Without his device, Joey has been choosing to read books that give him more opportunities to interact during the read aloud. He wants to hold an animal, wave a magic wand, or move a velcroed piece around on his work tray. Last week I wondered just what was so appealing about Room on the Broom that we couldn’t break away from reading it. Through looking at what the Room on the Broom read aloud structure looks like for Joey, and considering that without his device read alouds can be more of a listening experience than an interactive one, I realized I needed to increase the opportunities for Joey to engage during a book. [Read more…]
What Makes a Good Book for Joey?
I’m not sure what I’ll do if I have to read Room on the Broom one more time with Joey (OK, truthfully we all know that I’ll read it and be as excited about reading it as I was the first time…) but I honestly am not sure I can. I’ve stretched the book as far as I can. We’ve counted characters forwards and backwards, identified rhyming words, acted it out, spent time on the prepositions of the book, talked about weather, emotions, and even friendship. Yet still, Joey latches onto it. [Read more…]
Giggles
“What comes next?” I asked Joey, holding up the 5 and the 14 number cards. We’d just put down four and were building a long number line. Joey looked me in the eyes, then promptly looked at the number 14. And then burst into a fit of giggles.
Right. The kid knew exactly what he was doing.
“14? 3, 4, 14? Is that how we count?” I acted huffy. “NO… it’s five!”
Joey looked solemn as I handed him the five and together we added it to the number line we were building. He remained calm as we counted the numbers we already had, touching each one to make sure we had one to one correspondence. [Read more…]
Silence
My last few sessions with Joey have been quiet, as his AAC device was taken away for repairs over the school system’s winter break. The device was losing power, and appeared to be taking longer and longer to read Joey’s eyes. This slow and unreliable response time was most likely what was causing Joey’s communication regression so it is good that it is getting fixed. These silent three weeks, however, are such a reminder of how important access to words is for Joey.
When I was getting ready to go see Joey on Wednesday, my seven year old daughter, home on winter break, was following me around asking me questions about what I was up to. She met Joey last winter, and was hoping she could come along this trip. I mentioned that his talker was broken and she gasped in horror. “What? Mommy! That’s not fair! That’s how he TALKS!” [Read more…]
Ninja, Ninja, Never Stop – Another great book for Core Words
Let me introduce you to your new favorite book for reading with a child using an AAC device. Ninja, Ninja, Never Stop written by Todd Tuell is packed with core words and a fun story. When I first found the book I thought it might appeal to active boys, but it didn’t strike me as an overly useful book. I was so wrong. [Read more…]
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