Robin Hurd

Welcome to The Parents' Corner

by Robin Hurd

Hello, and welcome to The Parents’ Corner. This resource of the AAC Institute is dedicated to you, the parents and family members of children who use AAC devices. Our goal is to give some tips to help you help your child acheive the most effective communication possible and answer your questions. Hopefully, we will share some stories that will make us laugh, because we all have been there, too! Be assured that this column is exclusively for parents, family members, and personal care givers. My intention is to create an environment where none of us has to be concerned that professional eyes are watching and making decisions about what is or is not appropriate. However, I do want to disclose that each column is reviewed for content and accuracy by a speech-language pathologist or other professional specific to the topic of the month.

When I first began to pursue getting a communication device for my boys, I thought I was making myself clear when I told the professionals I wanted my boys to “learn to talk like other kids learn”. I soon found out that it was possible for a child to receive a communication device that did NOT have as its goal “learning to talk like other kids learn.” That missing piece, called language, is the reason I do this column.

Throughout this column, my goal will be to help you enable your child to learn language, as well as learn to use his or her communication device. Kids like most of ours, who had their disability before they learned to talk, have to learn more than how to find the words they want to say on their devices, they must also learn how to put the words together correctly, so their words will make sense to everyone else. This is what we mean by “learning language.”

For our first edition, I want to share some of what life is like in my house. Having twins is very funny; having identical twins with identical disabilities can be hilarious!

At times Caleb, my more outgoing of the two boys, will burst into a long shout, simply to let his presence be known. Unfortunately, this loud and somewhat intimidating noise can cause his playmates to be scared of him, when he really intended just to make sure that they didn’t forget that he is biking with them, too!

We have two power wheelchairs at our house, and our own little “parking lot” for them by the front door. The sight of two young boys driving their power chairs towards them has been known to cause strangers a moment of sheer terror when they realize, “Oh my gosh, they’re driving those things themselves!!” Last summer, this became a discipline issue, when they boys would detect this look of horror, and drive rapidly towards the horrified stranger, stopping inches away from his/her toes with big smiles on their faces. This game of “chicken”, though extremely funny, had to end before kindergarten started! Can’t you just see it—the class bully drives a power chair, makes loud intimidating noises and tells you to “bug off” on his communication device!!

Please send in your questions and comments to parents@aacinstitute.org, so we can focus this part of the newsletter to best meet your needs. We want to hear from you!