Scrapbooking
by Jamie Galapia
Scrapbooking can be a fun and entertaining way to elicit language or speech in all ages and abilities.
1. Take/Get Pictures - Purchase a Poloroid camera, single use camera (Walgreen's has a great offer on a camera with free film when photographs are developed at a Walgreen's store), or a digital camera. Take photos of events, people, etc. in the client's life, or other interests of the client, while targeting language/speech goals. If taking pictures is too difficult, ask the client to bring photographs from home. If all else fails, cut pictures from magazines.
2. Lay Out the Design - The client must problem-solve in order to determine the layout of each page. Make a scavenger hunt out of finding related things to go on the pages with the pictures. You can have the client give reasons for why they chose certain photographs, what specific things they liked or didn't like about the pages they created. Ask the client to brainstorm other ways of arranging the pages. Spend time discussing what to put on each of the pages.
3. Write Captions - Photographs can be categorized to help create a theme for each page. The client can describe the "Who," "What," When," "Where," "Why," "How" of each picture. In addition, the client can develop clever captions to go underneath, above, around, or on the sides of each photograph. As with any scrapbooking task, the pages are not just limited to photographs. Your own personal spice can be added by using construction paper, drawings, stickers, buttons, pieces of fabric, color, ticket stubs, or anything else you would like.
4. Open the Discussion - The client can be asked to comment on aspects of the picture-taking itself (e.g., point-of-view, color, texture, shape, mood, etc.). Have the client relay events that are similar or different to the events portrayed in the photographs. Scrapbooking can be utilized to sequence events or pictures can be mixed-matched to retell new stories.
Variations: The clinician can provide photos. The client can try to guess what is happening in the photographs provided by the clinician (predict or make inferences about what might have happened or could happen if an aspect of the photograph were altered). Clinician and client can also create a scrapbook together.
