Albert Knows A Thing OR Two

“If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough -Albert Einstein

 I will never tire of recommending frequent and thorough comprehension checks whether at home, work or school. It is most vital with students with special needs such as ADHD, Autism, Learning Disabilities, Communication Impairments or delays or disruptions in the developmental process.
What can we do as parents, educators, trainers and employers to improve the learning and recall process?

1. Create a safe atmosphere to make mistakes and ask for help.
2. Ask learner to say back what was just said to know if message is getting through.
3. Break directions and concepts into shorter chunks.
4. Ask how they would teach the material.
5. Ask what is harder or easier to understand about the material.
6. Ask why this information is important to know.
7. Give examples of the practical application of what you are covering.
8. Make corrections with kindness, emphasizing that it is in making mistakes that we often learn the most.
9. Make mistakes often(play dim)and ask student to correct you in the way they would appreciate being corrected.
10. Discuss study techniques often and whether they learn more from rewriting notes, hearing the material multiple times, telling someone the material, highlighting key points etc.

Learning happens in every moment of every day and optimizing each moment will result in better comprehension, improved recall, more love of learning and perhaps increased self esteem. Albert felt good about himself especially when he made mistakes. He was also the consummate teacher always striving for learners to ultimately become their own teacher at heart.

“I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” Albert Einstein

Blogs, dreams and New Ideas

I awoke groggy and a bit grumpy this morning and needed time to remember to count my blessings. I was feeling overwhelmed negotiating my new interest in the world of blogging. Well the big world of blogging got nicer, friendlier and more accessible today.

Jeremiah McNichols of http://zrecs.blogspot.com/ shared thoughts and recommendations useful to a new blogger such as myself. He was kind enough to answer my questions about the multitude of purposes a blog can serve and better still is reviewing our creation Thumball.

From the start, my intention was not to create a self serving blog concerned only with marketing our invention (even if it is the greatest thing since sliced bread). Jeremiah helped me recognize I wanted to create a place to describe the many ways Thumball can be played in order to serve every age and all ability levels whether in school, at home or in the office.

I am recognizing it is my expertise as a speech therapist that I want to share. Thumball was born during my work with students diagnosed with autism, communication impairments, learning disabilities, ADHD and emotional disturbance. I watched as their attention and motivation increased with the introduction of a ball and they began to get along with each other in positive ways.

So I literally had a dream in Dec of 2004 that told me "You must market this concept." So my husband and I listened to my dream's command and took the leap into the world of entrepreneurship and manufacturing. We have been living this dream for 3 and a half years now and I have learned more than I can believe possible.

Techniques flow from me on ways to facilitate communication and build learning skills and foster relationships that I forget not everybody can generate as easily.
This blog hopes to contribute to improved connections between brothers and sisters, teachers and students, employers and employees by playing with a purpose.

I look forward to sharing our experiences from the road at trade shows. I plan to continue my development of seminars that provide usable ideas which encourage and empower people. Expanding my technology skills while patiently learning how to offer a stimulating blog is a new goal.

We never stop learning and that gets me up in the morning and when I interact with an intelligent kind person like Jeremiah I sleep better at night.

At a Loss for Words? Thumball can provide some.

A friend of a friend is Uncle to a youngster diagnosed with Autism. "At times it can be difficult to know what to do. He doesn't communicate verbally and I am at a loss for words when I am with him." Uncle reports. He took a chance on Thumball™ and bought the Animals design and the Emotion Mania Thumball™. His nephew readily received them and began turning it all around and looking at each panel.

Now there was a place to start so Uncle said "Can you show me a dog, the mouse, an animal that flies or has a tail? To his sweet surprise his nephew could do all of those things, smiles began to show and the fun continued for hours.

The Emotion Mania Thumball™ gave Uncle the chance to be silly and act out facial expressions and body language which mesmerized his nephew and soon he was trying to make faces too (a challenging concept for some) and this lasted through the day.

A simple ball engineered to stimulate communication had done it's job. The creativity that flowed on came from Uncle and nephew and a meaningful way to play and interact. Ready to play? It's your turn!