Parents' Corner
The Parents’ Corner Family:
Three Years Later
As I sit in the library having some “mom” time to work on this month’s column, I am thinking back on the three years of the AAC Institute Parents Corner. Three years ago, this started out as a monthly article for parents of children who use AAC. Like my own children during that time it has grown and changed, yet remained much the same.
When the Parents’ Corner started, my youngest sons who use AAC were getting ready to enter kindergarten. That first article introduced you to my family, and wondered whether my sons would become the class bullies, using their personalities, power chairs and AAC to boss others around.
My twins are now entering 4th grade, and I must tell you that Caleb still likes to boss others around, especially Joshua. He got up this morning ready to run the place, telling Josh what he should eat for breakfast, what they should do after they were dressed, and finally, to get that water bottle out of his mouth! Joshua, used to Caleb’s bossing by now, takes it all in stride.
Like Caleb, the Parents’ Corner has remained the same in many ways. All of the authors still talk about their children here. The monthly columns are still geared toward parents and questions and topics that are important to us. Informational articles still include references, for further information. Not much has changed in that regard.
However, the Parents’ Corner, like my kids, has grown in size and what it does. My sons have grown taller, but have also developed more skills of their own. Joshua is learning to drink from a water bottle with no lid on it, completely independently, much to the frustration of safety conscious Caleb, who worries about getting too much water in his mouth and still prefers a straw. Caleb has been developing his computer skills, and is now very capable of doing his own web search, as well as connecting to the music download site and selecting reggae music demos to listen to, to the aggravation of his 12 year old brother, Wesley, who doesn’t like loud music. In addition to the three years of archives filed by topic, we have added a file sharing area to share our teaching and AAC support ideas. There is also a Google group dedicated to parents whose children use AAC, which provides a place to get support and ask questions of other parents who have similar experiences. I have begun to spend time at conferences and regionally teaching others how to adapt school subjects to help students with AAC to build language skills as well as learn that subject. This has been such an important focus that the AAC Institute Symposium is dedicated to just this topic. (for more information on the symposium on August 2nd, 2007, see: http://www.aacinstitute.org/Symposium/index.html)
The Parent’s Corner is also growing to include information on IEP goals designed specifically for students who use AAC. The Google group had quite a discussion on IEPs this spring, and we decided that more resources about IEPs need to be available for students who use AAC. So, this fall, the AAC Institute will launch a new publication about IEPs.
In the same way we guide our children’s growth and development, we parents guide the growth of the AAC Institute Parents Corner area. We focus this resource on what we think is important, knowing that we, as the “Parent’s Corner family”, are not the only ones who will benefit. What we have learned and taught and shared with each other helps the professionals who work with children who use AAC.
We hope that our spirit of excitement over what our kids can accomplish using AAC infects the professionals who also frequent our Parents’ Corner area. We want you to feel the excitement we feel when you use one of our ideas from the file sharing area and see the students you work with learning from it. We hope that the information you find here is practical and helpful. We hope that the glimpses of the lives of the families who write these columns give you insight as you work with families whose children use AAC. Most of all, we want you to feel that you are an important part of the team that builds skills in our children, while at the same time recognizing that there is something unique and intense about being a parent of a child who uses AAC that you can’t completely understand until you have been there.
The parents representing the Parent’s Corner truly are a family. We not only share information with each other, we share good times and the hard ones, the triumphs as well as the times when we feel frustrated. We are bonded by our shared desire to see kids like ours reach their full potential and our willingness to learn what we need to, to see that happen.
In the three years of the Parents’ Corner area, this is probably the most exciting thing that has developed: the spirit of family that has blossomed between all of the parents who are journeying together down a path most parents don’t travel: the AAC road. I hope that the resources you find at the parents corner area not only give you information, but help you to feel connected with others who are also raising children with speech and language disabilities. When I get to meet you and your children, it feels like going to a family reunion. It’s an awesome feeling to be part of the Parents’ Corner Family with you!
Happy Third Anniversary Everyone!
I always value your feedback. parents@aacinstitute.org.
