing pictures; or following longer instructions.

If you are concerned about your child’s speech, here are a number of websites to find help
http://www.rcslt.org/Finding_an_SLT

http://www.afasic.org.uk/

Measuring progress: why this is important for measuring change for children who learn differently

Measuring progress is something educators and clinicians have always done. The challenge in 2015 is no different to what its been in the past – how do we measure progress for kids who learn in different ways?

Back in 1995 Lam explained that assessment is unfair if students are not provided an opportunity to demonstrate what they know. Therefore, students who could not demonstrate what they knew were limited in their education opportunities because of the information derived from biased assessments.  So, while some may argue that equality means all students are tested in the same way – the results will be influenced by characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, linguistic background, socio-economic status and disability.

When assessment or evaluation is seen as part of the teaching process, we can more easily adjust the assessment to suit the individual. A portfolio style approach of gathering evidence for skills, progression and for setting goals is often a viable process for students who learn in different ways. This is why, in working in special education, this approach is often popular.

The rise in the use of apps in the special needs classroom is indeed no different than the use of apps in mainstream classrooms. In the Colorcards app range, the designers have drawn on the feedback and expertise of teachers and speech pathologists on how best to track and share progress for students using the apps.

Each of the 5 Colorcards apps (https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/colorcards/id927367010) has a consistent reporting feature running through. The apps collect data on the student’s accuracy; time spent on tasks and also reports on the difficulty levels and shows the activity stimulus.

In addition, the apps allow the review and storage or sharing of the associated spoken comments recorded of the student during the tasks. This really allows for more qualitative evaluation and, indeed, for self-evaluation.

The apps allow the teacher, clinician or parent to customize the content. It is this feature, which in my mind, really opens the apps up to being truly a tool for fairly measuring progress. Being able to customize the images to suit the child means that the level playing field enables a clearer picture of that child’s skills and abilities.  By uploading or taking photos to use in the app of culturally, linguistically and contextual images – the child has a fairer way of being able to demonstrate their own abilities.  Imagine having to name objects in “Everyday Objects” (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/everyday-objects/id927879754?mt=8), which were culturally unfamiliar. Just thinking about the concept of “lunch” and the numerous ways this would be presented in different cultures, is a good example. For me, lunch, may be represented by a ham and cheese sandwich, but for others from different backgrounds, it may be a Japanese style bento box, or an Indian tiffin box.  Being able to adjust the content in the app allows for teachers and therapists to more flexibly create assessment and therapy activities.

The apps cleverly allow teachers or therapists to also track progress for numerous students on his/her caseload or classroom list. This means that quickly and easily content can be created for a student; personalized and used; but that also the teacher or therapist can review progress for individual students, groups or an entire classroom/caseload.

Because the reports can be exported, they can also be shared. This is great for including in learning portfolios or evidencing in progress reports.