SENSwitcher Software - Skills Progression

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One of the greatest strengths of the SENSwitcher program lay in the way the activities are linked to the way children learn control skills with switches in eight progressive stages. SENSwitcher can be used with the following developmental framework based on the QCA ICT P Levels and empirical evidence from switch progression research carried out at
 Priory Woods School:

The seven progressive stages are;

1. Developing Appropriate Behaviour
2. Looking and Listening
3. Becoming More Proactive
4. Making Something Happen
5. Completing Sequences
6. Responding To The Screen
7. Hitting the Target
8. Making Choices

Clicking any of the links above will take you to the relevant part of the document.

Developing Appropriate Behaviour

Even at the early experiential stage, switches should be made available and positioned as if the pupils were to operate the software independently. Emphasis is placed on experiencing and developing appropriate responses to the animation and sounds generated by the program, however if a pupil is to become a proficient switch user, they need to be taught to behave appropriately when equipment is positioned near their bodies. This behaviour should be reinforced at every opportunity and considered a prerequisite to any form of independent operation of ICT equipment.

Pupils will experience and develop appropriate behaviour when using ICT equipment.

This is broken down into two small steps.

a	Pupils will tolerate the positioning of ICT equipment in relation to their bodies for short periods.
b	Pupils will accept the positioning of ICT equipment in relation to their bodies.

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Looking and Listening - Experiential ICT

Before children can learn to use switches to operate and control computer and other ICT related equipment, they need to be able to respond in an appropriate manner to the stimuli produced by the equipment. Through the use of experiential ICT, children can encounter ICT generated experiences and begin to develop appropriate responses.

The experiential section of the program comprises two levels of ten, visually stimulating animations, each of which require no user input. Level 1 animation follows a shape theme with objects moving in both horizontal and vertical planes. Later animations in this level include moving objects morphing from one shape to another. Level two animations comprise of a sequence of patterns, again moving in both horizontal and vertical planes and introducing tunneling and perspective.

Pupils encounter ICT generated activities and experiences.

This is broken down into two small steps:

1	Pupils encounter ICT experiences either passively or reactively, showing no interest in on screen movement or sound.
2	Pupils show simple reflex responses to ICT experiences, for example, startling at sudden noises.

Animations are played sequentially or at random. Pupils demonstrate either passive acceptance or some level of resistance. Experimentation with different patterns, colour combinations and animation length, together with careful observation can help identify animations, which may trigger some response.

Pupils show emerging awareness of ICT generated activities and experiences.

Broken down into two small steps:

3	Pupils attend briefly to sounds or on-screen movement patterns.
4	Pupils make intermittent responses to sounds or on screen movement patterns.

Pupils begin to show intermittent responses to the animations. They may look, vocalise or become quiet, become animated or still or may attend to the screen for brief periods.

Pupils begin to respond consistently to ICT generated activities and experiences.

Again broken down into two small steps:

5	Pupils show interest or pleasure in sounds and movement patterns looking more intently and for longer periods.
6	Pupils briefly track objects moving in the horizontal or vertical plane on a computer screen.

Pupils show consistent interest in the on screen animations, reacting and showing positive responses to familiar program elements. They may track moving objects, turn towards or become animated by specific sounds.

At this very early experiential stage, ICT should incorporate a wide variety of experiences both on and off the computer. Lighting and sound equipment, electric fans, static and moving developmentally appropriate images could all be used to provide multi-sensory ICT experiences.

CASE STUDY THREE - Experiential ICT Anne (11) is a young girl with profound and multiple learning difficulties, functioning at a cognitive age of less than 3 months. She in non ambulant and has specialist seating requirements Anne was introduced to SENSwitcher using Experiential Level 2 (Patterns) using different colour combinations. Careful observations were made as to her responses to animation / colour combinations. Anne quickly showed a preference for tunneling animations in yellow and black, looking intently at the screen and vocalising while the animations played. Over the next few weeks Anne was introduced to Experiential Level 1 (Shapes), choosing only those animations, which moved in the horizontal plane and displaying them in her preferred colour combination. Observations showed that Anne could track objects moving horizontally across the screen. Anne's ICT sessions now incorporate a combination of both tunneling patterns and visual tracking activities. She is beginning to respond more consistently to familiar patterns, evidenced by increased vocalisation.

