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An eye gaze board may be beneficial for students:
An eye gaze board may be beneficial for students:
- With severe, profound, complex communication needs unable to use direct select with fingers or hands or access a switch to aid communication but have eye control
- Having difficulty establishing a consistent "Yes" for partner assisted scanning
- As a backup to a high tech eye gaze system
What is an Eye Gaze Board?
What is an Eye Gaze Board?
An eye gaze communication board is a vertically held or mounted board, made of plexiglass, heavy plastic, or sturdy paper with a window cut in the middle. There are pictures stuck around its edges, facing the child.
Check out this video explaining why a student may need an eye gaze board.
How do I use an Eye Gaze Communication Board?
How do I use an Eye Gaze Communication Board?
The communication partner sits opposite of the child to closely observe his/her eye movement. This system works best when the student is seated upright. The eye gaze board, with objects/pictures around the edges, is held up at eye level to the student. The communication partner and student should be able to make eye contact through the open window. The student's eye movements are tracked to determine what he/she is looking at to make a choice.
Several steps may be involved in the training process, including:
- Learning to scan the items available on the board
- Learning to fixate eye gaze on the desired item
- Learning to look back at the communication partner to confirm the selection
For an Emergent Communicator a combination of modeling, shaping, and cueing will be used so the student learns he/she will be rewarded by looking at a desired item/picture.
Check out this video showing an Emergent Communicator learning to use an Eye Gaze board to make a choice.
Click on the button above for Step by Step Instructions on Using an Eye Gaze Board with an Emergent Communicator.
The team will need to determine the number and complexity of the symbols for a student using the Eye Gaze Board as a paper-lite backup to a dynamic AAC device with eye gaze access.
The team will need to determine the number and complexity of the symbols for a student using the Eye Gaze Board as a paper-lite backup to a dynamic AAC device with eye gaze access.
In this example, the student makes a choice on the "home" board which directs the partner to a separate eye gaze board with choices based upon the selected topic.
Check out this video demonstrating this technique.
If a student is able to spell, alphabet letters could be grouped, color coded and placed on sections of the board. This will allow a student to select letters and dictate words and/or sentences. For students with strong literacy skills, do not automatically complete their word(s) as they spell. Allow them to complete their own words and sentences without intervening. If word completion is provided by the communication partner, one must gauge the appropriateness of doing so given the activity (are they being assessed for literacy or is this a conversation with a peer) and also obtain permission from the student to do so. If you are unsure what to do, do not provide word completion.
Have the student's spelling visible to them as the progress so they do not lose track of which letter they are on. As each letter is selected, the communication partner can write with a dry erase marker or with pen and paper to make it visible to the student.
Resources
Resources
Click on the button above to get instructions on how to make an eye gaze board.
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