When Brycen was initially diagnosed, I wasn't even thinking about communication devices. As you all know, he had quite a few single words and phrases prior to regression, so I guess I assumed once we began getting him the therapy he needed, those words would come back and then some. Well, that's not how it worked for Brycen. There are still many words that he used to say that he isn't even attempting to imitate at this time. More importantly, he still can't say many words spontaneously and will only attempt them if prompted in some way. Then when he does speak them, quite a few sounds are missing so unless you speak "Brycen language" you probably would not understand anything he is saying.
A little over a year ago was when we first began discussing a communication device. His first school brought it up during his IEP in May 2010, and the initial device they spoke of was very very basic. It used multiple cards that had a picture on the front and back...and on the bottom of the card had a strip that would be "read" by the machine when the card was placed on the machine. The cost was under $75 for this device and it's cards. We just weren't sure about it and about the benefits of having one yet. We researched different machines over the next few months and saw that studies showed nonverbal children who used a voice-output device were more likely to start verbalizing than children without one. Research also shows the earlier you implement the device, the better the results are.
Fast-forward to the next school year and a new therapy clinic. The new speech therapist that Brycen began seeing immediately began using the Go-Talk with him during sessions. He was still using basic PECS at school and some at home as well. Brycen caught on fast to the Go-Talk 9 so we began discussing what the next step was. The SLP brought in two different reps to meet with us as she felt that Brycen would outgrow most of the lower tech devices fast, and we both thought a higher tech device would be best since we can program it to keep up with him. In January 2011, we chose to go ahead with the Alt-Chat made by Satillo. He responded fabulously to it during our 4 week trial period and we were blessed to have insurance approve it with no hesitation. On March 23, 2011, my son received his "voice." It was delivered to the house in a box that we will keep forever!
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| Brycen with his trial device. |
Since that date, like research said, Brycen has begun to imitate more sounds and words, and communicate effectively with the machine. We knew that to make the most progress, it was important that the device be used in all areas of his life...therefore his device goes with him to school, therapy, is out at home for when he needs it, sometimes to the store, on overnight trips, to doctor appts, etc. Brycen knows that machine inside and out! He can navigate the pages to exactly what he wants to say faster than any of us.
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| Using his device to play CandyLand with Grandma |
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