TRANSCRIPT-Complex Learners: Setting Up for a Successful School Year-8/21/23 >>Sara Kitchen: Here are the things that we're going to be talking about in order of importance, as far as I'm concerned. I think both of us. The first thing that we're going to talk about is building relationships. This is the foundation for all of your instruction is of course your relationships with the student. We learn so much better from people we like to be around. So that's number one. Number two is creating a meaningful learning environment, which is -- can be very complex, depending on the student's needs. We have to present information and decide on what kind of information to present based on what the student's experiences have been, how they gather information from their environment. And then also -- so the environment has to make sense, right, for everybody. And then provide an organized learning environment. And we'll get into that, ways to organize the learning environment as well in just a little bit. So, let's go on to the next slide. >>Sarah Mossberger: Okay. So like Sara said, one of the first things, one of the most important things is building that relationship. And so that relationship that we have with our student, that really creates the foundation for learning. If our students don't feel safe, not only in our class but working one-on-one with us, it's going to be hard for them to learn from us. So, the first thing, we really want to build that relationship. So, some of the ways that we put together that you could work on that is first and foremost, play. Just playing with the kid. No demands. Knowing what they like and offering those objects. And then imitating and interacting with them as they're playing with those objects so you build that back and forth. The student can get used to you in a setting where there's no demands. They're able to just play with you and get to know you better. While you're playing, and as you're observing and learning your student, finding out what they like and building on those interests. We're going to talk later about how you can incorporate those interests more in what you're doing with the student. It's important to think about your body positioning. You don't want to be towering over our kid. If we're working with a kiddo with complex needs, maybe they're Deafblind, we want to make sure we're close, we're in their space, that way they know we're there. Look at the ways they're trying to communicate with us, using their body language, their gaze. And then we linked for you guys -- I think Kaycee just put the handout in the chat but we have the links to all of these things in our handout as well. But we linked the Active Learning Space website. There's more information if you go there on the five phases of interaction and how you can really, with our more complex kiddos, how you can work through figuring out where they're at and how best to interact and play with them. Play in a way that's meaningful. >>Sara Kitchen: Hey, something that Lynne often says and pointed out to me a long time ago was, you know, going back to that no demands, offering and imitating somebody. You know, when we're first getting to know someone, usually we spend some time just finding out what they're like. Finding out who they are. You know, if we build a relationship on demands, that person who we're demanding from is oftentimes -- as we approach the first thing they're going to be like is, oh, I've got to go. This person is going to make me do something. You know, just like some folks may have had this experience with a colleague or a boss, maybe. Here comes the boss. I've got to go the other way because I know they're going to ask me to do something and I don't want -- you know, their presence means something is going to be demanded of me that I do not want to do. So, it's very important that we establish a relationship first as this is a person who I do want to do things with. This is a person who does things that I want to do. And once we establish that and get that going, then the things that I don't want to do, I can do easier with you because I like you and I'm willing to go along with you. But if we start out by, like, you must do this, then our kids are going to be, like, no thanks. Go away. So that's just the reason why we have that first is because the no demands part is a big deal. >>Sarah Mossberger: For sure. >>Sara Kitchen: And the five phases is really no demands based. It spells out how to interact with the child in this way. And I guess we're talking about students who are developmentally at that level where demands cannot be placed upon them in that 0 to 36-month-old developmental level. They're just not learning that way yet. Okay. That's all I needed to add. And on the next slide, after you have created those meaningful relationships and those strong relationships, then think about the learning environment. And we really learn about what's meaningful to a child by watching them. Paying attention to them, especially if they're not able to give us a lot of information verbally in an abstract way. Or they're not able to explain what they like to do. So, if somebody is not much of a language user, we are going to be watching how they interact with their environment, in order to know how to give them information. So how do they use their senses, right? How do they interact with other people? How do they give information? How do they get information? We really want to look at that giving information because kids give a lot of information and we got to pay attention to it. Whether or not they use verbal language, if we don't pay attention to the information that they're giving us, then we're going to miss some very important communication, and that could be detrimental to our relationship with them. And sometimes their way of doing this is subtle so we kind of have to be really keen observers. Do we know -- what kind of forms of communication do they use? Some of this stuff