→Use a Virtual Background
Depending on what video conferencing platform you are using, you may be able to insert a virtual background (ex: Zoom). If your platform does not have this feature built in (and you can't figure a workaround), try sharing an image on your screen during screen share or even hold up/hang up an image or object in the background. This creates an immediate conversation starter when the session begins and may even become a session in itself if you switch your backgrounds out. It also may provide excitement around a theme or topic & serve as an inferencing tool. My summer students loved to guess our theme based on my virtual background each week!
→Allow Students Mouse Control or Use of Annotation Features
Again, this may be limited depending on the platform you are using for your sessions. I found my younger students wanted me to do most of the controlling for more complicated tasks, but they were more than willing to click to spin the wheel, roll the dice, play a reinforcement game, choose/click the activity, or make a mark in their favorite color. If your platform does not have shared mouse control, but it has screen share, teach them how to screen share and send them a link in the chat box to open on their end for some quick interaction. Use toytheater.com for spinners & dice, check out a wheel creating website, or use Boom Cards™️ for your therapy plans (click for a freebie below). I have also opened a static PDF using the free Kami App for quick and colorful annotation features.
→Take Virtual Field Trips
Adding in a virtual field trip can be your entire plan alone. You can also use it to supplement your theme or lesson. Zoos, aquariums, and beaches have live cams. My students could not get enough of the live zoo cameras. I personally found myself intrigued by all the live beach cameras. The virtual travel possibilities are endless! YouTube videos will also work great for doing some exploration of famous landmarks, national parks, etc.
→Use Visual Schedules
Just because you are not seated at a nice kidney shaped table ☺ with all eyes on you while you share the therapy plan doesn't mean you should avoid using visual schedules for teletherapy. Hold it up if it is one you routinely use during your in-person sessions (like below) or share it on the screen if it is in PDF form. I made a quick visual schedule for our online social skills group that I could share on screen, where we often followed the same routine (as in-person) that consisted of four activities (greeting/check-in with feelings, conversation, self-regulation, and game/activity). This created a sense of normalcy despite our abnormal circumstances and kept students engaged until the end, while usually trying to lobby for their favorite game activities (the one we did the week before:)!
→Play Games
If you routinely used a reinforcement game during your sessions (ex: practice 5 times and choose a card), then by all means don't stop now. I still had my can of cards near my computer and would pull a card for each student following their turn. It was just as exciting to see their faces intently wait to see what card I showed them on screen as it was for them to pull in person. This was also good for visual memory, as I had some students that remembered all their points without me even showing their cards again at the end. Play games like headband games, 20 questions, or memory. Hide items in a container (or plastic eggs) to reveal contents. I've also been known to allow a quick digital reinforcement game at the end of a session, so you can also drop a link to have them play a quick game online. Toytheater.com is also great for this purpose.
→Get Your Students Moving
I had a very sad little one on our last summer session. She fell off her chair while wiggling around. So, I used movement as distraction. We acted out the items we needed for our theme. As we set up our beach with our lemonade, beach towel, umbrella, bucket and shovel her tears subsided! I also like to use movement to practice our targets during drill. Say your target 5 times while under the table, near a window, while waving your hands, or with a friend (or family member). My teletherapy groups got a kick out of seeing the other students do this, as well! Try also a quick scavenger hunt. It can be a pre-planned hunt for target items, a hunt to get them talking, or as a therapy break. "Show me what the spoons, towels, pens/pencils, or books look like in your house."
As we move forward with back to school plans, I feel much more confident in continuing to service some of my students via teletherapy, while also adapting my in-person plans to accommodate social distancing.
