I Want a Different Story Please

Yesterday Junior wanted to listen to a story on his ipad. I put the ipad on the stand so he could see it and then gave him his head switch attached to his Super Talker so he could tell me when he needed a new story. As soon as the story started he started hitting the switch. I would change the story and he would hit the switch to ask for a different one, again, and again, and again.

I finally got what he was wanting(he wanted a tv show instead of a story) and turned it on for him.
A couple minutes into the show I hear him ask for different one
I had turned on the show he wanted but had the wrong episode
Thinking he is very smart.
Finally the episode I want

Adding the switch with certain activities really helps Junior avoid frustration. If he is watching a show or listening to a story he can hit the switch to tell me he needs a new one instead of having to holler or get upset to get my attention. It is also helping him get used to using his switch along with the ipad. That will be very helpful when he gets his switch adapter and starts using his head switch on the ipad. The school district has ordered it and we can't wait for it to arrive.

Planting

I have been trying to put some posts up for several days now but blogger wasn't letting me sign in. Finally got it figured out so I can catch up on some posts.

This week Junior was planting some seeds
Ready to get started(I didn't take pics of each step)
Telling me what we need to do
Put in the dirt
Put a hole in the dirt
Sprinkle on some water
Showing off his plants

Junior loves to color with his markers, especially now that he has the arm slings to help.
His ipad is set up next to him with color choices.

Apps For Special Needs

I recently found this great website as well as face book page for special needs apps. They review an app each day and even have videos showing the apps in action. Coming up in June they are having an app party on face book so be sure to check it out.

The sun has finally arrived and Junior's asthma is calming down. He spent some time outside yesterday playing basketball and loved it.
He also had fun playing the piano on his ipad. There are several piano apps available but his favorite is kidskeys. It is very hard for Junior to touch the screen and lean over to see it at the same time. I raised his stander tray higher then usual and put the ipad at a tilt which allowed him to play for a short period(he can handle this a max of 10 minutes and that is with some breaks, hard on his airway so it takes a lot of energy for him to breath and focus on what he is doing). Junior can't move his hands but can do this app because any change in the pressure he applies will play the notes.
It was time for a different app but I clearly didn't pull up the one he wanted.
Nope thats not the one I want either.(this app is called Moozart and I thought it was so cute. Junior took one look and told me "NO", I am quite sure he thought it looked too babyish. From the look he gave me he took it as a total insult that I put it on for him.
Finally got the one he wanted. Angry Birds Rio, even though he needs help to play, this game is one of his favorites.

Reading Comprehension

Junior has been using boards I made with boardmaker for reading comprehension. It takes a lot of time to create the boards(create, then laminate, add velcro, etc.) so he has been using the same ones for awhile and can answer the questions without even hearing the story.
I decided to try using his ipad and the proloquo2go app to make him some new ones. It was so easy and only took a few minutes. I plan to get out the books we will be reading over the next few weeks and make comprehension question sets for each. I will also do sets of questions for each couple chapters as we read through chapter books(then just change them as we go so I don't have tons of question sets).
Yesterday he listened to the MegaMind story on the ipad and then answered 6 questions about the story.
Listening to the story
Then we went to his board with his story choices and touched the MegaMind box.
I linked that box so when we touch it, it automatically goes to the first question. One of the few things in proloquo2go that I would like to see changed is the ability to make a specific box larger. For now when you set the size it is for all boxes so you don't have a choice to adjust just one.
Touching the question box verbally asks the question and takes us to the next board with the answer choices. Touching the correct answer takes you to the next question until you reach the last one.
I didn't take pics of each question and answers but here are a few of them.
You will notice in this question I have a space between Met and ro in Metro man. The program was unable to correctly pronounce the word without the space. That would be the one other things I would love for proloquo2go to add, the option to record my own voice with the symbols.
the question preceding this set of answers was: What did Megamind try to do to Metro Man?
So proud of himself after answering the last question.
(the last question was: What did Megamind become at the end of the story?)

Junior also used his ipad yesterday while painting with his head brush. He could then easily tell me what color he wanted.
And the ipad during his school work. His I would rather be playing a game face, but at least he was focused and answering the questions.