is going to be, you know, in their paperwork. You can look up how do they use their senses, what's their communication like. But some of the things you're just going to have to see what they're doing in action. What has their experience been? Talking to their parents is a good way to know what their experiences has been or watching them, how do they interact with objects. What do they do with objects? Do they know a lot of things about objects or just a little bit? How do they explore objects? How do they explore people? That gives you an idea of what their experience is like, what they're interested in now versus what have they already done, what might they be bored with or what are they not quite ready for yet. This is a big one. What kind of person are they? There are a lot of different kinds of people out there and one of the things that I do a lot of times when I'm having more trouble getting to know a student or trying to understand them is I watch them with somebody who I know they really like. And I say, okay, what are they doing? What is their connection like? What is this person like who is a motivating type of person to this student? And then I use that information in my interaction with the student because I want to be a pleasant person to them. I want to be the kind of person that -- I want to switch my style over to something that they like, that they can handle. I'm not talking about being fake but I am talking about bringing out a part of myself that is -- we all do this. We use -- we kind of match other people. We match their style. We match their pace. We match how loud or quiet, how energetic or calm they are all the time. This is a very human trait that we just shift from when we're interacting with one person versus another. And you definitely want to be able to do that with your student too in order to connect. Thinking about what they like to communicate about is a nice thing -- you know, you can practice it at a party. You know, just by asking somebody what do they like. Asking them more and more questions about themselves and what they like. I tried this at a party one time. The conversation went really well until I offered something about myself and then it ended like that. This was just with typically-developing adults. So that's something to think about. And there's also another resource from Active Learning Space called the Active Learning Planning Sheet, which is a great way to start thinking about instruction. Setting up your classroom. Setting up your student-specific environments and activities. And, Collin, if you want to click on Active Learning Planning Sheet, just so we can kind of look at it. It's on the web and it's clickable in your notes as well. Go down a little bit and click on the PDF version. Yeah. Okay. So, as you can see, this shows -- this gives you a place to really share information as a team about the student's likes and what they don't like. That can be expanded. You don't have to stick to eight boxes or however many those are. If you go down further, this second section called the pathways to learning sensory channels is a way for you to really look at how they use their senses. And it helps the team gather information of things, objects that are going to be important or interesting to the student. That will be good materials for instruction with the student. And then, you know, this whole thing is just a great way to start thinking about how are you going to be, there's a bunch of questions that can get the team focused on the student. How do they interact. What are their interests. It's just more specific. So, you can check that out and use that to start to gather information and compile it and put it together for instruction as a team. And did you want to add anything, Sarah? >>Sarah Mossberger: Well, Sara's been mentioning a lot about the word "team" and that's one of the things she and I were preparing this presentation, we talked about too. It really does have to be a team effort. And so, this resource is really great if you have, like, a new classroom teacher who maybe isn't used to having this kind of student in their classroom. Or maybe you're a new TVI or a TVB or DHH. Like Sara said, it shouldn't be one person that fills this out, it should be a team. It can be hard to know how to get started. And also, the questions are really good. Again, if you have a new teacher, it really kind of helps start getting their brain thinking about maybe things that they need to look at with the student that they're not used to looking at with their students. So, it's just a really good resource for building that team conversation and drawing in all of the team members to help you with planning your activities and stuff. >>Sara Kitchen: Yeah, it really gets you focused on the child, as opposed to being focused on some lesson that may or may not apply to this child. Instead of fitting the child into the lesson, you're fitting the -- that didn't come out right. [Laughter] So let's go back to the PowerPoint. And go to the next slide. >>Sarah Mossberger: Okay. So, we really wanted to talk -- wait. Are my notes the same? Yes, they are. So, we really wanted to talk to you about, like Sara just said, we wanted activities around the student's interests. That can be hard because in a school district they probably gave you, if you're the teacher, they've given you a pacing calendar or given you this curriculum that they want you to use. So, again, as a team it does take some creative thinking to figure out how to make those more abstract things really relate to your student. But we want to develop activities that our student would be interested in. Something that Kaycee used to always tell me when she was my mentor and I was still in the classroom. If your student could talk, even a non-verbal student or an emergent communicator. If your student could talk, what would they want to talk about? Likely it's not this random, arbitrary thing. So, we want to develop