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Reach Out and Touch - Becoming more proactive

Pupils should be encouraged throughout the experiential stage to accept and engage in tactile explorations of the input device that they will eventually use to control the software program. Many children begin by reaching out and touching the input device or pointing at the screen. This should be encouraged and reinforced whenever it happens spontaneously.

Pupils begin to be more proactive in their intentions.

This is broken down into three small steps:

7	Pupils reach out toward a switch or touch screen or point to an object on the screen.
8	Pupils proactively make tactile explorations of the access device.
9	Pupils participate in the coactive tactile exploration of the access device including method of activation.

For the final step the teacher would begin to use a single press cause and effect level of SENSwitcher enabling the program to respond to the pupil's activation of the switch.

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Making Something Happen - Cause and Effect

To progress from experiential ICT, pupils need to develop an understanding of cause and effect. Simply put, this means a pupil recognising that by pressing a switch or touching a touch screen THEY are causing the effects on the computer screen to happen. Cause and effect is not something that can be taught directly, rather, pupils develop understanding through experiencing it in a range of different contexts. A baby throwing a toy from a pram (and having someone pick it up) or pressing a button on a Jack in the box to make it pop up, are both examples of cause and effect experiences.

ICT can be a powerful tool to help teachers provide a broad range of developmental or age appropriate experiences of cause and effect for all children, especially those with some disability who may not be able to explore the world through the medium of play.

In our experience, children begin to learn to use switches first through continuous or momentary activation. This means pressing and holding a switch closed to trigger an effect. Examples of this may be holding a switch closed to enable a music tape to play on a cassette player or to activate a battery operated toy. The effect lasts only as long as the switch is held closed.

This is an extremely important concept; children need be able to understand that THEY are making the effect happen by holding the switch closed. Devices that require discrete (press and release) activation are much more difficult for children to understand as the effect is not obviously connected to the cause, starting only when they take their hands AWAY from the switch. While software can be used at the continuous activation stage, it should always be used as part of a range of multi-sensory switching activities presented to the learner.

Once continuous activation has been internalised, children then learn to operate a switch using discrete (a single press and release) activation. It should be noted however that for some children with severe mobility problems, especially where there are ataxic or involuntary movements of the limb used to activate the switch, the continuous method of activation might cause pain or discomfort. These children should start using switches with the discrete (press and release) method of activation.

SENSwitcher cause and effect section provides twenty different activities all of which can be operated by any assistive input device using discrete activation. In level one, animations follow on from those presented in the experiential section, allowing for a seamless transition. Pupils would start by being fully prompted to activate the input device and then moving toward more independent use by reducing the level of prompting. Level two activities provide the same opportunities for control but with more developmentally complex images.

Pupils use a switch to produce a desired effect.

Within this level, switch use needs to broken down into three smaller teaching steps.

10	Pupils participate in switch activation activities with full verbal and physical (hand over hand) prompting.
11	Pupils will activate the switch in response to a minimal physical or verbal prompt.
12	Pupils will activate a switch in order to achieve a desired effect.

CASE STUDY THREE - Cause and Effect Richard (5) is a young boy with a non-specific severe learning difficulty. He has some difficulty with fine motor control in both his arms and legs and finds walking difficult. Richard was introduced to switching in the reception class. He started to use switches to control a tape player, with help, holding down the switch to play a favourite tune and used the same switch and control method to operate a range of different battery toys and an electric blender to create milk shakes. Richard also experienced a variety of different software activities on the computer, coactively exploring the switch and the effects generated by holding it closed. Records were kept of the software activities that initiated the most positive responses. Over the next few, weeks support was gradually withdrawn and Richard was able to use the continuous activation method independently. Richard is now working on discrete (press and release) activation and is using the same tape player and battery toys, now connected to the switch via a timer, which allows the effect to start when the switch is released. On the computer, he is using a switch to operate his favourite activities (as recorded earlier) with minimal verbal prompting.

Discrete activation is fundamental to further progression in switching skills and children should be given opportunities to use it in as broad a range of contexts as is possible.

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Completing Sequences - Switch Building

Switch building extends discrete activation by adding in the concept of completing a sequence. The child presses the switch a set number of times to 'build up' the picture on the computer screen, then makes a final press to activate the animation.

