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Speak for Yourself

An AAC social experiment

May 1, 2017 by Mary1991 Leave a Comment

I’m always game for a new challenge, especially if it will improve AAC skills. The conversations I have with Jess are good when we are on the move, however, our day to day life is rather mundane and predictable. The end result is we look at each other knowing what is to be said next. I’m not saying that we read each other’s minds but I find that I repeat myself:

  • Please wash your hands & then set the table.
  • Please put your things away.
  • Please get ready for bed and then we can watch some TV. 

Hmm, my examples sound so much more polite in print than when I say them.

To be honest, predictable language has more to do with the husband than it does Jessie. After nearly 28 years of marriage, we’ve fallen into the trap of knowing looks.  I hate to admit that as a family unit, we all suffer from “implied conversation”. I think we are in need of a reboot.

Speak for Yourself is doing a social experiment where we maintain a dedicated modeling schedule. We are to carve out 15 minutes a day, for two weeks where we model language on our AAC devices. For us, the best time for uninterrupted modeling is first thing in the morning, from breakfast till Jess’s ride arrives.  The next best time to catch conversation is before, during and after dinner when we are all together.

What I’m going to share next really doesn’t have much to do with the “social experiment”, but rather an ah-ha moment. There’s a unique feature on the Speak for Yourself app called Hold that Thought. Its purpose is to save the phrase or sentence you were building so you can stop and answer a question. As we all know, conversations aren’t always linear, we all subject hop. Jess uses this feature more for monologuing than for the intended purpose. I, on the other hand, repeat myself every morning. These aren’t necessarily stock phrases that I want to add to the Talker but for the full effect, I want this spoken quickly, with authority.

On second thought, I could add phrases for the husband?

  • How was your day?
  • Anything new happen at work?
  • Honey, would you please pick up a bottle of wine?

Well, maybe the last one should be a pre-programmed phrase, but you get the idea.  There’s more than one way to use Hold that Thought. Actually, it was intended for this use, but I’m realizing it can be handy around the house.

This isn’t modeling language as the experiment intended, but the more I use SFY with Jess, the more she has to say. It’s a matter of finding the right icebreakers. 

We have some uninterrupted time right now. “All I have to do” is find something that is interesting to talk about it. Easier said than done. Jess doesn’t care much about my weeding, doing laundry or running errands, but I did take Roxy on a hike. I think I will show Jess the video of Roxy running as fast as she can to get this conversation started and we will just wing it from there.

Roxy running “as fast as she can”

Filed Under: AAC, Now we are talking, Speak for Yourself Tagged With: Speak for Yourself

AAC… make it a party game

October 3, 2016 by Mary1991 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: Now we are talking Tagged With: AAC, Speak for Yourself

Getting to know her…

March 8, 2016 by Mary1991 Leave a Comment

IMG_8242We’ve gone to bed. All is quiet. Moments later we hear a burst of laughter. Then it erupts into a deep belly laugh. She is now hysterical.

I’ve just gotten myself warm and toasty in bed and don’t want to get up, but my curiosity has gotten the best of me. While wrapping myself in a blanket, I tip toe into Jess’s room to see what all the ruckus is about. She was watching Three’s Company. She looked at me as if to say “Mom, you’ve been holding out on me, this is good stuff!”. The following night, the same thing happened except this time she was watching Newhart.

cinderella-the-fashion-transformation-of-history-s-favorite-party-dress-79bf7e0d-0bbf-4c3e-a26f-72fd965dfd1c-jpeg-296446Week 8 of the AACtion plan had asked us to be more noun specific so they have the ability to say the name of things that they enjoy. Of course, when Jess was younger this would have been easy. Jess was enthralled with Big Bird, Chloe and Elmo and her favorite book was The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. Many years later her interests are more sophisticated. She likes the story telling in Seabiscuit and she’s enamored with the visual of the recent Cinderella movie. It’s the dress. It’s beautiful and glitters.

Whenever I’m at the cross road of “I don’t know and clueless”, all I need to do is observe. The answers will appear as they did the other night.  This morning I added several new(old) TV shows and asked her what her favorite was. My guess was Three’s Company, but I was wrong, it’s Newhart. This is why it is important to have choices. Having choices is very motivating.

As we add words, her thoughts expand. The more fluent I am with SFY, the better communication partner I become. There are things Jess is always asking about; visiting her favorite friend, going to the movies and what she wants to eat. Her phrases aren’t long, but she is expanding her thoughts.  A large vocabulary allows you to speak in color.  Cinderella’s dress isn’t just blue, it’s Cornflower blue!

It’s obvious now, but I didn’t realize that the more Jess is able to express, the better I get to know her. Being able to connect is what makes communication so powerful.

Filed Under: Now we are talking Tagged With: Speak for Yourself

First date

February 16, 2016 by Mary1991 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 in 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: Now we are talking Tagged With: AAC, Angelman Syndrome, Speak for Yourself

Practice makes perfect

February 9, 2016 by Mary1991 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 on 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. Like a pangram, 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: Now we are talking Tagged With: AAC, Speak for Yourself

Model, model, model…

February 3, 2016 by Mary1991 Leave a Comment

IMG_7874The other night I had a dream. I was watching myself have a conversation with Jess. We were using our talkers. My fingers were tapping without hesitation and I wasn’t using the search feature. I was a rock star! The last sentence I recall saying was, “I don’t need help” and then I woke up.  Hopefully this is a premonition as to what is to come.

Whenever I start tapping on the talker, Jess gets a certain glint in her eye and immediately picks up hers. It must feel good to have someone speak your language.

You don’t have to be the best modeler to have impact, you don’t even have to be an SLP, you just have to be a communication partner.

Where Jess prefers the “miss hit method” while searching for a word, I tend to hover over them. Kind of like when I’m looking for an item at the market and it is right in front of me. Even though our styles are different, I’m thinking her way is better. I’m watching her learn from mistakes, whereas you don’t learn much when you freeze. It’s true, he who hesitates is lost.

Hmm, I wonder, who is the modeler?

we have been modeling, time to clean the screen
we have been modeling, time to clean the screen

 

Filed Under: Now we are talking Tagged With: Speak for Yourself

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