activities around the things our students like. And then using predictable routines throughout the day. And I think sometimes teachers hear the word "routines" and they think that means they have to develop these multi-stepped abstract things. We use routines all the time naturally in our day. And so, there's probably a lot of things that that classroom teacher does that they do the same way, the same time every day. And so, if those are things that are also motivating to the student, you can start there. But we want to develop routines, predictable routines through the day. There's the daily living things we have to do. If this kiddo is in a life skills classroom, they probably have life skills built in their day, so that's a great place to start. Sara's going to talk about it a little bit more in another slide but independent activities. Those are things that our students like to do that don't require prompting. When they do have that free time or break time or that down time, they can really enjoy things that they like to enjoy in the way that they like to enjoy it. When you're observing that kiddo do that, you're going to learn a lot about how they do the things they do. It's also important that we allow the student to participate at the developmental level that they're at. And sometimes, again, that can be difficult when we're asking them to participate, maybe in things that are a little harder for them or that are a little above maybe where they're at with their fine motor skills or with their cognitive development. So, we do have a video that we're going to show you. But before we show it, I want to say one other thing and then we can watch the video. But the last section is just knowing your goal. And so, when we do have those routines and we do have those activities with the student, it's really important that the teacher knows why they're having the student do that task and it's not just an arbitrary task that you gave this kid to do for 15 minutes to fill their day. If you know why you're having that child do that activity, then the child's going to know too. And so maybe it's about making choices. Maybe it's following a sequence box so that they're learning time concepts. But we want to understand why we're asking the child to participate in these activities so that it's a meaningful thing. So, having said that, Sara, I'm going to let you introduce the video because you know this kiddo. You know a little bit more about it. >>Sara Kitchen: As you're watching this video, I want you to make -- if you could please just pay close attention to how the teacher and the student are using their hands. This is a student who, you know, doesn't like to have his hands placed on things, which is the way most of our students do. But part of the goal of this routine is for him to stay with it and for him to observe. For him to get the experience of doing this activity at whatever level of sensory input he can take. And also, for him to remain -- to continue to be self-regulated. To continue to feel okay. Because if he doesn't feel okay, he can't stay with the routine. He may do something else. He may push everything away or start to holler or just exhibit distress. For him to stay with her, she has to modify the routine. You see a sequence box in front of him. It's got four or five slots in it and these are the ingredients to making muffins. So that's what they're doing together. Let's go ahead and watch this video. [Video] >>Two hands. Do it together. Ready? And then we got another egg. Ready to tap it? Tap, tap. Two eggs. And then we're going to -- I have two cupcake tins. I'll do one and will you do one? We've got our paper liners. Let's count. Are you ready? One. There's one. One. Feel that? Two! >>Two! >>One more. >>Three! Four! Five! [Laughter] >>Ready? Oh my gosh! Where are you going with that cupcake liner? Six! All right. There's one pan. Do you want to help me with mine? Let's keep going. What's after six? >>Seven! [Laughter] >>See? There it is. Eight! [Laughter] >>Oh, my goodness! Number nine. Number ten. Two more. Oh, it fell. 11 and 12. >>12! >>Can I have a high-five? Woo! You counted out 12 muffin liners. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve! Yoo hoo! Okay. One. Ready? Number -- >>Two. >>Two. So good, Eddie. Oh, three. [Laughter] >>Oh, my gosh. It smells so good! After three is number? >>Four. >>Four! And then we've got number -- >>Five! [Laughter] >>And number -- >>Oh, my gosh! That's one tray. Half of 12 is 6. Eddie, we call that a half dozen. >>Yay! >>Yay! >>Do you want to help me do these other six or do you want me to have my turn? >>My turn? >>Okay. Will you help me count as I go? Okay. One. >>Sara Kitchen: So, you get the idea. Is there anything in the chat? Is there anybody who noticed anything about that routine? >>Kaycee: There was lots of talk in the chat that he was obviously enjoying the activity very much and that he was precious and had that cute giggle. And then Maria added you can see they obviously have a very trusting relationship. >>Sara Kitchen: Yes. That relationship. That first important thing that is foundational to this activity that they're doing together. Another thing that I noticed in here is that, you know, Eddie did not have to do things perfectly. He was doing it at -- it wasn't an area of interest of his at this time to put the tins, the papers into the tin and have one-to-one correspondence to each of those. He was more I'm going to hold it up and put it down when I'm ready to put it down. I'm counting and I'm putting it down. I'm picking it up and putting it down and I'm counting what I'm doing. And I'm playing with you together while doing this. But, at the same time, you know, he is sticking with her. He has his hand on top of hers and is paying attention. Every once in a while, he gets his fingers in the goo, in the mix. And it's not something that I think he's a non-gooey fingers type of person but you don't see him pulling away or anything