SENSwitcher has two sections covering the development of switch building skills. The first entitled '3 Press' delivers either pattern or object animations similar to the cause and effect level but requiring the user to press the switch four times, three to 'build up' the screen and a fourth to start the animation. '5 Press' continues the pattern theme, introducing linear and tunneling patterns together with a developmentally higher level 'scenes' activity. Users are required to activate the switch six times, five to build up the scene or pattern and a sixth to start the animation.

Pupils use a switch to build or sequence events on a computer

Again this needs to be broken down into smaller teaching steps.

13	Pupils can use a switch to build or sequence an event in four steps, stopping to attend to the screen on completion of the sequence.
14	Pupils can use a switch to build or sequence an event in six steps, stopping to attend to the screen on completion of the sequence.

A helpful tip to remember when working with children at this stage is to encourage them to attend to the screen between each activation of the switch, pointing out the changes. Counting the activations also helps to reinforce the sequential nature of the activity. i.e. "One… Two… Three… Go!!!".

CASE STUDY SIX- SWITCH BUILDING Kirsty (7) has profound and multiple learning difficulties. She can operate a switch using discrete activation and can use it to complete simple sequences of four steps. Kirsty is using SENSwitcher 5 press scenes to learn to complete sequences of six steps. Kirsty's teacher has created a number of resources linked to the scenes in the program, which include simple tactile storybooks, poems and songs. These resources emphasize the sequential nature of the activities by building up the scene page-by-page and verse-by-verse.

The SENSwitcher Cause and effect and Switch Building levels are designed primarily to introduce pupils to control, first learning that by pressing a switch they can make something happen, then, by pressing a switch a set number of times they can make something else happen. The main aim of these activities is to help the pupil develop their access skills to a point where they become reasonably automatic. Pupils should have lots of practice at these levels before moving on to more cognitively challenging activities.

The analogy that is often used is one of learning to drive a car. Think back to your first driving lesson, were you, like me, absolutely bewildered by the amount of controls to operate, clutch, brake, accelerator, gears? How many of us spent our first few driving lessons looking at our feet on the pedals or our hands on the gear stick instead of looking through the windscreen at the road ahead? After a few lessons however, the controls of the car start to become familiar and using them becomes reasonably automatic. From that point on, we don't need to spend quite so much time thinking about how to control the car; rather we can concentrate on where the car can take us.

Learning to use switches is often the same. When children first start using them, they need to spend a lot of time thinking about how to control their movements to reach the switch, how much pressure to apply to activate it, how long to hold the switch closed. The cognitive load on the switch user is often so great that just using the switch to activate simple cause and effect animations is a challenge in itself. With practice however, switch use is internalised and becomes automatic. At this point it is possible to increase the cognitive elements of the activity, moving on from the challenge of using the switch to the challenge of completing the activity.

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Responding To The Screen - Timed Activation

Timed activation or 'Popup', increases the level of cognition, requiring the user to respond to program generated prompts and cues from the screen. SENSwitcher has twenty-four timed activation activities separated into three groups of eight. In the first level, one of eight shapes or animals 'popup' onto the screen at random intervals together with a sound cue. The pupil is required to activate the input device while the object is displayed on screen, if successful, the pupil is rewarded by an animation. The further two levels provide eight activities each of shapes or animals but without the sound cue.

The teacher can set the 'popup' length, the time in seconds the objects remains on the screen by moving the appropriate slider up or down. This facility allows for progression, building anticipation and speed of response. Levels can be presented with or without sound, as it is often helpful to know if a child is responding to the visual or auditory cue.

Pupils will activate a switch in response to program generated cues.

This level can be broken down into two stages:

15	Pupils will activate a switch in response to a randomly timed program generated visual AND auditory prompt.
16	Pupils will activate a switch in response to either a randomly timed program generated visual OR auditory prompt.

CASE STUDY SEVEN- TIMED ACTIVATION Julie (9) is a child with Ataxic Cerebral Palsy and a severe learning difficulty. Julie can operate two switches mounted at hip level on either side of her body with lateral movement of her arms. Julie is a proficient switch user with her right hand, and can use a switch to complete six stage sequences. She has more difficulty activating the switch with her left hand. Julie's teacher felt she would benefit from more switch training using her left hand so SENSwitcher timed activation levels were used to help her increase the speed of response with her left hand. Julie started using the program with a popup time of eight seconds, she can now respond to the program generated cue within three seconds.

