Parents' Corner
Increased Motor Skills and
Time to Re-think the Plan
Another summer has come and is now nearly gone. As I enjoy a bit of dark chocolate and think back over our summer, it has been a very busy time of re-thinking where the boys are at and what we can do to move them on to fluent command of their words. This is their last year of elementary school, and big changes take place when they enter the middle school: more teachers to communicate with, more homework and a new and larger building to find their way through. We want them to be prepared.
The summer began with the results of some language testing for Josh and Caleb showing us some areas of deficiency that needed some work. As we thought about where the boys were in their communication skills and where we wanted them to be, we also realized that some of their communication partners (especially a 12 and a 14 year old brother) were predicting what they wanted to say before they said it. In fact, the predictions were so accurate that they reduced the need and desire to use AAC! This also was happening at school with other students who know the boys well.
Josh and Caleb have also been developing their motor skills to the point that they are not always neatly seated in their wheelchairs with their AAC system mounted and handy for use. The result of this is that if communication is not handy, yelling is likely to happen.
So, all of these things led us to do some re-thinking. Perhaps walking you through our re-thinking process will help when the time comes to do some re-thinking for your own child. The first thing I did was to come up with some activities to work on the specific language skills that were the poorest when tested. The goal was to design some quick activities that someone besides Mom could do with the boys to give lots and lots of practice to the skills we wanted to build. (I find that shorter activities done more often work best for Josh and Caleb.)
Very quickly after this, we had a family meeting to talk about how to help Josh and Caleb use their AAC system better. We had 3 rules to remember that helped greatly with the communication partners.
1. Wait for them to finish pushing buttons before jumping in.
2. If you don’t understand what they said, ask them to tell you more and then wait.
3. Do not ask yes/ no questions.Solving the problem of what to do about the boys not always having their AAC system handy when they are moving around has been a two-fold problem that took a bit more work to figure out. And even now, I am not sure we have the complete answer. AAC is harder when the child who uses it is mobile, but not yet able to carry their communication system safely.
To make sure that it was a lack of communication, and not just a behavior problem, we began to chart when the most yelling was happening, and sure enough, it was when the boys were moving around, out in the yard or otherwise out of reach of their AAC system. The first solution was to make sure everyone knew where the AAC systems should be kept. That way we can grab them quickly and bring them to where the boys are. We also thought about ways to engineer the environment so that a substitute to the main AAC system could be available. In the past, we had put low tech boards in the bathroom and at swimming class, but now our concerns were different. Josh was starting to go outside, but not able to tell us as he headed out the door. After losing Josh out the door a few times, we added a talking picture frame with 4 recorded messages at the doorway, so he can tell us he’s going outside before he does it or request a grown-up to come with him.
Caleb has different concerns. He also was yelling, but mostly because he was anxious about someone getting hurt, doing something dangerous, or that the adults were going to forget something important when going somewhere. Again, most of the yelling happens when the AAC system is not accessible: packed up for a trip in the car, for example, or when he is moving around—outside sitting on the therapy ball for instance. We used a couple of the recorded messages on the talking picture frame by the front door to let Caleb tell us that he’s afraid we forgot something or needs a grown-up. We have also been working hard on the idea that Caleb’s idea of “dangerous” may actually be more of a tattling problem, even though his twin is more of a daredevil than he is.
Because of the increased mobility reducing the use of the main AAC system, I also felt that it was necessary to “add in” some more structured “talking time” with the AAC system. So we designed our summer schedule to include “talking time” right after lunch and snacks. We used to do this right after lunch when the boys were first learning their systems and were in half day school programs. So I started up their special talking time again after lunch and afternoon snack time. Often, we use a book to get us started talking, but sometimes, we just talk. Cleaning up from the meal waits until the talking time is done.
All of my boys benefit from structure, but Caleb especially has enjoyed knowing when talking time is coming up, using the picture schedule on the wall and the clock to keep track of things—another way of engineering the environment to reduce his anxiety.
As I look back on this summer, it was one of re-thinking, problem solving and trying to figure out how to continue to build language and communication as the boys continue to grow and develop in all ways. While the main communication system is still the most effective and important tool the boys have, other ways to communicate and to reduce anxiety have been necessary as their movement increases. From time to time, what we do needs to be tweaked as our kids change and develop new skills and have new needs. Taking the time to do some re-thinking has helped the whole family to be less frustrated and to keep Josh and Caleb developing the skills they need both now and in the future.
I always value your feedback. parents@aacinstitute.org.
