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AAC

If you have to go shopping.

February 13, 2017 by Mary 3 Comments

Typically, we don’t run errands on the weekend. I hate crowds and traffic and especially hate standing in lines, however, yesterday we were out of cheese….  If you need cheese, you probably are going to want some crackers to go with it.  If you are an adult, you are bound to want some wine too.  Even though I began with a list, I kept thinking of other things we needed, like coffee, gas for the car and deer repellant.

This is not my photo, but if I had a dog bed outside…

Because the ground was snow covered, the deer started munching on the bushes by the front door.  We enjoy their visits, but they will eat all available vegetation down to a nub, a gardener’s nightmare!  Husband banged on the window to get them to move along, which they did, on to the bird feeder.  Fortunately, the birds didn’t leave much seed behind, so the deer kept moving.  They didn’t go far. 

The next morning there were snow tracks that led to the back of the house and there were six grassy spots for the two moms and their four kids of various ages. The warmth of their bodies melted the snow.  I was surprised how close they slept to the house. 

We do share our property with the deer and many other critters. I’m okay with them spending the night, but prefer not to feed them dinner, so it was imperative to add deer repellant to the shopping list.

the grassy spots are where the deer slept

Three pit stops later, we headed home, but then decided to stop at the local market for milk so I could make yogurt. Sometimes I suffer from that “just one more thing disease”.  While in line, the cashier asked Jessie what app did she have on her Talker?  Oh my goodness!  Someone actually recognized her AAC device! (why it’s Speak for Yourself of course!) This is a first for someone to know it wasn’t a game.  I kind of wished she asked Jessie “how are you?” instead, but it’s exciting to witness awareness when it blossoms.  Needless to say,  I was thrilled and Jess was proud.

If Jessie is not feeling pressured or rushed, she will answer questions on her Talker.  She’s doing her part about raising awareness, I hope everyone that is reading this is raising awareness too.  My motto, the more people that know that iPads are used for talking, the bigger our world gets!

P.S.-  The deer don’t like how the bushes smell and there was no wine with my cheese, but we did enjoy the crackers that went with it.

I wonder if one of these was the fawn that visited us one spring?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: AAC

AAC… make it a party game

October 3, 2016 by Mary Leave a Comment

img_2708The last thing Jess wanted to do was endure yet another dinner party. She didn’t have to voice her displeasure, I could read her body language. As far as she is concerned, these events are all the same. Everyone talks, she listens and the topics don’t interest her.  However, this time, the tables were turned.

When each couple was given an AAC device, loaded with the app Speak for Yourself, her whole demeanor changed.  Jess went from slumping in her chair, to sitting bolt upright.  The playing field was now leveled and she was ready to get this party started.

Since October is AAC awareness month, my plan was to show our guests how Jess’s Talker worked. Besides understanding what it takes to use a device, my hope is that they share this experience with another person (if more, they get extra credit). Typically, when people see Jess with a computer, they assume it’s “just” a game and she is overindulged. I want to change this. I want people to realize that this is her voice.

After giving our guests a quick overview, I started with a simple question.

I started with Jess and asked, what did she want for dessert?

She replied, “ice cream” with “sprinkles”.

Ice cream has always been an ice breaker and this was no exception.

Everyone then asked where to find the words.

After having hands on experience with the AAC device, the group quickly realized, while this was easy to use, they had difficulty remembering word location. I assured them that this improves with practice. Just like they can access a keyboard, learning the motor planning for an AAC device is no different.

The question that got me thinking the most was, “I don’t need to use a device to speak to Jess, because I can talk to her”.  True, but people like to be spoken to in their own language and Jess is no exception.  Besides, this is one party game she liked!

ps- we could have started with Jess’s first word, exceptional, but I didn’t want to make this game too hard for our guests 🙂

 

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Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: AAC, Speak for Yourself

Turnabout is fair play

May 6, 2016 by Mary Leave a Comment

IMG_9112Just as I expect Jess to speak to me through her Talker, she expects me to talk through it as well.

This afternoon, I thought she was suffering from mommy deafness.

Verbally I asked her to clear the table.

Nothing.

Then I repeated myself using a Talker* and she didn’t hesitate to put her dish in the sink. [Read more…] about Turnabout is fair play

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: AAC

First date

February 16, 2016 by Mary Leave a Comment

Her story…

If we were going to get to the restaurant on time, she’d have to get dressed in a hurry.  What to wear?  She chose a dress, but it was too fancy. Jess settled on a pretty new top and her nicest jeans.  Before leaving the house, she put on her lip gloss, her favorite necklace, and off she went.