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Hitting The Target - Introducing Scanning

Once pupils are familiar with the timed activation 'Popup' levels and can respond to on-screen program generated cues, they should begin to work with the targeting levels. These levels introduce the concept of both horizontal and vertical scanning and require the user to activate the switch when a moving object is within a specific area of the screen.

The object moves either horizontally or vertically across the screen at a user selectable speed. The switch must be activated when the object is within the target area to trigger the animation sequence. Any activation of the switch outside of this area is ignored.

SENSwitcher presents two levels of ten activities each. In the first level shapes and simple objects are used with a clearly defined target area. In the second, scenes are used and the user is required to activate the switch when objects are aligned in either a horizontal or vertical plane.

Pupils will activate a switch in response to a specific program generated event.

Which is broken down into four smaller steps.

17	Pupils can track a moving object horizontally across the screen, activating the switch when the object is close to the target area.
18	Pupils can track a moving object horizontally across the screen, activating the switch when the object is within the target area.
19	Pupils can track a moving object vertically up or down the screen, activating the switch when the object is close to the target area.
20	Pupils can track a moving object vertically up or down the screen, activating the switch when the object is within the target area.

CASE STUDY EIGHT- TARGETING Dominic (7) has a severe learning difficulty and some restricted movement in his arms and legs. He accesses the computer with a small 'Jelly Bean' switch mounted on the tray of his specialized seating. Dominic understands cause and effect, switch building and can activate a switch in response to both visual and auditory cues from the computer. He is working towards using a scanning system in an attempt to meet his future communication needs. Early attempts to introduce switch scanning were not successful as Dominic had some difficulty in tracking a traditional scanning highlight (the box around the object) across the screen. Dominic is using the targeting level of SENSwitcher as an aid to understanding the relationship between the moving object and the target cell. He is making good progress and can track and correctly target slow moving objects moving horizontally left to right across the screen.

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Making Choices - Row Scanning

One could argue that the overall aim of learning to use switches is to enable choice. For some people that will mean choosing to make something happen or not, for others, especially those for whom assistive technology may be their primary means of extending influence and control over their environment, it may mean using a switch to select from a range of options such as symbols on a communication device.

SENSwitcher scanning level provides eight activities designed to promote the development of row scanning skills. Row scanning works by sequentially highlighting a number of objects or cells presented in a horizontal row across the screen. Each object is highlighted (gains focus) in turn as the scan moves across the row. The user selects an object or cell from the row by activating the input device when the object gains focus.

For example:

The scan moves across the row sequentially from left to right, highlighting each cell as it gains focus. The user activates the switch when the cell he wishes to select is highlighted.

Further information about scanning systems can be found in the Priory Woods Assistive Technology Skills Progression document, which can be downloaded from the Northern Grid web site.

In the first six activities, choices are made between two objects using the row scanning principle. Teachers can choose to use either shapes or objects and can select the speed of the scan to suit the individual child. The final two activities use scanning proper by introducing empty cells into the row, first a single empty cell (wait, press) followed by two empty cells (wait, wait, press).

Pupils will activate a switch to select a specific object using row scanning.

This is broken down into four smaller teaching steps:

21	Pupils can activate a switch to select ANY of two on-screen objects using the row-scanning principle.
22	Pupils can activate a switch to select a specific animation from two on-screen objects using the row-scanning principle.
23	Pupils can differentiate between an empty and filled cell, activating the switch to select the filled cell using the row-scanning principle.
24	Pupils can differentiate between two empty and a filled cell, activating the switch to select the filled cell using the row-scanning principle.

CASE STUDY NINE - ROW SCANNING Andrew (10) has Ataxic Cerebral Palsy together with a severe learning difficulty. He has no speech and uses themed PCS symbol based communication sheets mounted on his tray to express wants and needs etc. Andrew is a proficient switch user and is able to sequence events and respond to program generated cues. He was introduced to SENSwitcher scanning levels as part of a structured programme to help him develop scanning skills to enable the use of an augmentative or alternative communication (AAC) device. Andrew started to use scanning to choose between two objects, first on his own and then in response to a question from the teacher, "Can you find the frog?" Andrew learned to do this and was moved onto empty cell scanning which he quickly internalised. Andrew's teacher has now created a series of linked communication grids using Clicker 4, covering different vocabulary areas. Vocabulary and navigational cells are row scanned, enabling Andrew to select the appropriate grid to initiate or respond to communicative opportunities.

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