Communicating

I just put this post up on Junior's regular blog and though it is not an "adaption" I thought I would still share it here. It may give someone in our same situation some ideas to deal with communication needs. I would also love to hear how your child communicates.

I regularly get asked how Junior communicates so I thought I would do a post about it. I am going to start with what we used when he was very little.

When Junior was really little we relied on facial expression to determine what he needed but as he got older we found that wasn't enough. When Junior was 4 he started having many tantrums and melt downs which clearly were happening because of his lack of ability to communicate. With Junior being unable to move his hands we decided to try introducing eye gaze. When we started with eye gaze we used two large cards which were each a different color. We used red and green because that is what worked for him(I know that most vision therapists would have a fit about us using those colors but each kids needs are different). Each card was the size of a full sheet of paper. The green one had a big smiley face on it with the word Yes printed on the bottom. The red card had a frowning face with No printed on the bottom. Initially those cards went everywhere with him but within a couple months we stopped using the cards and Junior knew that looking to my right was yes, and left was no(he looks to my right when I am facing him so technically it is his left). Literally within days Junior's tantrums all but disappeared.
You can also show him several items(movies, books, toys, etc) and he will show you with his eyes what he wants. If he does not want any of the items he will look up at the ceiling(also his response if he doesn't want to do something and is ignoring me)
Here is a picture of him using his yes/no cards when he was little.
Junior caught on to the yes/no eye gaze so quickly that we decided to start adding symbols and see how he did. In 2005 Make A Wish gave him a computer with Boardmaker on it and this allowed us to make the symbol cards for him.
Here is one of his early choice boards
His weather board which we used with his school work
The choice boards were good when he was little but took a lot of time to set up and use. We rarely pull them out now because of that issue. We tried a Super Talker for a short time and it was able to be plugged into his head switch. Junior liked it for about a week but then got frustrated and bored because he could only make a choice between two things(he has 2 head switches). Each time we wanted to add something it required me to put in new picture cards and record new audio. For a child who can use their hands symbol communication is great option but with little support from the school district(which might have helped find a technology way to help Junior use the symbols more efficiently) it is not the best option for Junior. Junior also has a handful of words which he is able to use but most people do not understand him(he has an extremely high palate so no matter how hard he tries he is very limited in the sounds he can make). Most of his words use open vowel sounds, out, on, hIIEE(Heidi), aaa(Abigail), aaa-aww(grandma), O(no), yaa(yes), ass(grass, yep he has been known to bike down the sidewalk hollering that one perfectly clear as he tries to get me to let him ride on the grass), etc.

We have tried many things and over the years have weeded out what works for Junior. Though he may get frustrated at times he is one determined kid and always finds a way to get his point across.

We are still looking for technology items to help Junior with his educational needs as well as communication and I am sure this will be an ongoing challenge. It is all about helping him reach his full potential and be all that he can be.

Here is a picture of Junior doing his schoolwork with his teacher. He is using eye gaze to show her which letter starts the word(this picture is from several years ago).