Having a voice in the most magical place in the world

We have had a magical trip this Christmas to Disneyland Paris. Preparation enabled choice and modelling.I could also quickly add things as needed.

 He was so pleased in Stitch Live that he could use his colours folder and "shout out" with the other children the colours to enable Stitch to escape.

Let's talk about my Christmas presents.....

Something most take for granted..... Being able to talk about what you had nice for Christmas. This seemed like something I would never be able to do but I managed to do it for the first time today!!! I met up with some new friends and was really excited to show them what I had got for Christmas and introducing them to my sister too and I thought what better way than to show them photos!!  But having just a photo wouldn't work for me as I had no way then of explaining what was inside the photo when in my head I have so much to say! So I made an album for them and away I went!

I've made a few folders each with things inside I want to show people it always is easier to talk to people when I am motivated and excited!! 

What better way to start a conversation than showing someone my paw patrol collection!

As you can see I kept it short and simple and showed my favorite things which kept me interested and it really helped to break the ice as you would say to help me start to talk to my new friends it was a 100% success!! 

Learning to expand sentences using adapted home made book

Blueberry had a slt session this week. We discussed the words that she is missing out and how to help her expand her sentences. Me, being me, thought I'd set up this activity. Blueberry did find it hard to stay on task and remember what the question was, so lots of prompts were needed. We will persevere and keep trying though.

I made a Christmas book template.

Then to use the connective and describing words I made a 'little words' pop up. This kept it simple for Blueberry.

Happy Christmas 🎄🎄

Christmas party...... Meltdown avoided!

At my day service today it was our Christmas party which is a high trigger environment for me so my carer put things into place to make it easier for me. Such as having a choice board set up ready for me to choose activities when I was there which really helped me to be able to choose things stress free.

Here is an example of my choice board as you can see there was very few choices there so as not to overload me. 

I made a guess who game page and played with my carer and friend which worked really well for me and my friend we was able to interact and knew what to say to each other it really was lots of fun for us both my carer thought it was a great page!! 

It was a success and when I started to get stressed it was caught fast and my carer acted fast so as to calm things down before they exploded........

I was able to tell my carer I didn't like the waiting for Santa I wanted him now it may have just been a few words but they made a major difference to being calm or being stressed because I was able to be listened to which I really liked here is what I was able to say........

As you can see afterwards I was very happy to talk to Santa and calm was restored......

And all was good again in bouncy pony land!! 

The first time blueberry has communicated with Santa ever!!!!!!

My daughter asked to see Santa this year, which she has been too anxious to do for a few years now. So, being brave I made a very simple Christmas list page. I didn't include any words like 'I want', or 'please' and 'thank you' because she finds those words highly anxiety provoking in situations she's not used to. She did amazingly well, and happily, yes happily, (whoop whoop)  pressed all the buttons to tell Santa what she wanted.

Magical Christmas at Thomas Land!

Today I went to Thomas land with my carer and friends and for the first time I took my device with me to the theme park which is something I've never done!!  I thought I would try it I felt confident and started using it as soon as we arrived talking through to my carer what rides I wanted to go on.

 

it proved really helpful to have a visual of what rides I could choose throughout the day! 

In the afternoon I was struggling a bit when I needed the toilet but didn't want to stop having fun!! Then we was waiting to meet back up with my friends so my carer suggested we wait until they came back. But I wanted to go to the toilet there and then as had already left it a long time!! Usually this would have turned into a HUGE meltdown because I couldn't express that I needed to go now not wait! But with the help of my device I was able to tell my carer and there and then we found a toilet!! It's the little things that make a HUGE difference! I shall definitely be taking my device out with me to theme parks again! 

Bye bouncy pony! 

Merry Christmas! 

Reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar with AAC

I have recently been inspired by conversations with co-blogger Twinkle Blueberry about modelling AAC whilst sharing books (and her recent blogpost on the subject) so I decided to give it a go.  My girl is much younger than hers and she likes very simple, repetitive books which are read in the same way, with the same rhythm, each time.  She is also quite impatient and likes things to happen quickly!  This means that (at this stage, anyway) I can't do long, complicated modelling that would involve navigating through different folders to find words - because she likes pages turned quickly!!

So this is how we did it ...

First of all we put on the YouTube video of Eric Carle reading his book 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'.  (She likes watching him better than listening to me!)

