Welcome
To the 2nd issue of the Lanark, Leeds & Grenville Chapter of O.A.F.C.C.D.’s Newsletter!

We have already expanded to a 4 page newsletter!

Inside this Issue you will find

The Purple Turtle Story
Tips for Summer Travel
Techniques for Facilitating Emergent Language
Summer Fun

If you have any articles or suggestions for future issues please submit to Susan Richards or Connie Beckett.
Enjoy!!!
 

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We would like to Thank Susan Cressy of the Lanark Therapeutic Riding Program and Heather Ballinger from the Lanark Community Program for being two of our first guest speakers.
They both gave the small but interested group a  vast amount of information to take home.
Thank you!!!

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Membership Fees and donations are currently our only source of operating funds. Your membership Fees are very important to us and we need you to send your membership fees as soon as possible. If you have not yet joined, please do so as soon as possible. The Annual Membership Fee is only $15.00 ($5 of which goes to the local Chapter) . So please pay today!!

NOTE: Fees will be waived upon request.

Please complete and send this notice to make sure that your membership information is correct. Return to OAFCCD, Sharen Heath, 13 Segal Dr., Tillsonburg, Ont., N4G 4P4

Name: ___________________________________________________________

Address:_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Phone:___________________________________________________________
 

Parent: ___                     Professional: ___ Specify:______________________

New Member: ___ Renewal: ___

NOTE: Membership Fees can now be paid at the local Chapter level. Please contact Susan or Connie for more information or to make a payment.

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Be sure to visit our Web Site at

http://www.byfalls.com/oafccd/lanark

Here you will find information on Our local chapter

• The Ontario chapter
• Upcoming events and meetings
• Pictures of our children
• Inspirational Poems & stories
• Many links to other sites dealing with Special Needs

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One day a little purple turtle wanted to go swimming with his friends. He had heard it was great fun. When he got to the pond, he saw all of the other purple turtles taking off their shells by unsnapping them. But this little purple turtle had no snaps. He felt around his shell and there were no snaps. Finally one of his friends spotted a button. They all agreed that this must be the wayhis shell comes off. The little purple turtle looked a little more and found several more buttons. He quickly unbuttoned them, and his shell fell to the ground. Once his shell came off, all the purple turtles ran happily to the water. They jumped in and splashed and swam all day.

You are like this little purple turtle. You can swim just as well as all the other turtles but you take your shell off in a different way. That is the way it is for you, especially in school. When all the students are learning in one way you need to learn differently. You have the ability to learn just the same as the little purple turtle had the ability to swim. Going to a special class or having a special teacher help you, is so that you have the same chance of learning as all the other students.

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Handicapped Access Passes

Theme Parks ( Disneyland, Wonderland etc.) and other like facilities willingly provide Handicapped Access Passes (upon request) to use in their facilities. This allows you to use access ramps and exit ramps so your child can enjoy the same rides, etc. other visitors use, without the hassle of standing in line.

Several other items of note:
1. The handicapped individual does not have to be wheelchair-bound. The problem could be ADD and a problem with standing in lines, limited  or non verbal children etc.
2. The pass is not specifically for the individual. It is for the entire "party" accompanying the individual -- just the same as if the entire party arrived at the theme park in one vehicle with a handicapped parking permit.
3. One pass per party

You should phone ahead to make arrangements -- some require it, while others don't. The facility may require a Doctor's note so be prepared.
 

Mileage Countdown Bags for in the Car

You will need:
3 or 4 paper lunch bags for each child
string or ribbon
felt-tipped makers
inexpensive toys that can be used in the car: books, stickers, etc.
snack items: small packages of peanuts, raisins, fruit snacks, fruit, granola bars, rice cakes, boxes of fruit juice, packages of gum, etc.

Even though this activity requires a little extra effort on the part of Mom or Dad, it will be worth it once you are on the road. Not only does it curb the whining question, "Are we almost there?", but it encourages good behaviour as kids anticipate opening their next mileage bag. Older children will be able to trace your route on the map. And predict when the mileage bag will come.
Before the trip, print the name of each child on the outside of the lunch bags. Write the number of miles you will have traveled or the name of the city (50 miles between bags is good distance). Fill the bags with snacks, drinks, toys then tie with string or ribbon.
Once you are travelling, the children will receive the appropriate bag at the spot noted.
Place bags in a basket or box that will sit next to you during the trip. Explain the mileage game at the beginning of the trip, and watch the miles fly by!
 

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Children do not learn language in isolation, away from all others with whom they may interact. Thus, to teach a child language in this manner - pulling it apart to teach each bit alone, and to do so in a room away from other conversations partners, is to defeat the purpose of language itself. The learning of language must be considered similarly to the learning of other social behaviours - it must be done within typical context of occurrence. The factors that affect and influence the language behaviours must also be accounted for.

In order to increase the number of opportunities for a child communicate such that they have positive interactions which encourage them to continue to interact, the following techniques should be employed by parents, caregivers, teachers, support personnel and friend:

A child-oriented approach wherein the child is free to select the materials and manner in which they are used, is the most facilitative environment for language learning. Where this is not possible, flexibility within a structured activity is encouraged. Choose an approach that is best suits the child's needs and language learning level.

1. Following the Child's Lead: Wait for the child to initiate some behaviour (action, playing with a toy, looking at a book.) Interpret that behaviour as meaningful and communicative, even if it was not intended as such. Respond to that behaviour in a communicative manner.

