A few ideas from Moondog for families wanting to use properly vetted resources to help with maths and reading skills.

[moondog]

My MSc is ABA is allowing me to learn about some really fantastic things and access 'hot off the press' research.

Two resources that I have found invaluable both personally and professionally have been Numicon which although not new is fantastic. Numbers are represented by shapes which fit together to convey mathematical notions. Really simple to use and fun.

The other is an online reading resource called Headsprout which is cunningly disguised as a computer game.First three lessons are free and they guarantee your money back if progress not made.

Research behind both of these is rock solid and they are thoroughly recommended by my course tutor, Carl Hughes, who is a pretty big shot in the world of ABA. (He set up the first MSc in ABA in Europe).

Please note,to those of me who do not know me,I have no financial or personal incentive for recommending these.I merely wish to spread the word amongst this very knowledgeable community.

Please note also that these may not be appropriate for children with PMLD which is my main area of clinical interest.

Hope this helps some of you.

Thanks moondog, I've been looking for someting that i can use with ds2 he is almost 8 but cannot read at all, recognises letters on their own but thats about it. I've been looking for something that is more age apporpriate but at a very basic level.

Numicom they use at school & lots of kids love but he cannot get on with it as he cannot count & look/point etc at the same time... he is def not a multi tasker

opps im looking at headsprouts , ds knows some of his sounds even though he cant say them but if you make the sound he can point to the write letter .Wonder how well would work on a non verbal child , learning to read harder when can only say nouns

Hi Sky.
What would you like to know?
Anon and Round, I'm interested in using Headsprout with kids who are struggling and/or non verbal in the ways you describe here but I can't give you definitive answers on its suitability.

You might just give it a go but be warned that this is a commitment so think carefully before spending your money. You need to doing it for 25-30 mins. a time 3-5 times a week.

ty Moondog will think about it going to get ds to try the free trials and see what happens .ANd will report back if you would like

He enjoys using a computer and has been using starfall to learn letters .

He is very much a communicator and uses what ever means he can but for now he defintley wont be blending letters at all .Though is of to a speech unit In September though they admit he is one of the most severe they have had yet one of the most willing communcators

Moondog, have just finished chapter 1 (free trial) with DS, he seemed interested in the cartoon characters, but as soon as the letter sounds came he switched off. He knows the phonics sounds (learnt from Bumblebee DVDS and then fun with phonics), but it's blending them in that he seems to be having problem with. Not sure what to do, he lost interest after about 10 mins, although he sat through the whole episode (I had a new dog toy for him to play with as reward). On the one hand, it seems so brilliant, but I am not sure I will be able to make him sit through it for long. He is doing jolly phonics with his ABA therapist at the moment, may be I should wait to see how he gets on with that before paying for headsprout. Thanks for the suggestions.

Yes, maybe.
Some peopel find breaking episodes into tiny blocks helps. One ABA consultant I work with has had huge success doing this with kids with severe Autism.

Your therapist shoud take a look at headsprout thoguh as its very foundation is ABA. The creators are top ABA academics.

Just bought the Numicon maths set for home educators, Moondog, and I'm very impressed, We have tried everything to get my ASD boy to learn what adding up is, but this set makes it far more visual and uses blocks and shapes and pleasing peg holes. Hopefully it will help, if we pair it with really simply and repetitive language till he gets what "add" and "plus" mean. Thanks for the recommendation!

Thank you for reviving this thread!!
Moondog, at what age do you think a child should start these programs?
I am really interested, but ds is 5.5 and really struggling with numeracy and literacy. Should I wait until he's more ready?

Sick, i aodre Numicon, it has worked wonders all around me, giving kids something concrete to tie very abstract idea too. best of luck!

Mojo, the biggest error peopel make is the 'wait and see' one. We have to mive in fast if we see gaps between what a child can do and what we know he should be doing. These kids need more support, not less.

I'd go for it but remember, just buying the stuff doesn't do the trick. if you want results you have to commit to actually doing it regularly (so for Headsprout that means 3-5 1/2 hour slots a week).
Best of luck to you too.

we tried the headsprout today ds had no problems clicking on the letters but he could not prodeuce the sound and blending way beyond him when can only do nouns .

number wise im fortunate he knows 1-20 but can understand one more and one less we been using blocks for counting

I have used Headsprout with some non verbal kids. it is much harder but not impossible but obviously am limited in what i can help you with on the net.
It is essential that you do not prompt or help the child as the programme has built in correction strategies if the child goes wrong so if you help, you mess with the programme and they then don't receive the corrective guidance they need.

I am curious as to the only saying nouns bit.
Eh?

ds can only make the noun sounds due to severe oral dyspraxia even then there more gutteral from his throat .

Even speech therapist at unit was shocked how bad it is and its not from want of trying .

Moondog, I think I will ask DS's therapists to try do headsprout with him. It should be lot easier for them as they have 100% compliance, so he will sit through and learn. If I pay for it, it should not be a problem for them. Only thing I would like to know before approaching is that can you repeat a chapter on it? I tried chapter-1 and wanted to try it again with DS, but it would not let me repeat it. I do think that DS will need to do every chapter few times before he masters it (as far as we can tell, DS has no learning difficulties, it's just that he realises we are trying to get him to do something he switches off.)

You prob. can't repeat on trials but you certainly can when you buy it.
For learners with additional needs there is supplementary paper based work (very easy to follow, based on precision Teaching methods) but I think this is only available in the school package and not the home one (I've done both, professionally and as a parent myself).

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