Sounds into Syllables

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 * Sounds into Syllables

Overview
Sounds into Syllables (the name is a registered trademark) is a teaching system for autism devised by high school student Kayla Cornale.

Some of the following text has been adapted from text on the official web site; HTYP editors have not yet had any direct or independent experience with the system.

Description
Sounds into Syllables is a step by step music based teaching system designed to assist children diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) learn to read, spell, classify words and correctly identify the facial expressions for a series of emotions. It is comprised of 3 parts which are progressive in nature. Parts 1 and 2 emphasize reading and spelling while Part 3 introduces word classification, simple sentence construction and emotion recognition and identification.

In the first part of the system, all 26 letters of the alphabet are placed on 26 designated keys of a piano keyboard. When a child strikes the piano key marked with a letter, (for example the letter ‘L’) he/she will hear a sound (note) and that will be the ‘L’ sound. The child learns to listen to the letters as notes on the piano as well as spoken sounds. As such, the child learns the alphabet in three ways; (i) its musical sound, (ii) its verbal sound and (iii) its written symbol. more...

In the second part of the system the child begins the process of learning to link different types of words to each other. The previously learned animal names (nouns) are each matched with a related action word (verb). Examples are dog/bark, frog/leap, lion/roar and cat/meow. more...

Part 3 reintroduces word classification with the presentation of nouns and verbs as well as adjectives. While the child continues to learn to read and spell single words, he/she is now introduced to them in the context of a series of simple sentences which tell the story of a little bear.

In addition, Part 3 emphasizes face perception and emotion recognition within the context of social situations that are built into the story. There is a continuation of the modification of the piano keyboard with the introduction of six three part musical harmonies. Each three part harmony sounds like one of the six universal emotions of happy, sad, afraid, angry, surprised and disgusted. Each of these harmonies is marked with matching yellow face stickers. more...

Obtaining Copies
It's not clear if the system is for sale or if Kayla plans to post copies online; someone should probably contact her to ask this...

Links

 * official site
 * Bay Area Science Fair 2005 (BASEF2005, Ontario, Canada), at which Kayla's entry entitled Sounds into Syllables - A Teaching System for Autistic Children won 12 awards
 * 2007-05-30 Kayla Cornale wins $60,000 TD Canada Trust Scholarship: "Kayla's science fair participation at BASEF has led to another incredible and financially lucrative honour. Kayla has been named one of twenty recipients of the 2006-2007 TD Canada Trust Scholarships for Community Leadership valued at up to $60,000 each."