ConnSENSE

ConnSENSE Review: Creature Chorus Sterling Edition

Reviewed by: Janet LaMarre
Preschool Special Education Teacher
Goodwin Elementary
Mansfield, CT
lamarrejc@mansfieldct.org

Laureate Learning Systems, Inc.
110 East Spring Street
Winooski, VT 05404-1898
www.laureatelearning.com
800-562-6801

Comes with software and documentation. One CD which contains both Macintosh and Windows versions. We evaluated the program on a school, classroom-based, PC computer.
Price: Single copy - $95.00 Multiple copy rates available at web-site. Parents may receive additional discounts.
Reviewed June 2005
Rating: A (for use with individuals with severe disabilities)

Creature Chorus is designed to introduce fundamental cognitive concepts to children and adults with diverse disabilities. The nine activities included focus on visual and auditory attention, visual tracking, cause and effect, turn-taking and discrete pointing. There is now a two switch scanning option for Creature Chorus. .This program also provides support for record-keeping and administrative tracking, with both "Student File" management and "Student Report" for data review.

These activities seem to be most geared toward children or adults with severe or profound impairments. Children who get very little chance to successfully "act" on their environment, such as a child with a motor impairment, might enjoy the fact that her movement creates an effect. There are many options for use, such as use of an adaptive button switch or a touchscreen that could be motivating and effective to work on these skills. In one activity called "Workout" the child is expected to simply use the response key (mouse click, touchscreen, etc) to make the creature do "something different" in its routine. The duration of the routine and the wait time before being prompted again to use a response key can be changed in the programming settings, as can the size and type of cursor used.

I wished that I had this program when we were at the beginning stages of communicative instruction with some former students with autism. These children loved the computer, but did not always play productively when using the programs offered in the classroom. This program might be highly effective if used as a reward for one-on-one communicative training. With these children we were using the PECS method for training social communication skills. It is highly structured and could easily include a reward at the end that extends the skills being introduced in the given lesson to something motivating, such as computer, but that still could incorporate turn-taking and social "cause and effect" skills. For instance, in the activity "Concert" there is opportunity to train verbal turn-taking by asking such questions as "Which number will you pick now?" or "Did you like that song?" or "What will that creature do if you choose it?" This can help expand a child's verbal repertoire of social questions and turn-taking and can reinforce the skills being presented in the formal training that preceded the computer use.

To sum up, this program is best used to reinforce very basic training in their targeted areas of visual and auditory attention and tracking, cause and effect, turn-taking and discrete pointing. Many children will be able to move on to other, more stimulating and challenging programs that can be adapted with the necessary devices to help them continue to experience the success they found with Creature Chorus.

Laureate Learning Systems has an excellent and extensive web site with loads of information about their software and ideas for use. Technical support is readily available.