Make Your Own Interactive Flash Cards
In the previous post Teach Children with Autism Speech and Language we had a demonstration of some interactive Flash cards with sound that we made up for Isy to teach her to read and spell. In this post we will show you how to make them up.
The first few we made up we used Microsoft Office Powerpoint, however you can also use the Open Source equivalent – OpenOffice Impress which is completely free under the GNU licence to make your interactive Flash cards. OpenOffice is also backward compatible with Microsoft Office so you can save your documents to be opened with Microsoft Office and you can open any Microsoft Office documents with OpenOffice.
Record Your Own Sounds For Interactive Flash Cards
The Flash cards use sound to teach the child the phonetic (how the letters actually sound) alphabet, and then expand onto putting the letters into words.
In order to make up the required sounds a simple program such as Microsoft Sound Recorder, which can be found under – Start > Programs > Accessories > Entertainment > Sound Recorder – can be used. All you need is a microphone (most laptops now come with a built in microphone) or you can buy one at Office Works for around $30.00.
A bit of prior planning is required and a library of pictures and sounds that you intend on using for the Flash cards are saved into a folder on the PC.
Each letter is recorded as a single file so as you record it you save it then record the next letter sound (see demonstration video below). It is a good idea to use your own voice or someone’s voice who the child is familiar with as this tends to attract the child more.
Colorful Effects Make Flash Cards Appealing
Usually the more colourful and special effects the presentation has the more the child will like using it. You can select a range of “Fly in” and “Transition” effects which come built in with the program.
Below is the demonstration video – have fun, and leave a comment if you like!
© 2010 – 2011, Isy B. All rights reserved.
Related posts:
Kids Learning App from Flash Card Now Available on your iPhone/iPod/iPad Check it out: http://bit.ly/pycKEj
I have i child with autism, who finds it hard to pronounce words. Would this help her pronounce words better. How do you get them to ask what, where, or when questions? And do you have any advise on how to stop self talking? She does see a speech therapist. Thank you for your help
Hi Blair.
We found this method using phonetic alphabet cards then progressing to words etc a good way to help our daughter pronounce and learn words. Speech therapists recommend to teach them the phonetic alphabet first as this teaches them how the letters actually sound when used in speech.
For teaching the child to ask questions and stop self talking we would recommend ABA or DTT style one on one training. We used an excellent book as a guide and reference by Ivar Lovaas, here is a link to the ABA article and book:
http://isybeeautism.com/autism-treatments/aba-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work/
Cheers.