Powerful and Versatile Tools
The use of real photos during therapy has most definitely turned up a notch with the use of digital resources. The old “tried and true” set of verb cards has now morphed into an ever-expanding library of vibrant colored photos that contain real people, actual animals, and eye-popping scenes.
Here are some top reasons for loving real photos in speech materials:
Brain-based learning supports the use of actual photographs during learning
Research on the human brain is showing us the importance of learning through images. Using visual channels for learning helps us retain information so we can retrieve it when we need it. Brain-based learning also encourages us to use the brain’s need for color, social connection, and repetition of tasks. You can find all of these strategies in this real-photo deck linked here.
Students make connections with these photos.
Students will say things like “I think I know that person” or “I’ve been to a store like that”. Meaningful and personal connections to topics spring up all the time when using real photos. These connections are so important when grabbing students’ attention and creating new pathways to learning.
It opens up the real world to your computer screen or therapy room.
We can’t take our students everywhere but with these pictures, we can show them so many people, places, and experiences that we may not be able to show them within the confines of our therapy rooms. A trip to the zoo and a winter’s day at home can be your student’s next therapy location.
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You can use real photos with students of all ages.
No more scrambling for materials for your older kid groups. Older students and students with low incidence learning differences can relate to the pictures and you don’t need to worry that these resources are below their age-level. The pictures that include animals especially seem to be a hit with students of all ages. Adding some fun moveable animals and characters just makes these pictures plain fun!
When you use real photos in your therapy sessions, you are bringing the best of current learning research and intuitive learning resources to your students, whatever their age or learning needs. These resources give your students a picture that they can connect to in the real-world and a framework from which to build their language skills.
Here is a link to my bundle of real-life picture resources. You will have access to these decks plus more as they are created. Grab it here but know that wherever you are providing therapy, you are providing some of the best resources to your students when you provide them with real photo resources like these.
