[vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
SPARK is an online tool created to help people who live with autism to talk awhile together.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]Thijs has autism. He doesn\u2019t talk much. Talking is not so easy. \u00a0Frank is Thijs\u2019s dad. \u00a0Frank created SPARK to make it easier to talk awhile with Thijs.<\/p>\n
For all the reasons you have read or heard about before coming to SPARK today, you know that talking can be difficult for many people who have classic autism. \u00a0You know that talking awhile with someone who has autism can be difficult, even frustrating. \u00a0You know that you often run out of ideas quite quickly because they don\u2019t respond so easily.<\/p>\n
SPARK is based on two ideas. \u00a0SPARK provides an enormous source of inspiration and pool of topics for a conversation. \u00a0More importantly however is that SPARK works from the strength of the talking partner. \u00a0This strength is based on a combination of visual and memorisation strength. \u00a0It is our experience, that although talking might be very difficult, visualisation and memorisation skills of people who have autism are often very strong. \u00a0That is what we are building on. \u00a0 Spark is not a silver bullet but by using it a lot and with great patience, \u00a0you will be spending time together, talking more and improving your relationship. \u00a0 And you’ll have fun doing it together.<\/p>\n
To make this less conceptual, look at a simple question (visualisation). \u00a0In most cases one can easily formulate an answer out of a question because most of the words in the question are used to make up the answer. \u00a0For example:<\/p>\n
Question: What color is the grass?<\/p>\n
Answer: The color of the grass is green.<\/p>\n
With the exception of the word green all the words in the answer are words used in the question. \u00a0By showing a green lawn we complement the question and answer. \u00a0With lots of practice you will find that new and unpracticed sitiuations will be answered correctly. \u00a0Start with SPARK and find the right level for you and your talking partner. \u00a0You may have to follow the words in the questions initially with your finger on the screen\u00a0to maintain focus. \u00a0You may also find yourself having lateral discussions about the pictures. \u00a0Find the right starting level and work from there to build on.<\/p>\n
With SPARK, you have a pool of language to use to start talking and keep talking awhile. \u00a0You know that talking helps build good relationships. \u00a0You know that relationships help make life good. \u00a0SPARK helps build relationships by making it easier for people to talk awhile together. SPARK helps make life good.<\/p>\n
Over the years, SPARK has grown into a large and fluid database that currently contains over 10,000 questions and answers linked to images covering a wide variety of subject material. \u00a0Separate modules have evolved over time. These are:<\/p>\n
Single Sparks. These are the easiest SPARKS. \u00a0The focus is concentrated on single words. This could be a noun or a verb.<\/p>\n
Spark an answer. \u00a0In this section we work on formulating an answer to all the normal questions like what, who, where, why etc.<\/p>\n
Spark an answer. \u00a0Here your talking partner needs to formulate the question that matches the answer.<\/p>\n
Sparks of speech. \u00a0The questions here focus on the individual words in the sentence like nouns, verbs, adjectives but also conjugation.<\/p>\n
Spark a conversation. \u00a0Here the conversations are already getting more complicated. \u00a0You will also start to develop lateral discussions about things that might not even be on the SPARK that you are working with.<\/p>\n
Sparks of math. \u00a0Life is also about numbers and counting and that is what we can work on in this section.<\/p>\n
There is a significant body of repetitive material that is structured yet varied. \u00a0The structure complements the specific way we imagine people with autism learn. \u00a0Variation discourages simply memorizing the material and helps make more natural talking possible.<\/p>\n
You can select material to practice in various ways. \u00a0This allows you to customize the content and to have material at hand that is of interest. \u00a0SPARK is organised in such a way that it allows a natural increase in complexity of language practice. \u00a0The more you talk awhile together, the more you talk awhile together.<\/p>\n
There is virtually no sound in SPARK because sounds can sometimes be loud and irritating. \u00a0In addition there is no need for sound because you will always be there with your talking partner. In SPARK there is also no score to keep. There are no wrong answers, there is only talking together. \u00a0That is the main purpose of SPARK, to keep talking.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
SPARK is an online tool created to make it easier to talk together awhile. \u00a0Talking together awhile builds relationships.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Relationships help make life good.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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\nSPARK is an online tool created to help people who live with autism to talk awhile together.
\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]Thijs has autism. He doesn\u2019t talk much. Talking is not so easy. \u00a0Frank is Thijs\u2019s dad. \u00a0Frank created SPARK to make it easier to talk awhile with Thijs.<\/p>\nFor all the reasons you have read or heard about before coming to SPARK today, you know that talking can be difficult for many people who have classic autism. \u00a0You know that talking awhile with someone who has autism can be difficult, even frustrating. \u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":687,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkcommunity.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/61"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkcommunity.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkcommunity.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkcommunity.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkcommunity.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkcommunity.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/61\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":736,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkcommunity.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/61\/revisions\/736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkcommunity.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkcommunity.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}