like that. He's taking as much sensory information through his hands as he can and it's as much as what makes sense to him. So, is there anything else that you all noticed? >>Kaycee: Cheryl and Rachel had similar notes to what you just shared. Cheryl said he's respected and is honored for what he can do. And Rachel said I love that she never even focused on where he put the liners, it was not the point of the activity. >>Sara Kitchen: It goes back to knowing your goal. Does it matter whether he puts it in the right spot? The other thing that Lynne always says -- you got to love Lynne McAlister. It's not that you get done making the muffins. It's not that you have the muffins done, it's that you enjoy your time making the muffins. It's about the process, not the product. So, when you're doing something like this, the muffins can get made and you can eat them later and it doesn't matter if it goes perfectly. If the ingredients are right or wrong or anything like that. It's more about the time you're spending together and the way you're interacting in the activity. And then the muffins are just icing on the cake or on the muffin. [Laughter] So I guess I will continue, since we have more videos. >>Sarah Mossberger: Next slide. >>Sara Kitchen: Is this your slide, Sarah? >>Sarah Mossberger: No, I think this one is yours. This is about the calendars on our communication system. >>Sara Kitchen: Oh, here it is. So, the calendars for students with multiple impairments, including DeafBlindness, is a great way to find out how to build a communication system. What we want with our students is for them to be engaged in instruction and for them to start making more meaning and building more and more -- learning better and better ways to communicate their needs, their desires, their choices with other people so that they can be understood. With a number of different people so they can know that they are understood. And so, the calendars book by Robbie Blaha is linked on your notes. And what I think is a really great tool in this book, just even to start out with, is something that's at the end of the book that I didn't know about for quite a long time. But I would have loved to have known about it. It's called the guide to selecting time frames and it is an observational kind of thing that you can do with the team in about 15 minutes or less. Once you hone in on what kind of calendar your student uses -- and what I mean by what kind of calendar, okay, a calendar is the same thing as a schedule. And when you are learning about time, time is really hard to pin down. As we all know, time is very subjective, so we try to make it in a time understandable to our students. And when -- and concrete. And in doing that, we have to represent it with objects, like the sequence box that you saw with Eddie and Julie in the last video. That represents time passing because it's all the ingredients are arranged in a left to right order. Just like with reading, it's a pre-reading skill. And once all of those things are gone, all of the objects that you used are finished and you finished each object as you used it, then you can check that and say, okay, I've done everything in here. Now the activity is done because all the objects are taken out of the sequence box. So that is one way to represent time. And in the calendars book, you can find lots more ways to represent time, various examples of how to represent time in a really meaningful way for students. You know, having the things that represent now, like what we're going to do next, feels and looks and smells and tastes and every sense you can think of. It's different. That container that you get, the next thing we're going to do is really different from the container which means I'm finished. I'm done with this activity. I'm going to put this object or this symbol away. So, if you do that guide to selecting time frames, it will hone in on the chapter that you need to pay the closest attention to. So, you don't have to read the whole book from start to finish and then finally get to the guide to selecting time frames and go, oh, I guess now I'll do, you know, what I need to do with my student. No, you can really find what you need right now and start there and really just hone in on the chapter that's going to guide you with this student right now. So, you can get the information fast. Another really great guide is First Things First. It's from design to learn and they have these things -- First Things First is a great way to start building routines with kids and building communication into those routines. First Things First and a number of their other items are listed and they are -- you can pay to download them and it's not very expensive. And you can print them. So, you can get them right away. Whereas calendars, you have to order it from TSBVI's curriculum department. They're pretty fast but it will take a little bit longer than that. >>Sarah Mossberger: Sara, before you move, if I -- a tip from the trade that really helped me was we bought the Calendars book in surplus and I kept them in our Deafblind library. That way I was able to loan the book to the team and leave it. I always had mine on my person. Like it was my Bible. And I could whip it open and show you. But, again, it's a great way to give to your teachers, your speech pathologists so they can help you with the communication. You can really draw in everybody. This is how it all starts. But if they have buy-in in selecting what kind of calendar the student is going to use, there's a lot more chance that they will actually use it and use it with fidelity when you're not there to oversee it. >>Sara Kitchen: Yes. And this works for kids with complex communication needs. Yeah. Works for all of those kids. >>Sarah Mossberger: Okay. So, the next slide is talking about using a consistent material and location for activities. We want to keep in mind where we're putting their stuff. I always like to say, say no to the Braille