2. Self-Talk:  Talk out loud to yourself about what you are doing, seeing, hearing or feeling. E.g. Mrs. Smith is getting snack ready. First, I will get the bread. Now I am getting the peanut butter. I need a knife. Now, I am opening the peanut butter jar.

3. Parallel Talk:  Talk out loud about what the child is doing. This is best accomplished if the adult is also doing what the child is doing and switches from self talk to parallel talk. No demands are placed upon the child to respond, rather the child is hearing the vocabulary that matches the items and actions with which they are engaged. Often the chances that a child will begin to verbally interact are increased during these activities.

4. Expansions:  These are verbal responses that repeat the child's previous utterance while adding relevant grammatical and sometimes semantic detail. E.g. A child says "baby" while feeding a doll a bottle. The adult may say:" The baby is drinking." "The baby has a bottle." "Kerry is feeding the baby.

5. Expatiations:  These verbal responses comment upon the child's previous utterance, but add or extend the child's meaning by contributing new, relevant information. Using the same example from above, the adult may say " The baby is hungry." "It's time to eat."

6. Recast Sentences:  This type of expansion has the adult use the basic content form the child's utterance and place it in declarative sentence, maybe choosing an interrogative structure - "This baby is hungry." May be recast as "Is this baby hungry?"

7. Build-Ups and Break Downs: These two techniques serve to emphasise and highlight a particular target structure. These techniques involve expanding the child's utterance, then breaking it down into its parts. Finally, the adult builds the sentence back up. This allows the child to see how all the parts work, within the nature of the interaction.

e.g. Child:     The boy is sleeping.
        Adult:     Yes, the boy is sleeping.
        Adult:     He is.
                        He is sleeping in his own bed.

Or   Child:     You missed me.
       Adult:      I missed your leg.
                        I missed.
                        I missed it.

False Assertions:  A false assertion is a statement that is obviously untrue. Most people, including young children, will not let an inaccurate statement go by uncorrected. To be effective, the child must realize that the statement is untrue, and the technique should not be used too often.
Adult: The boys are playing.
Child: No, the boys are helping Mom.
Adult: Oh yes, they are setting the table.

Feigned Misunderstandings: To use this technique, the adult responds to the child as if you have misunderstood his/her comment. This can be particularly useful with children who use short sentences, expecting you to fill in the missing information.

Child: Give me the truck, please
(Adult hands over the truck that doesn't work)
Child: No, I want the truck with the wagon.

Child: I get the juice.
Adult: You got the juice?
Child: I will get the juice.

Modifying the Environment: This technique involves arranging the environment to encourage the child to use target language structures. Four basic strategies can be used:

a) Violation of the Routine Events: Omit or do incorrectly some step in a routine activity. To be effective, the child must be very familiar with the necessary steps so that he/she notices the error.

b) Withholding objects and turns: Do not provide all the necessary objects for the activity, skip over a child's turn during the activity.

c) Violation of object function: Attempt to use an object incorrectly or use an inappropriate object for a particular task.

d) Hiding Objects: move objects from their usual storage place.

You'll need egg cartons - paper or styrofoam - coloured tissue paper, green chenille pipe cleaners and small pieces of coloured yarn. Cut the cups from the carton bottoms and zigzag the top edges to form petals. Cut a chenille stem in half and poke through the bottom of the flowerand bend slightly. Glue to the inside cup of the flower. Crumble a piece of tissue paper and glue to the inside cup of the flower. Repeat all of the instructions and you will have a beautiful bouquet. You can prepaint the paper cups if you wish with tempera paint. Spray a  little perfume on them for a real floral smell.

All children love to paint with water colours. To make you get 1 tbsp. each of vinegar, baking soda and cornstarch  and 1/2 tsp. corn syrup and food colouring. Mix the vinegar and baking soda in a bowl. When it stops fizzing, add the cornstarch and the corn syrup. Blend together. Put it into 3 lids/cups and add the food colouring. You can use immediately or wait for it to dry and use with a wet paintbrush. Just brush the wet paintbrush over the dried cake of paint.

You can make your own stickers! You mix 1 tbsp. Of flavoured gelatin with 2 tbsp. of boiling water in a heat-proof container. Brush the sticky solution onto the back of a picture/decal/whatever. Let it dry completely. Lick and stick the picture when you are done. It really sticks and it tastes good too.

Here are few tips for using tempera paint at home for all seasons.

• Water and soap flakes or detergent will make it easier for the paint to wash out if you add a   little to the paint.
• Liquid detergent will prevent cracking: liquid starch will make the paint thicker
• Condensed milk will give it a glossier look.
• Powdered alum can be used as a preservative: This is true for playdough as well.

On a sunny day use a garden hose to spray a fine mist of water across the sun's rays. Have the children stand with their backs to the sun and look for the rainbow in the mist. Name the rainbow colours with the children - red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. Explain that the sunlight contains all these colours mixed and when it hits the water from the garden hose - or raindrops in the sky - all the colours are separated.

Fill a glass with clear soda water. Drop a few raisins into the glass. What is happening are some of the bubbles in the soda water collect on the raisins, making them lighter, and so the raisins rise to the top. The bubbles burst once they reach the top, making the raisins heavier again, and they flow back down to the bottom.

1 cup Joy liquid dishwashing detergent
2 cups warm water
3-4 tablespoons glycerine (found at drugstores)
1 teaspoon sugar
Gently stir all ingredients together in a big plastic container. Search around your home and find unbreakable items that will make super bubbles - i.e. six pack drink holders, straws, funnels etc.

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