Some individuals have a really difficult time learning other people's names. You might know of a young kiddo who has trouble learning the names of the other students in the classroom or the names of extended family members who are only visited occasionally. But this can also be an issue for older individuals as well. Knowing the names of your co-workers is an important social and safety skill. Do your Learners know the names of the Floreo characters? It could be helpful to start by using the Floreo lessons to understand which name learning strategies might be useful for your Learners. Here are some things to try:
For more verbal individuals, try a mnemonic phrase that can help trigger the name. A simple one might be "C, his name is Carlos, and he likes cake." If possible, try to have the item in the phrase start with the same letter and the same sound as the name. In this case, Carlos and cake have the "k" sound. (A word like circus, which starts with the "s" sound, might not be as helpful.) Saying both the first letter of the character's name and the initial sound of the character's name may help cue the Learner to the name. If you wanted to give your Learner some additional help, find an item/activity that has the same first 2 or 3 sounds. For example: "C, his name is Carlos, and he likes cars." Try tapping out the mnemonic statement. Rhythm and music are known to help trigger memory for most folks. Lastly, if it is still challenging, pair the statement with a visual: The letter "C", the character's picture, and a picture of the item or activity. Point to each item as you say the phrase.
For less verbal folks, you can start by matching picture to picture (include the character's written name on or below the picture). Then, use the same character, but use a picture of them in a different context and see if your Learners can match those pictures. Then, match the written name to the picture. If your Learners are up for it, playing a memory card game could make this fun. Start with all the pictures upside down and take turns turning over 2 cards to find a match. At the more advanced levels, the players would find a match if they turned over a character's picture and a character's name. Be sure to reinforce the names of each character on each turn, even if it is not a match. ("Is that James? No, it's Jordan.") You can easily get pictures of the characters by taking screenshots from the iPad and cropping them.
Notice where your Learners make errors and feel free to reach out if you need additional ideas for troubleshooting.
The Floreo content team is creating new depth for our characters, including interests and backgrounds, and some of those attributes can be discovered in our newest lesson, Teen Talk: Social Squares. Your mnemonic phrases may or may not include those details, but it will make it easier for your Learners if you don't specifically contradict that information. You can always adjust the mnemonic phrase if needed.
Floreo's Director of Applied Digital Therapy, Rita Solórzano MA, CCC-SLP, is a Speech Language Pathologist with over 30 years of experience.