Then we opened our 'comments' folder (general comments, not designed for this activity):

Then I just put in any comments which were relevant as Eric turned the pages.  She was comfortable with that as it didn't change the rhythm or speed of the story too much.  Buttons which were useful were:

 'Oh dear!  Ouch!' (when the caterpillar had a stomach ache)

'Yummy!' (when the caterpillar ate nice things)

'That's clever!' (when the caterpillar built a cocoon)

'That's silly!' (when the caterpillar ate too much food).

 'Wow!  That's pretty!' (when the caterpillar turned into a butterfly), 

Shared reading by navigating folders

My daughter doesn't really show any interest in books, but I keep trying! 

Today I shared this book whilst incorporating her communication app too. Using the 7X11 intermediate core she used 3 buttons on the home page,  then used the 'places' folder, to find the  'home places' folder and found the button for toilet. Yes, she did need a bit of verbal prompting, but this definitely increased her ability to cope with a bit of shared reading, and gave us both practice navigating through the folders. I shall definitely be using this again.

One happy, and proud, mummy.

Sometimes you have to say yes

How can I not say yes.

My lad came showing me some music he had found on iTunes 

With help asked for it with modelling 

Pushed him further & brought up keyboard he typed it out copying from iTunes 

Reward he was allowed to purchase 

Sometime if you let them say no...

Today I wanted to take my lad for a new coat. His response no he had more important things to do like go on computer. But later we went out with no protest and choose a new red coat.

Trip to the cinema on way back had the staff really interested in his AAC and asking about it. He requested the tickets and the popcorn. No meltdowns no bad behaviour because I let him say no earlier. 

AAC in the Sensory Room

Since we are getting some new sensory bits and pieces for Christmas (and planning a bit of a sensory room revamp) I thought it would be good for my girl to have more say in what she does in there.  At the moment it's quite straightforward but when I'm sure she's familiar with the buttons I might convert some of them into pop-ups to give her even more choice (so massage could have a pop-up with head, back, arms, legs, hands, feet, etc. to allow her to say exactly what she wants).  Also I know she likes different music albums on different days so hopefully that could be a pop-up too.  The aromatherapy diffuser (Christmas present) will add a new dimension as we haven't done smells before so it will be interesting to see if that can be a choice too.

Working through frustration to avoid a meltdown!

Today I went to the safari park and things was going well , I find transitioning to the next activity hard so my carer warned me of the next thing happening a few times. But I was having such a good time I was focused on finding the discovery trails to scratch on my card so I got a present that I forgot the next thing so when my carer mentioned it was dinner time it was too sudden for me and felt like a surprise which I hate and cannot cope with! So I started to get upset and was repeating what my carer was saying so we sat down and I decided to tell my carer what was wrong making me upset!

This is the start of the conversation I had with my carer which I felt she really listened to me and understood what I was saying and didn't just insist I ate my dinner she explained the reasons for having dinner now such as it would make me poorly and cause hypos and we could carry on having fun after dinner. 

 

This is the ending of the conversation when we made a now and next and I talked through what I wanted to do and we spoke about what was next so I knew what was happening after I had eaten. It was important for me to know that even though I was having fun now and didn't want to stop we would carry on having fun after our dinner. I felt very proud of myself and happy afterwards and didn't headbutt my carer as she put pressure on my head to help me stop that feeling which made me so happy I felt like I had really communicated well and importantly too my carer had really listened to me and understood me that is so important to me! 

Let's write Christmas cards

Blueberry wanted to write her Christmas cards tonight. She chose her friends using the photos on her iPad, then she also copied their names from the iPad to her cards.

When anxiety takes over.... The reality of selective mutism

Today wasn't a good day for me from the moment I went out until I got back I only managed to say 5 things.... All of which was to my mom except 1 of them...... Instead I was frozen today and felt like my body was eating itself as I was struck by major anxiety that I haven't experienced for a bit which wasn't fun at all!! Instead of laughing and having fun I was too anxious to make a sound and squeezed my hands all day just waiting till it was time to go home and I could block all the world away..... Today isn't a good day for me but tomorrow should be better. Even us fluent communicators have bad days it's not a simple path to talking..... Here is what I managed to say it might not be a lot but at least I could ask for a drink when I was really thirsty better than nothing!