Behind Again

This blog is getting terribly neglected these days. Junior is still struggling with his asthma but the last couple days have been much better. He has even made it out on a bike ride two days in a row.
Now the wind is kicking up so I am hearing some wheezes.
Ready to roll
He started regular therapy sessions on Tuesday and loved it. His therapist is great with him and he works hard with her. He really liked using the walker and treadmill and I was thrilled to see him trying so hard. He does not take steps on his own but the therapist was pleased that she could feel his muscles activating with the motion. This was his very first session.
We also discovered that he can sit for far longer then we thought. His balance is the big issue. So his therapy homework is to work on sitting as often as possible. Some with his back brace but a lot without it which is really hard work. Last night we got out a regular chair and then set up his ipad so it was at eye level for him. Angry Birds was the game choice and we played for over half an hour while he sat in the chair. I was surprised that he sat for so long and though he would drop his head for a few seconds would pick it right back up. I did have to touch his shoulder a few times to get him back to midline when he started to tip. Also a couple times he started to tip forward and needed some help to correct. But I was so excited to see him actually stiffen his arms to correct on his own a couple times. This is HUGE for a child with pretty much no movement in their arms. To get his arms to both stiffen and push at the same time and timed to prevent him tipping over is truly amazing and took some serious focus on his part.
His Ipad was a big help in keeping focused and working to keep that head up and trunk muscles working.
Here he is working hard on his sitting and playing Angry Birds.
Even with an ipad we can't be prepared for every situation as I learned this afternoon.
Junior was having a bit of a meltdown and was in tears. I asked if he hurt and got told no. With his ipad he was telling me "I am upset, I am upset" but that was it. Of his many choices for what is upsetting him none of them were what he wanted. Not being able to tell me what was wrong was making him more and more upset. At least until I happened to catch some movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and there was a cat outside our window. Junior is terrified of cats and can't stand them to be anywhere near him. As soon as I scared it away and assured him it could not come in the window he started giggling and was totally fine. I guess "go away cat" needs to be programed on his ipad.
I had to laugh especially when I think about how a vision therapist tried to tell me he could only see close up(of course she only spent a half hour with him and he was not impressed with her so wasn't exactly cooperative).

Asthma

Wow, it has been awhile since my last post. Spring time is always tough but this year it has been really bad. Junior's asthma has changed so we are not only having lots of congestion but also episodes with broncho spasms and airway constriction. Some scary moments but our wonderful pulmonologist office is helping us figure things out and come up with a plan of action. I am not having much time for blogging aside from Junior's regular blog so feel free to jump over there for more specifics about what is going on with us.

I will share something new we are doing during activities with the ipad. Junior uses the ipad with eye gaze so during activities there are times when I am engaged with helping him and don't notice that he is trying to tell me something on his ipad. Eventually we hope to be able to have him use his head switch with his communication program but until it becomes switch accessible(we are told it is in the works, also other apps are being made switch accessible) this avoids frustration and keeps things going smoothly during activities. We set up his ipad on one side and then his head switch on the other. His head switch is connected to a Super Talker(could also use a big mac type switch) on which I have recorded a message. The message depends on the activity. If we are coloring or painting I will put "I need another color please" if it is some other activity I use something like "help me please". He can use his switch to let me know he needs me to look at his ipad so he can show me what he wants.
Poor guy wasn't feeling well so we barely got started on his activity and he fell asleep.

Sick

As you can tell we have been missing in action the past few weeks. Junior has been sick and then his asthma got very bad. Today is going better so if the weather behaves I hope to be back to full speed in a few days.

For a quick ipad update. I am so glad to have the ipad during these times of illness. Junior can now tell me what hurts and how he feels and be specific.
I am continuing to notice far more verbalization since he started to use the ipad. A larger variety of sounds and he is attempting more words. Last night he wanted the curtain open in his room and instead of his usual HIIEE he said my name exactly right "Heidi" with every sound. He is also verbalizing around other people which is something he has not often done. I had one of his doctors recently tell me they were so impressed at how well he is communicating. This was a doc that has seen Junior for nearly 10 years but Junior had not shown his abilities to. I just love that he is letting other people know what he is capable of. In fact he is determined to get other people to understand him which again is not something he really even cared about before.
Loving it.