can’t use fingers

Taction Pads are clear, adhesive backed, touch sensitive plastic strips or patches. When adhered to any surface or item they act like switches. When you touch or pick up the item, it can activate virtually any another battery operated device.

Directions:
Choose the size Taction Pad that will work best with the item you want the child to pick up or touch. There are 3 different sizes: 2”x4”, 3”x5”, & 0.1”x24”. The long thin size is ideal to wrap around an object. The other sizes may be placed on, under, or around an item.

If students can grasp a magnetic wand they can participate in a variety of play activities. Simply attach pieces of magnetic tape onto toys such as cars, trucks, boats etc. Students can then drive the vehicles with a magnetic wand or magnet attached to a splint or handcuff.

Glue or Velcro the furniture pieces in place so a child can maneuver the dolls without mistakenly “redecorating” the house. Take the roof off so children can reach in and move things around.

Cookie sheets and magnets give students with decreased motor skills the ability to participate in many writing tasks. Students can slide magnetic numbers into numerical order, sort by odd or even status, attempt greater than or less than problems or add, subtract or multiply in math class. In language arts, students can use alphabet magnets to participate in activities such as letter identification, matching upper and lowercase letters, or spelling tests.

Materials:

• Discarded 35mm film canister
• Small photo of student mounted on firm backing (plastic/cardboard, etc)
• Hook Velcro
• Velcro sensitive material
• Hot glue

Instructions:
Cover canister sides with Velcro sensitive material, hot glue in place. Place hook Velcro on back of child’s mounted picture. Attach Velcro to the covered canister.

To make page turning easier, glue small felt pieces on each page. The felt circles for the bottoms of chair legs, popsicle sticks, or tabs from notebook dividers can also be glued on pages at varying levels to help children turn pages independently.

Take off the binding of a book and separate the pages (making sure all pages are numbered first). Laminate, coat in clear contact paper, or place each page in a lock top plastic bag. Then, punch holes and put the pages in a three-ring binder.

Daily contact lens cases make a great combo page fluffer/turner. You can glue them on to board book pages or the insides of flap book flaps. The indentation for the contact makes a nice space for a small finger or hand to lift the page. You can also add pom poms to each contact container to color code pages and soften plastic edge.

Pages can be separated quickly and inexpensively by putting a dollop of hot glue on the lower right hand corner of each page. Caution: Be sure the glue is dry before turning the page.

There are many different types of paper clips available these days. A trip to the office supply store can provide you with many possibilities. The very large decorative plastic clips and the various sizes of bulldog clips are two of the most useful for adapting books. They can be clipped to the pages of the book at intervals starting near the bottom of the first page and placing them an inch or two higher on each page as you progress through the book.

Is your student struggling to turn the pages of their favorite picture book? Attach popsicle sticks with clear packing tape to each page of a cardboard book and enable students with physical disabilities to turn pages independently.