Stages Learning Language Builder 3D-2D Foods Matching Kit for Autism Education & Aba Therapy Flash Cards

The Stages Learning Materials take flashcard learning to another level by pairing those 2D images to 3D objects. It’s a brilliant idea that acknowledges that some learners need help making the conceptual leap from 3D to 2D space; they need reinforcement in the form of a tactile, visual, and realistic objects.Learning can be reinforced and memory triggered through hands-on experience – what traditional learners call experiential learning. It’s a powerful mind-body-memory connection that cements information processing. As children, most of us effortlessly absorb these lessons through simple and daily acts of interacting such as grocery shopping and playing. For others, however, information processing and integration is more complicated. Tool sets like this can help form the connections needed to interpret the world in a safe, contained, and regulated setting. I found this kit useful in geriatric patients suffering from aphasia. These people have the memory and experience – they lack the language processing skills to articulate their knowledge base. Manipulatives trigger appropriate responses and help to build back vocabulary.Three drawbacks to this product – aesthetic, processing and needs based. The food items stink. Even one month later (I waited to write this review thinking the smell would dissipate), the chemical odor emanating from these items is overwhelming. Worse, the toxic smell transfers to both teacher and student hands when handled. My kit did not come with an instruction booklet, so there was no information on why at least one set of cards couldn’t be labeled with the name of the item. Expressive labeling and matching is important, but word/image association is vital to language skills. Finally, the cost is prohibitive and seems designed to target institutional markets that aren’t price conscious.This is a good idea with significant barriers to entry. Model the concept, but skip the kit.