Brycen has been awesome with his communication device since his came almost two weeks ago! We are so blessed to have had insurance cover this so that he can have a way to communicate more than his grunts, pointing, and yelling:) He has been taking it to school each day and to therapy twice per week and is so consistent with it. Of course the therapists are excited to use it with him since they had a big part in helping us get it! The teachers and school SLP are also very excited and have been brainstorming various things for me to program for their use at school. We were so excited to read the great note that his teacher wrote in his communication book today that goes back and forth to school in his backpack. "Another child was grabbing at it, Brycen pushed the button that said 'This is my communication device to talk...' He was standing up for his rights and knew what he wanted to tell her." Up until this time, the device has just been used to make choices and encourage various requests like please, more and thank you. This is the first time that we have heard/observed him using the machine for functional communication!! How amazing is that to not only have him stand up for what he knew was his, but he also did not choose aggression to communicate (which is usually the case)! ABC update: He continues to work on this multiple times per day and is getting so good at it! We tested him on an ABC game on the computer where it will say the letter when he pushes it on the keyboard...and he actually chose to do it in order of the ABC's with my help on only 3 of the letters! So not only can he voice the sound of the majority of the letters, but actually does know the order they go in during the song. He can also type BOTH his first and last name on the computer or the keyboard on his device accurately about 75% of the time. He's great at first name but still learning the entire last name and sometimes wants to put the R before the E or forgets one of the M's. We are so very proud of him and his accomplishments over the last several months!!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Brycen and his Communication Device!
Brycen has been awesome with his communication device since his came almost two weeks ago! We are so blessed to have had insurance cover this so that he can have a way to communicate more than his grunts, pointing, and yelling:) He has been taking it to school each day and to therapy twice per week and is so consistent with it. Of course the therapists are excited to use it with him since they had a big part in helping us get it! The teachers and school SLP are also very excited and have been brainstorming various things for me to program for their use at school. We were so excited to read the great note that his teacher wrote in his communication book today that goes back and forth to school in his backpack. "Another child was grabbing at it, Brycen pushed the button that said 'This is my communication device to talk...' He was standing up for his rights and knew what he wanted to tell her." Up until this time, the device has just been used to make choices and encourage various requests like please, more and thank you. This is the first time that we have heard/observed him using the machine for functional communication!! How amazing is that to not only have him stand up for what he knew was his, but he also did not choose aggression to communicate (which is usually the case)! ABC update: He continues to work on this multiple times per day and is getting so good at it! We tested him on an ABC game on the computer where it will say the letter when he pushes it on the keyboard...and he actually chose to do it in order of the ABC's with my help on only 3 of the letters! So not only can he voice the sound of the majority of the letters, but actually does know the order they go in during the song. He can also type BOTH his first and last name on the computer or the keyboard on his device accurately about 75% of the time. He's great at first name but still learning the entire last name and sometimes wants to put the R before the E or forgets one of the M's. We are so very proud of him and his accomplishments over the last several months!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
That is fabulous news!
ReplyDelete