Shall We Exercise? A FREE Communication Board for Physical Activities and APE

You may have noticed that in many preschool programs the speech-language pathologist teams up with the O.T. and/or P.T. for therapy time. There is a good reason for this. Studies have shown a definite advantage to this collaboration.

Many children - especially those on the Autism spectrum - have shown significant improvement in acquiring language skills when involved in physical activity. Even simple actions; such as clapping, tapping the table or floor, or waving arms, can increase the acquisition of speech and language skills. A lot of language is learned during activities.
Research shows that more than 90% of early verbs are learned while engaged in an action.

Spatial concepts are best learned when interacting with 3-D contexts. Descriptive concepts are learned while engaged with the objects you are describing. Holding a pillow while learning soft, holding a rock while learning hard, looking at a zebra while learning stripes - all provide a context in which children are more likely to learn those concepts.

Most of the students I work with have Adapted Physical Education, and usually also go to the Motor Lab. So, I have tried to use core words - lots of verbs - as well as the names of some equipment in this motor activity communication board.

You can check out the library communication board in my last post.  Also, I have some for sale in my TPT store: here and here

And check out my YouTube video about setting up activity based communication boards here.

How are you moving your kids to more language?