fairy. It does our kids no good if we plop them at the table and things magically appear in front of them but they don't know where it came from and they don't know where it goes. We want to make sure we're being mindful of where things go. Especially items used to communicate. I can't ever tell you I need to go to the bathroom if I don't know where my bathroom symbol is. We're setting them up for failure. We need them to know where things are. We can use the sequence boxes for activities, like Sara was saying. It helps things be in a predictable way. There are so many skills you can build just around the sequence box. You know, it's originally pre-made but helping them load the sequence box. We want to involve them in getting their things and we want to involve them in putting it away. We saw in the video with Eddie, she wasn't manhandling his hands, she was guiding him through it. As we build that independence, when they're ready for that, be able to access those things and they'll know where it is because they're used to it. We've given it to them in a consistent way in a consistent location. And then the other thing is just keeping in mind that we want to use a specific location for specific activities. You know, we're going to do toothbrushing at the sink in the bathroom, just like we would at home. It's not super meaningful if we're having them brush their teeth at the table. We wouldn't do that. It doesn't make sense. We're cooking in the kitchen or maybe we're at the table and we're not actively using the kitchen appliances but we're doing it in the same area, so it can help take those activities and keep them concrete and keep them meaningful. We talked about exercising in the gym or maybe the OT comes in and wants to take them to the sensory room every time. Keeping those routines and where we're doing the things in a predictable place and in a place that makes sense. >>Sara Kitchen: Yeah, these materials are really helpful when we're protecting our relationship with the student. Because the less you have to tell them what to do, the more successful they will feel. One of the things is that, you know, the calendar thing that we're talking about before and the materials for that. If those materials are on hand and you can say I'm going to show you what's coming next. And you put this basket, it means now we're going to do this. And you give that to the child but you give it to them by just touching their arm. If they have had enough experience with them and you're touching their arm, they're going to know to reach in there and get it themselves. They're going to know, oh, this is coming next. Instead of us telling them what's coming next. If we tell them, it's more like it can be an argument, you know, because you're just telling them to do it. But and you're also placing a demand. But if the calendar is telling you to do it, well then, it's something you guys can talk about. Like, oh, we really are irritated that we have to, you know, go brush our teeth. It's so annoying. And I don't like doing that. But it's not me that's telling you to do it, it's the calendar. And it's the same thing with sequence boxes. What's next? I had a lot of students who I would help guide their hand to the empty slot and they had learned from shadowing me and going from a left to right sequence that if we go to an empty slot, then we go to the next one until we find a slot that has something in it. If we work all the way to the calendar and there's nothing in it, that means the activity's finished. That's how we would go back and check all the time and just these materials we're giving so much information that I don't have to tell a student how to do it and the materials were giving them that and they can tell they were the master of the materials and they understood what was going on and it wasn't just somebody making them do stuff. So, the next slide -- okay. So here are some examples. We have a play routine with the student and independent examples. Both of these things are -- I may stop them before they finish because they're a little bit long. But this is a play routine with a student and her speech pathologist. [Video] >>Pushed it away. [Child vocalizing] >>I don't think she knows there's Cheez-its in that room either. >>Oh, my. Okay. [Child vocalizing] >>I don't think you've ever stopped. Open. Some more candy. Open. Yum. Yum. Yum. Ah. Yum. [Pounding on window] >>Yum. Yum. [Vocalizing] >>Hi. I'm over here. Hi. Oh, more candy. Open. Candy. Yum! Should we row? Row, row, row your boat gently down the street. Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. I wish you could see her face. >>Behind you. >>Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Row, row, row your boat. Should we stand up and do it? Stand up? Row, row, row your boat. Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Yay! [Clapping] >>What? What do we do? Are you going to give me a hug? Oh, a hug. There's the classroom. There's the classroom. Yeah. Open. Where is your calendar? Finished. Now you play. >>Bye, everyone. >>Play. Play. [End of video] >>Sara Kitchen: So, in that video some of the goals were determined by this child's parents who wanted her to be able to -- she would go to the couch -- she would go to the pantry and she would just kind of stand at the pantry. Open up the pantry and just kind of stand there looking at things and just kind of moan. And they kind of had to guess what she wanted. So, what we were trying to work on is giving her containers that were -- that she could see through and she could choose what she wanted and bring it to the person and ask them to open it for her and to have a snack that way. So that was one of the goals that she was working on. Another goal was for her to initiate any sort of communication. And one way she was doing that was to hand an object to somebody. And the other way she was doing that was by giving her hands a gesture. And this rowing playing activity, that had been