The past year our home has been heavily focused on PT. We have four new walkers and all the kids have become stronger and made many gains in their mobility.
I decided that when I went to Canada, I would spend a lot of time researching how to get my kids communicating, and that when I returned, I would really make a focus on that in therapy. I spent many hours researching and planning, and met with a speech therapist friend Narmilee who gave me a lot of advice.
The first day I sat down with Lily and tried out her new Proloquo2go program is a day I won't forget. I think it was an important day for her as she was able to use this program to communicate her thoughts for the first time, and she was so, so excited about it.
Narmilee suggested that I start simple. We began with activities. I took photos of 2 toys in our house; a ball and a baby doll. I made 2 folders, 1 for "ball" and 1 for "baby doll". If she touched "ball", the folder would open up to 3 options (each button with a photo of her doing the action); play basketball, throw the ball, roll the ball. If she touched "baby", the folder would open up to 3 options (each button with a photo of her doing the action); rock the baby, feed the baby, push baby in stroller.
She caught on quickly, and her eyes lit up.
My girl surprised me. Instead of choosing the baby doll that she loves, she selected the ball. I suppose it is a toy that she doesn't often have a chance to play with, as she needs a partner to play with her. When the options opened, she chose "play basketball". We practiced saying "Ball. I want to play basketball" and did the ASL sign for "ball". Then we went outside and played basketball, and she laughed and laughed and laughed. She had been in a grumpy mood that morning, and I couldn't figure out what was bothering her, but this activity totally cheered her up, and when we were finished she raced back to the iPad to tell me what she wanted to do next.
She selected throwing the ball, so again we practiced saying the word, signing it, and then we played a throwing game. As her third and final game, she wanted to push the baby in the stroller, so we went outside and had races across the balcony pushing babies in our several toy strollers. She laughed so hard. When our game was done, we opened the iPad and worked on learning how to spell the words "baby" and "ball" and she typed the sentence "I am throwing my ball". Even our Indian staff stopped and took notice. Our ayahs and nurse crowded around her as she typed, cheering her on and looking impressed with how well she was doing. Ramana used my iPad to take photos as we raced across the balcony, and Lily was excited to be the center of attention and the one that everyone was cheering for.
Shortly after we were done, Tori told me that Lily crawled up to her with a big smile, tapped her shoulder to get her attention, and explained using a mix of sign and speech that she and I had thrown a ball, and she had typed the sentence. Wow!
When she first came to us, Lily spoke only a few words. Now she speaks so many, but is trying hard to say more. Tori and I and our ayahs can understand her sometimes, but most other people don't understand much at all. When we don't know the context (for example, if she just crawls over and tries to tell us something) it is harder to guess what she is saying. And lately, she is trying to tell us a lot.
I am really excited to watch this unfold, and I can't wait to understand all the thoughts that Lily has going on in her head.
This week I am going to add more options to her program, and slowly build it out until she is able to communicate more and more to us. I am also building out a communication program for Nolan and Dinah, and Tori is working on communication with Molly and with Theo in relation to speech and his cochlear implant. Stay tuned for more stories, as I am really excited about where this is going!
I decided that when I went to Canada, I would spend a lot of time researching how to get my kids communicating, and that when I returned, I would really make a focus on that in therapy. I spent many hours researching and planning, and met with a speech therapist friend Narmilee who gave me a lot of advice.
The first day I sat down with Lily and tried out her new Proloquo2go program is a day I won't forget. I think it was an important day for her as she was able to use this program to communicate her thoughts for the first time, and she was so, so excited about it.
Narmilee suggested that I start simple. We began with activities. I took photos of 2 toys in our house; a ball and a baby doll. I made 2 folders, 1 for "ball" and 1 for "baby doll". If she touched "ball", the folder would open up to 3 options (each button with a photo of her doing the action); play basketball, throw the ball, roll the ball. If she touched "baby", the folder would open up to 3 options (each button with a photo of her doing the action); rock the baby, feed the baby, push baby in stroller.
She caught on quickly, and her eyes lit up.
She selected throwing the ball, so again we practiced saying the word, signing it, and then we played a throwing game. As her third and final game, she wanted to push the baby in the stroller, so we went outside and had races across the balcony pushing babies in our several toy strollers. She laughed so hard. When our game was done, we opened the iPad and worked on learning how to spell the words "baby" and "ball" and she typed the sentence "I am throwing my ball". Even our Indian staff stopped and took notice. Our ayahs and nurse crowded around her as she typed, cheering her on and looking impressed with how well she was doing. Ramana used my iPad to take photos as we raced across the balcony, and Lily was excited to be the center of attention and the one that everyone was cheering for.
Shortly after we were done, Tori told me that Lily crawled up to her with a big smile, tapped her shoulder to get her attention, and explained using a mix of sign and speech that she and I had thrown a ball, and she had typed the sentence. Wow!
When she first came to us, Lily spoke only a few words. Now she speaks so many, but is trying hard to say more. Tori and I and our ayahs can understand her sometimes, but most other people don't understand much at all. When we don't know the context (for example, if she just crawls over and tries to tell us something) it is harder to guess what she is saying. And lately, she is trying to tell us a lot.
I am really excited to watch this unfold, and I can't wait to understand all the thoughts that Lily has going on in her head.
This week I am going to add more options to her program, and slowly build it out until she is able to communicate more and more to us. I am also building out a communication program for Nolan and Dinah, and Tori is working on communication with Molly and with Theo in relation to speech and his cochlear implant. Stay tuned for more stories, as I am really excited about where this is going!
No comments:
Post a Comment