Improving Writing and Communication through Personal Photography

Students will be taught how to take a picture using a digital camera.
Each student will have multiple times each week to walk throughout the school taking pictures of events, people, or places that are important to them. They will also have the chance to take the camera home and photograph events that they participated in over the weekend, and to photograph important people and places that they have outside of the school setting. The camera will come on field trips for student use.
In the computer lab, the students will learn to download and crop their pictures to their satisfaction. They will then print out images.
The students can use the photos in a variety of ways- to create a visual schedule for themselves, to sequence events, or to help them remember an event that would not be possible without the visual image.
These are students with autism and learning disabilities that have communication problems, word recall issues, and have demonstrated that without some kind of visual cue, they do not know how to begin writing about an event, or have forgotten about an event that has taken place.
By looking at pictures teachers have taken of past field trips and taking photos of the students during the day, these children have shown clear improvements in their communication and writing skills.
By allowing them to use a camera and take their own pictures, the students will gain more independence and have the chance to really let others view their world, and see what is important in these student's lives.
They will discover their own voice.
The students will have the chance to create simple slide shows and make books of the events of the school year. They will be able to have a personally created scrapbook of their year.