Summary

Suzi G. is the Clinical Director at a private, year-round K-12 inclusion school in California, where she teaches a diverse group of neurodivergent and neurotypical students. Her class includes students who are autistic, gifted, non-speaking, minimally speaking, students with ADHD and complex communication and motor needs, and neurotypical students. Over the course of six weeks, Suzi implemented Ava with 8-10 students.

Within those six weeks, Suzi saw noticeable improvements in multiple areas: students became more engaged, demonstrated stronger self-regulation skills, and interacted more with peers across higher and lower support needs. .

Problem

Suzi needed a flexible, engaging SEL solution that could meet the needs of a diverse group of students. Traditional SEL programs lacked accessibility and relevance for her students, and she needed a low-prep solution that allowed her to differentiate effectively and efficiently.

She hoped Ava could address:

• A wide range of communication skills and abilities
• Limited peer interaction
• Difficulty applying SEL lessons to real-life situations
• Low student engagement with traditional SEL curriculum
• The need for flexible pacing and easy differentiation

Solution

“The curriculum and the game and how they meld together is really great.” —Suzi G.

Suzi used Ava twice a week for 30-40 minutes per class session, with each session including gameplay and discussions.

Curriculum

Suzi followed the lesson structure provided in the Ava curriculum and adjusted it as needed. For example, she used the written reflection questions at the end of each lesson as prompts for class-wide discussions, which made the experience more accessible for students with different communication and processing needs.

Game

Suzi, who described herself as “not a gamer or tech-savvy,” found that most students could work independently with adjustments for accessibility, such as one-to-one support and touchscreen devices. For one non-speaking student with fine motor challenges, Suzi paired the student with a one-to-one aide who navigated the game while the student made decisions using their AAC device. Ava has easy, normal, and difficult play levels, so students were able to play on the level that best suited their needs.

Impact

It gave them a sense of ease of sharing because they could talk about the game and things going on versus more personal things. If they wanted to, they could lean on that.” —Suzi G.

Improved self-regulation and relationship skills

Ava helped students build and develop the language to self-advocate for their needs. Several students realized that Ava helped them regulate their emotions when they felt overwhelmed, which showed an increased ability to identify and manage emotions in a healthy way. Students who were usually task-avoidant were eager to play and started initiating conversations with their learning guides about what they were learning.

The Trust module led to discussions about maintaining relationships after conflict. For Suzi’s students who viewed conflict through a revenge-based lens, these conversations helped them better understand perspective-taking and how to accept apologies.

Increased Peer Collaboration

Ava helped students connect with each other despite having different communication and support needs. Students with fewer support needs voluntarily helped students with higher support needs, including those who were selectively speaking or non-speaking. Prior to Ava, these students did not interact much.

Reduced preparation time

Even with such a wide range of abilities and learning profiles in her class, the curriculum provided enough flexibility for Suzi to adapt it without creating entirely new materials. She says that “the curriculum gave me the bones I needed to analyze the students and what differentiation they needed,” which reduced the planning workload.

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