How To Use Adobe Reader for No Print Speech Therapy Resources
You're likely already regularly using Adobe Reader DC on your computer to open, view, and print PDF documents. However, you may not realize that Adobe Reader (a free software for PCs and Macs) can be used to access and interact with a variety of activities during speech therapy sessions.
PDF documents can be opened with Adobe Reader, and used during teletherapy sessions via screen share, or during face-to-face therapy sessions using a shared computer. Some speech therapy PDF resources have built-in interactive components, such as “buttons” that the student can push to select an answer or navigate pages. Other PDFs may contain text boxes that are fill-able by typing text into them, or check boxes that can be checked with a click.
Annotation tools also create the ability for making PDF resources interactive. If you don't see the tools initially when you open the document in Adobe Reader, select the yellow speech bubble on the vertical bar on the right side of the window (or "View" then "Tools" then "Comment" then "Open") and the bar of annotation tools will be visible.
The pencil tools allows a student to write words or draw lines on top of the PDF. In the activity below (which is a part of my email subscriber freebie library), the student is able to draw a line to complete the maze.
Another beneficial tool for making therapy activities interactive is the shape tool, which can be found at the top of the PDF, as circled below in green. The color of the shape can be changed, by clicking on the colored dot shown below. Shapes created in Adobe Reader can act as bingo chips to cover or mark different spaces, as in this dinosaur "Guess Who" style game.
Creating shapes to overlay on a PDF document works great for playing board games digitally. Shapes can take the place of game pawns in a traditional board game, by being moved around the page. This board game can also be found in my email subscriber freebie library.
For games requiring a die, you can use a website such as this one, or this free Excel random number generator to pair with the game. As a teletherapist, you could then screen share the entire screen, containing both the game in Adobe Reader and the die. If you're working with a student face to face, you could opt to use a digital die or a real die.
Opening PDF resources in Adobe Reader creates a great opportunity for interactive speech therapy activities. Eliminate prep time, save paper, and engage your students using this free tool!