established as something she could do at another time within another routine. And this was two routines combined so she could choose what was the topic. Do I want to do this play gross motor activity? Do I want to request, you know, more M&M's or more Cheez-its. She never chose the Chees-its that day but they were in a similar container that she could see through. Practicing a number of things. The environment was modified. She went to a different room and then the classroom because the classroom was very difficult for this child to focus on another person in because there was so much going on in there, so much noise, so much -- all the stuff in the room. And so, she got to go and have some calm -- a calm environment with another person so she could practice her communication. Was there anything in the chat that -- anything that was remarked on with this routine? >>Kaycee: Yeah, Margaret shared that following the student's lead is so important to keep them engaged. So important to be flexible. >>Sara Kitchen: Agreed. >>Kaycee: I shared that I loved how that goal supports the family's needs. It's really family centered. Love that. >>Sara Kitchen: Yeah. Yeah. We have another video, and we probably won't show this whole thing, of this child doing independent time. And this is a time when she can play with something that she likes to play with with no prompting. And she was very interested in. I'm going to forward it a little bit. This window was her play area. She would always come back to that. You see her little symbol that her speech pathologist had given her, what she's holding and shaking. At some point somebody brings her something to play with, from which she -- and plays with in the way that she likes to play with objects, which is by putting them in her mouth. By shaking them. By doing a number of different things with them. And she also compares them. And she is a child who needs to move. So, she would leave the area and come back. And so, it wasn't an activity where she had to stay in that spot. She could get up and go. Without allowing this, it would have been very difficult for her. She comes back to the area. She leaves again. I'm skipping ahead. She scatters objects around. She comes back and now she stays a little bit longer playing with objects. Actually, exploring it. A number of different --[Inaudible]. Explores them. It gives her an opportunity to compare and contrast the things. Make choices about what she wants to do next, to continue interacting with objects in a way that makes sense to her. So now we have a written routine that Sarah is going to explain. >>Sarah Mossberger: So, we do have a link to a blank version of this but it's not accessible. But we're working on getting that. That will be something that we can share with you later. But we -- this is an example of a hygiene routine that we had written for our student. Notice at the top it says first grading period objective one. We actually had his IEP goals written around different routines. So, the steps that we had written in this routine sheet would help him meet his first objective for that goal. But we would print our routines. We have them hanging where he was going to do these routines at. We had a folder where they are all printed in and anybody who came in to work with this little fella knew the steps of the routine, they knew how to set it up for him and knew what language we were targeting. So, again, it's just a very organized way to make things routine, predictable. And then we had -- >>Sara Kitchen: [Inaudible] >>Sarah Mossberger: And then we have a picture of what his sequence box looks like once it was set up. So, it was in the bathroom area. So, he would take his symbol from his calendar area and that let us know he needed to go to the bathroom and do this routine. We had this box set up in the order written in the sheet. He had his finish box he knew to put the things in when he was done. Just an example of what that looks like. And then that's his calendar area where he would get his symbols. And the reason that we wanted to share this was because you can see he has a mixture -- he had more symbols than that but this was what was in there at the time I snapped the picture. They are labeled in print for anybody who walked up to know how to help them. The symbols are a mix between tactile symbols and objects. The student had no vision so we had to start with the actual objects and once we realized he seemed to understand what the object was for and what routine it related to, we would start pairing it with the tactile symbol. >>Sara Kitchen: They were moving him into a more abstract form of communication, which is also more portable than objects. >>Sarah Mossberger: Right. >>Sara Kitchen: And here are some more examples of communication systems that various people have done. They look a lot different from each other. It's based on the specific student, how much time they can understand. There are also examples of just like their area. Their area for communicating and all their stuff is stored in a particular place and that's where they learn to know how to look for their materials. So different kinds of calendars. Definitely not an exhaustive list or set of examples. They can come in books. They can come in any right to left, top to bottom sequence. They can be objects, pictures, tactile symbols up through Braille-labeled items. Or just a Braille list. It can sometimes be a Braille list or a print list. And it's nice to have -- like in some of those, something that describes what -- how the child uses it, right next to their calendar area so you can help their other staff, you know, not that anybody ever calls in sick, but just in case. That somebody is not there or a couple of people in the staff aren't there. At least the subs will know a little bit more about what to do. And we have a list of other resources that are clickable in your notes. So, check those out in all of your oodles of time that you have.