His story…

He was nervous to meet her. When she walked in, he just stared and turned red. His expression said it all.

IMG_8051Her story…

I’m not sure if she was excited to meet another SFY user, or if it was because she was meeting a boy.  When he spoke, she gave him her full attention.

His story…

He talked to her using his AAC device and they giggled a lot. They found shared interests. He liked the fact she likes movies. He was a bit shy, but he smiled a lot. This evening was going good and he knew it.

At the time we arranged to meet for dinner, it never occurred to me that this would end up being a date.  We mom’s chaperoned and our matchmaking SLP was with us too. Typically, dinner lasts about an hour, but this went on for nearly two before calling it a night.

She has Angelman’s Syndrome, he is on the autistic spectrum. Where the world may see them as “different”, they saw each other as a person of interest and we saw young adults who were enjoying a night out.

IMG_7979When the evening came to a close, we all knew that we’d be meeting again.

They were happy to have their picture taken. He put his arms around her and they both beamed.

Jess has his name programmed into her talker.  She’s already asked about him. And it begins…

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: AAC, Angelman Syndrome, Speak for Yourself

Practice makes perfect

February 9, 2016 by Mary Leave a Comment

IMG_7937The following story is family lore.  After my Mom accepted my father’s proposal, he then asked her
“how many kids do you want?” Her reply, “six”. Dad then said, “I should have asked you that first”.

This is how I felt when I was told that the Learning to Speak AACtion plan was a 12-week program.  There was no doubt that I would participate, but it sounded overwhelming, I’m a horrible student and I have fears.

The first two weeks of the plan were easy, however, by the third week, I realized that I was only retaining words in my short-term memory.  There were a few words that I consistently missed and this rattled me. It was obvious I needed to do something different, or I wouldn’t keep up with the cumulative effect of the program. My fears were being realized.

Everything changed in the fourth week. I was playing with the words when something clicked.  I found it was more meaningful to remember if they were put in a longer sentence.  I don’t expect Jess to build these sentences, however, they will make it possible for me to model one word beyond what she is able to say.

Every morning I review the words from the previous weeks before practicing sentences. Kind of like a pangram but I build the sentences using the words in each list.

These are what I’ve come up with for the 5th week:

  • I put on my socks and you take them off
  • I know you can take me to the top of the mountain
  • Sit down and close your eyes.
  • We will open our eyes together.
  • If I can do it my myself then you can do it yourself.
  • Please carry that here and put it next to that toy.
  • Did you know that I like to go outside

What makes this fun is that this system approach is actually working.  It’s probably stating the obvious, but It’s no fun when you suck.

Jess listens as I model and I am hearing her using the new words. (these are new words to me, she’s had them opened for quite some time, I just wasn’t modeling them).

I hope the adage is true, practice makes perfect.  I’m not so sure about ever being perfect, but we will be much improved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: AAC, Speak for Yourself

Under pressure

January 22, 2016 by Mary Leave a Comment

IMG_7616
Roxy listens to everything Jess says!

Siri and I are not friends. She never listens to me.  If I don’t ask my question quickly, she presumes then provides an answer that isn’t even close to what I was looking for.  While I struggle to get her to respond correctly, the husband listens with amusement.  He has a good working relationship with Siri. He is more succinct. They get along well.

While working on the AACtion plan, I found it pretty straightforward. No problem remembering the words. Easy peasy to incorporate them with our vocabulary. However, this morning when it came time to test myself, my mind went blank, I froze and had to use the search button more than once (twice to be specific) for words that I had used only moments earlier.  It seems whenever I find myself under pressure, it’s hard to find my words. Doesn’t matter if I’m being verbal, or using Speak for Yourself. I’ve noticed this happening to Jess too.

Today I read a post that said we need to model/ prompt 20x an hour. We are woefully not even close to this amount (this is another goal to shoot for).  Focusing on modeling these last two weeks has doubled my speed and Jess has increased her usage. Just as important, Jess has raised her level of engagement.  I love seeing her go off into another room and search for words. She knows the only way to learn is by practicing. Learning language is never ending and this is a good thing!

Jess’s device is always in reach. The AACtion plan made us realize that we need to have our devices out more.  It’s really quite a sight at dinner time. Where most families need to put devices away, ours are all out on the table and we are talking!


 

Why Jess chose Speak for Yourself

 

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: AAC, Modeling, Speak for Yourself

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