Meeting Student Goals Continued

 As I touched on before, there are many options and tools available for students to aid them in meeting their IEP goals.


Example 6:

Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance: Andy uses a variety of sounds, gestures, signs, and picture/symbols to communicate with his family. He is very social and enjoys parallel play. Andy does not communicate vocally in the classroom, but does use some gestures. At school Andy will sign, but only with prompts.

Annual Goal: Andy will increase expressive language production by using a variety of communication methods in the classroom, including sign language, gestures, communication boards, pictures, and simple voice output devices during four out of five opportunities. 

Above is a voice output device which enables students with speech impairments to communicate their needs. The technology with these devices ranges and can be tailored to an individual's ability. Letters, words, phrases, or sentences can be selected and are spoken aloud by the device giving the individual a voice. 

Above are PECS which stands for picture exchange communication system.This a form of AAC that focuses on the initiation component of communication. Students  exchange pictures to make requests and communicate. 

Both of these options would help Andy meet his goal of increasing his expressive language by making communication easier and more fun in the classroom. Both of these can also be used in the home to promote generalization so that Andy's social skills can transfer to the classroom as well. 

PECS are something that I use very often with the autistic students that I work with, and can be very helpful for a student regardless of their abilities. Communicating our wants is something we often take for granted, and PECS enable even a nonverbal student to do this. 

Resources Below

 Dell, A., Newtown, D., & Petroff, J. (2012). Assistive Technology in the Classroom. 

 Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Education Inc.

Images Found At

 http://cmgm.stanford.edu/~pbrutlag/portfolio/techeval/vguard.jpg

http://www.speechbuddy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/speech52.jpg