Watching Disney's 'Frozen' with AAC

This afternoon we snuggled under a duvet on the sofa and watched Disney's Frozen for the first time (yes, two years after the rest of the world ...).  I quickly consulted my three fellow bloggers who told me the key words that would be needed and made a folder with some core vocabulary (yellow, always same location on screen) and some useful Frozen words.  It was quite successful: my girl enjoyed snuggling up and watching it and was definitely engaged with my commenting (her eyes were going from TV screen to iPad and back) although she didn't choose to join in.  That's not a great surprise - she's much more oriented to requesting, so commenting is the next step.  However, the device blended nicely into the activity and helped us share the film together.

How rewards help me speak

When I first got my communication device I was so used to not talking we soon realised it was going to take some hard work to get me to 'talk' so my mom and carers worked on something I liked to do...... Going to a cafe at the park and asking for a Diet Coke.  

I did this same thing for quite a while until I was then able to move the Diet Coke to different places like restaurants and supermarkets. Until I became confident and understood that if I did good communication I got something back which I loved ice cold Diet Coke! 

We still use this method now when I have been good and communicated rather than grunted and got frustrated with mom for not understanding I get to have a drink somewhere with a red straw of course! That's an ongoing battle! 

Here is my star chart the idea is I earn a star for every communication effort I make when I get 6 I get a reward can easily be adapted to suit anyone whatever works for you! 

Bye 

Bouncy pony! 

We're off to a Christmas fayre!

Today mom said we was going to a Christmas fayre so I made myself a page so that I would be able to talk there and not rely on mom translating my sounds. Here is what I created!

I was really nervous at first and other things was distracting me in the room like the noises and the people so I was silent for the first bit but then Santa caught my attention! So mom said "Do you want to see Santa?" To which I couldn't help but say yes! So off we went! 

This is the conversation I had with Santa. As you can see it was really good for me I was more confident than my last Santa visit so that was good I had my photo took as well I enjoyed that and he was really nice to me and I got a present! 

I was very excited afterwards and it seemed to help me start talking to people on the stalls. I even spoke to moms friend telling her "I saw Santa" when she asked me if I was excited for Christmas. Engaging with someone new is a big thing for me so I'm really proud! Overall a great big success I got what I wanted no meltdowns and a lot of communication in a trigger environment this is why it's great having my device with me wherever I go so that I have access to talk all the time. 

Bye for now 

Bouncy Pony! 

Using Proloquo2Go's Built-In Animal Sound Effects

A really cool feature of Proloquo2Go is that it has built-in sound effects which you can add to a button instead of text to speak. In this folder I have created buttons for animals and in the grey button underneath each animal you can press to hear the sound it makes.  This folder is fun for choosing which verse of old McDonald to sing as well as commenting on farm picture books and trips to the farm.

Gingerbread house

I'm planning on decorating a gingerbread house with my daughter tomorrow.

I've also added some buttons so I can model asking questions.

Customised device!

Who says your 'Talker' or 'Voice' or  'Device' has to be boring? Not me!! I like to personalise my cases for my device so it shows my personality I don't want it to be dull cause that's not me I'm a happy bubble person who loves Disney and Mr Tumble especially! So what better than to customise my device so I'm happy to use it and show it off to my friends!

Visiting Santa!

Yesterday I went to the safari park and seen Santa.  I planned for it by making a Christmas folder before I went which really helped me to be able to interact with the elves and also Santa himself.  I find Santa a hard one I really want to do it but I find direct contact super hard to deal with cause I hate that he is expecting me to talk and talks directly to me!  I'm lucky that My carer gets me and she will answer for me when Santa says things I have not planned for cause I won't answer I just like to tell him my list and say Merry Christmas and smile.

This is what I said to Santa .... most the time when I talk I talk to carers and others hear, to have people waiting on me is so hard!  So this is a HUGE achievement for me I am very proud of myself!

And this is the man himself!

Commenting on TV programmes

AAC can be used for commenting on TV programmes - and as my children tend to also have toys and books connected with their favourite programmes, that means more opportunities to use these buttons in different contexts.  Here are the folders for Peppa Pig and In the Night Garden commenting.

Stress free day

Nothing like putting together a page quickly this evening after a stressful afternoon so that my day out tomorrow with my carer and my friend and her son goes as smooth as possible! Off to the safari park not been at Christmas before but going to try it out :) 

Got my now and next ready

So I know what I'm doing for the day! 

Quickly put together a safari page didn't have one already but know how much of a difference it makes to be able to say what I want to do and seeing visually my choices!