I did want to give a quick overall update on Junior's communication progress with the IPAD.
After using it for a few months now I am wondering how we ever survived without it.
Having Junior be able to tell me exactly what is wrong or what he wants is amazing. He loves his "voice" and demands to use it.
He will now get upset if I don't help him use the top bar to read out what he wants once he has give me the parts. For example if he is crying and I get the ipad for him he will tell me "Ihurt" then " It is my tummy" then "I want out of my chair" then "I want to sit in my recliner". Each of those parts is spoken by the ipad as he chooses them but after he is done we can touch the top bar to allow him to "say" them all together. This morning after his walk he wanted his ipad and told me "I want, Solar system, a story, Shrek 4". I started to move the ipad after he had made his choices and he looked at me with a very upset look. I realized I had not helped him hit the top bar to "say" his complete choice at one time. As soon as we did that he was grinning and patiently waited while I got his solar system and story set up.
He now loves to sit and "chat" with me nightly. I pull up his "answers" board(yes, no, maybe, I don't know, etc.) and then we "chat" about his day. It is now one of his favorite parts of the day.
I have also noticed an increase in his verbalization attempts. Junior has a very high palate so it is nearly impossible for him to pronounce many sounds but he has always tried to "talk". Recently he is being louder and verbalizes much more often. If he gets mad, look out, he will try to "tell" you exactly what he thinks, and you don't need to understand him to get what he is "saying".Another thing we are seeing is Junior instantly calming down when he sees that I am getting the ipad for him. This is not a spoiled child reacting to getting his way. In these instances he is crying or upset because he hurts, needs something or is frustrated. As soon as he sees the ipad you see him instantly relax, knowing that now he can tell you whats wrong.
Of course he also loves having the ipad with him everywhere he goes. Watching his shows while at the doctors office makes a huge difference. They keep him distracted and we are now having almost no panic episodes.
Many of his reading activities are now on the ipad and he no longer battles me over doing them. Funny how putting them on the ipad turns them into something fun and no longer work. Because of this we are making faster progress with his basic educational skills.
Hopefully in the near future we will be getting him a Ipad stand for his wheel chair. He would then be able to have the ipad up at eye level without me needing to hold it for him.
The ipad has been such a blessing for Junior and has opened a whole new world for him.
This picture just shows him with one of his school projects. We are going through a unit on farming.
No comments:
Post a Comment