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.

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.

TV

My girl has been choosing TV programmes for years using PECS so we've now got a folder on her speech device to help her choose.  She loves choosing so much that I don't get to watch anything I like until she goes to bed.  There's only so many times you can hear 'I want Peppa Pig please' before giving in!  :)

Choosing YouTube Videos

This activity was designed for my son (5) who is very motivated by YouTube videos with simple songs for children.  Although I usually use Widgit symbols I decided that I would take a screenshot of each video on pause and use that as the image because it would be easier to recognise.  It works really well and he's very enthusiastic.  I plan to add more videos to the collection over time, based on the ones he seems most excited by when we watch.  If he claps when he watches a video I know it's a good one and I should add a button for it!