Socially Speaking™ App for Social Skills Building in Young Children with Autism and Special Needs

Solutions My App Provides:

• The Socially Speaking™ App provides an easy, succinct, and visual way to assess and determine "missing puzzle pieces" re: social skills development, play skills development, and self regulation skills

• The Socially Speaking™ App ties the child's current level of behavioral/social skills functioning directly to lesson plans aimed at increasing pragmatic and self regulation skills in young children with Autism and other special needs

• The Socially Speaking™ App can customize lesson plans with goals and graphics, giving the child's team common ground/language, better perspective, and an easier time documenting future IEP goals

Objective of My App:

I designed the Socially Speaking™ App as an assessment protocol containing 2 checklists re: social skills development, and a lesson plan template to help the young child with Autism and other special needs. Update baseline data, determine starting points for remediation, and succinctly document the lesson's materials/techniques. Customize Behavior Plans and IEP goals for the child in need of help. Upload your own photos or take photos on the go, for a unique "hands on" experience to facilitate teamwork. Export your entire evaluation as a PDF, which can be Emailed immediately to file.

*DISCLAIMER*

1. Due to HIPPA regulations re: confidentiality, content of the PDF cannot be saved once the App is turned off. As long as you keep the App open, you can view/change/export/print the PDF.

2. When importing photos and typing text in the text boxes, remember: the longer the sentences, the greater the possibility that printer margins re: page breaks (i.e. layout of the top of the page and bottom of the page) may be affected when printing the PDF. This is NOT a bug! There is no way to anticipate how many words per phrase you'll type. Make sure to examine/export the entire PDF, to ensure layout, BEFORE closing the App.

- Penina Rybak MA/CCC-SLP

Goals:

1. To assess social skills development in young children with Autism and special needs

2. To formulate and implement more precise, customized IEP goals to facilitate self regulation and social skills in young children with Autism and special needs

3. To enhance multidisciplinary collaboration for the child in need of behavior management and social skills strategies

*ABOUT ME*

PENINA PEARL RYBAK, MA/CCC-SLP earned her degree from New York University in speech-language pathology. She has provided services to young children with special needs in a variety of settings: home-based early intervention, center-based therapeutic preschool classrooms, self-contained school-age classrooms, and private practice. Penina participated in the 1995-2000 New York State TRAID Project, which worked to improve communication options in special education by integrating assistive technology in the classroom. She recently spearheaded “The Boardmaker Initiative” for Mayer-Johnson™ at a charter school in NY. Penina specializes in social skills development for young children with special needs, particularly those with Autism. She is a national speaker, who provides educational seminars on "iPad Uses in Early Childhood Special Education: Which Apps to Use When", and her trademarked Socially Speaking™ Social Skills Curriculum using an eclectic, multi- sensory treatment approach. Penina uses the Apple™ platform, including the iPad and iPhone, to facilitate thematic learning, improve behavior, and motivate young children with special needs to improve their social skills and language development. Penina can be found online as follows:

Email: Penina.SociallySpeaking@gmail.com

Website: www.SociallySpeakingLLC.info

Facebook: Socially Speaking LLC

YouTube Channel: socialslp

Google+: Socially Speaking LLC

Pinterest: pinterest.com/Peninaslp