By Christina Wallerstein, Playworks.net
Summer gives us breathing room, autumn can take our breath away as we juggle to organize ourselves and our children to meet all the demands of the season. Between back to school and ushering in the new year, we can find ourselves rushed, overwhelmed and discouraged. Learning to simplify and organize becomes ever more important as we seek balance in our lives.
For parents of children with any developmental disability, re-enforcing lessons their children learn in therapy sessions is essential. Doing so takes time, energy, and dedication, and the better organized and focused the parents, the more successful their efforts. Recently, I learned about a valuable aid for both parents and professionals: Functional Uni4m.
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapist and Master's student Michelle Schondorf designed Functional Uni4m with features that enable her to have all the "ingredients" needed for an efficient, well organized session within easy reach. A versatile vest constructed from breathable, lightweight, stretchy fabric and featuring multiple pockets, Velcro strips and grommets for attaching the necessities of a successful session, Functional Uni4m also serves as a visual reminder to all involved that therapy is serious business. With this in mind, parents will find this Uni4m a useful product when working at home to re-enforce lessons learned in therapy.
Each Uni4m features numerous strips of Velcro across the chest that make the vest a "display board" to which the therapist/parent attaches visuals for programming, picture cards for communication, and tokens for a token board. A floating clear pocket also attaches with Velcro. This pocket can hold small reinforcers that serve as reminders of what the child is working towards and keeps these rewards handy.
Back and front pockets provide ample storage for stimuli and materials used during the therapy session. The pockets are deep and stretchy and securely hold reinforcers, small toys, visuals, index cards, small pads of paper, writing instruments, even calculators and a two-way radio or telephone. Back pockets are ideal for hiding stimuli the therapist/parent does not want the child to see. Many small toys available at www.Playworks.net, under Special Needs-Distraction Toys fit perfectly inside the Uni4m's pockets for therapy sessions. These toys work well in getting a child's attention and also help the child maintain focus.
The Uni4m also features grommets at the bottom edge of the vest, one on each side, that allow for attaching a carabineer clip and retractable reel. The clip enables the therapist/parent to attach a clip board for data collection during the session. This keeps data sheets readily available and enables the therapist/parent to enter information more accurately during sessions. The board detaches easily. A retractable clip allows for attaching visual aids to the Uni4m and moving the aids closer and further away from the child.
Michelle Schondorf uses the Functional Uni4m to help children with autism be motivated and have a desire to learn from her. Successful therapy, she says, is all about the relationship and connection that the therapist wearing the Uni4m has created with the child.
"The main idea is to get the child to pay attention and realize that reinforcers and rewards are coming from the individual wearing the Uni4m. I get the child to pay attention to the candy inside the clear pocket attached to my Uni4m or to the tokens on my Uni4m. Soon the child makes the connection between the rewards and the person wearing the Uni4m. The child quickly becomes engaged and excited and begins looking at my face to see what fun things are going to follow.
One crucial key to successfully working with special needs children is that they must like their therapist. They must see me as being fun and exciting. If I constantly have new reinforcers hidden in the Uni4m’s pockets and am surprising my students and keeping them motivated, they are going to be more willing to learn from me. If every time I walk into the child’s home wearing a Uni4m filled with exiting reinforcers, and the child sits quietly, looks directly at me, waiting to see what surprises I have hidden in my pockets, chances are I will be more successful in teaching them important skills."
Sounds as if she's on to something beneficial to everyone working with children with developmental delays!
www.Playworks.net
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