I don't update this blog nearly as much as I would like to and that is typically because I get busy and forget to. I update Junior's regular blog nearly daily but have been trying to decide what to do with this blog. I decided to move it to FaceBook where it will be easier to post pics and do quick updates. I think I will keep up with it much better there. Click Here for the fb page and request an add. Please comment on this post or message me on FB and let me know who you are if you aren't already on my personal FB list so I will be sure to add you to Junior's new ipad page.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Another Month Goes By
Wow, I have let another month pass since the last post on this blog. Kind of thinking it may be time to just combine this one with Junior's regular blog. I will think it over and see if I can remember to post here the next couple months.
Junior's ipad may be primarily for communication but it also gets used for fun. At his recent Shriners appointment I hooked it to his chair and he stayed entertained the entire time(this is a 3+ hours appt).
Giggling with Scooby
Junior and Abby were playing with his bells a few weeks ago and we decided to leave them on his wrist and encourage him to ring them when he needed us. It didn't take him long at all to realize that making the bells ring got him attention and he thinks it is quite cool. He has very little movement in his arms but works very hard to make those bells ring.
working oh so hard to get that arm up and make his bells ring
He wanted his ipad and quickly told me he wanted a different show
proud of himself
requesting to have his AFOs taken off
School started for our local schools a few weeks ago but we are waiting until the day after Labor Day to really get going. Everything is ready, his curriculum is all set up and we are excited to get started. I will be sure to share some of our activities that include the ipad. Be sure to visit his regular blog to keep up with his journey.
Junior's ipad may be primarily for communication but it also gets used for fun. At his recent Shriners appointment I hooked it to his chair and he stayed entertained the entire time(this is a 3+ hours appt).
Giggling with Scooby
Junior and Abby were playing with his bells a few weeks ago and we decided to leave them on his wrist and encourage him to ring them when he needed us. It didn't take him long at all to realize that making the bells ring got him attention and he thinks it is quite cool. He has very little movement in his arms but works very hard to make those bells ring.
working oh so hard to get that arm up and make his bells ring
proud of himself
School started for our local schools a few weeks ago but we are waiting until the day after Labor Day to really get going. Everything is ready, his curriculum is all set up and we are excited to get started. I will be sure to share some of our activities that include the ipad. Be sure to visit his regular blog to keep up with his journey.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Fishing, Reading Comprehension, & Other Summer Fun
This blog has been sadly neglected the past few months. Summer is speeding right along and though I am trying to keep up with Junior's regular blog I completely forget this one much of the time.
Fishing for words, this is one you may recognize from past posts but it is a favorite and a great way for Junior to work on his reading without really realizing it.
Catching his fish
He got one
Again hard to tell in the pic because of his glasses and the angle he is sitting but he is looking at "telescope eye piece" which is the correct answer.
Telling me he wants to listen to music during quiet time
What I was told after he started to get upset. The picture is a bit fuzzy so if you can't see it, it says "I need help, please take of my braces, AFOs"
And some summer fun pictures
Pool time
I hope everyone is having a fabulous summer
Friday, June 22, 2012
Proloquo2go 2.0
This week the big Proloquo2go update came out. Though we were disappointed that switch access didn't make it to this update we are very please with the many new things that are in the update.
I have been playing with the program today and loved having the ability to change the button/folder size between boards. I have shared his reading comprehension boards before but here are a couple pics to show the change I made. Now the question takes up the entire screen instead of being just one small button on the page. Now to get back to playing and see what other neat things I can do.
book choice
I have been playing with the program today and loved having the ability to change the button/folder size between boards. I have shared his reading comprehension boards before but here are a couple pics to show the change I made. Now the question takes up the entire screen instead of being just one small button on the page. Now to get back to playing and see what other neat things I can do.
book choice
links to the first question which now fills the screen
links to the possible answers. If the correct answer is chosen it will link to another question. There are 7 questions for this book.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
2 Years With the Ipad
It just hit me that it has been 2 years since Junior got his ipad. Wow, hard to believe and yet I can't imagine life without it. The ipad has changed Junior's life and given him a voice(through the proloquo2go app), it has opened his whole world.
He has experienced so many firsts with it. I will never forget the first time I heard "I love you" or the first time he called grandma and talked to her on the phone using "his" voice. The first time we went to the zoo with it and he got to tell us where we were going and what animal he wanted to see next. Another huge thing is his ability to "tell" me whats wrong. If he is crying he will usually calm down the moment he sees me reach for his ipad. He knows he will be able to tell me whats wrong and we aren't just going to go through yes/no for 5min trying to figure it out. Not to say he doesn't have his moments but his tantrums disappeared with the ability to communicate his needs.
He can now tell me "I need help, please take off my back brace", or , " I need help, my tummy hurts". He also loves to "chat" with it and especially enjoys telling me "I don't know", "thats cool", "no way", etc.
It didn't take long for us to realize his reading and math skills were further along then we thought. His inattentiveness was much to do with him being bored during our sessions. We still use his felt board often but it is used in conjunction with his ipad and educational apps. He stays much more focused and for the most part he enjoys school time now. We love proloquo2go and often I put together boards right during our school sessions. Love the ease with which boards can be created and the ability to layer boards for our needs. Now he can interact with all parts of our school sessions even things like history and science. I have boards so he can even direct his art projects and tell me what he wants to add next/paint next/ etc. We are working on more switch accessibility with the ipad but even if there is never great switch access for it that would be okay. Eye gaze may not be the typical way to use it but it works for Junior and we have made our own little modifications to help.
Junior now knows at least a couple hundred symbols and we have realized he must be reading what is below many(considering he can typically be shown them once and doesn't need to again be reminded what they are even though many look very similar).
I still think back to when we first heard about the ipad and I really wasn't so sure it would work for him. I mean it is a touch screen and Junior has little to no use of his hands. His teacher brought it over and let him try it for a few days and we quickly saw his ability to use it even without his hands. After watching him with it for a few days and seeing him use eye gaze even with the games we knew it was just what he needed so did our own research and raised the money ourselves. We looked at several communication apps and saw that proloquo2go allows the most personalization and had nice large boxes so we could see what he was looking at with his eye gaze. I had run ins with several people who thought we were just wanting the "next big thing" and were not willing to consider the possibility that it might really benefit him. The school district didn't see it as an option for him, again "he can't use his hands". The ipad and communication app changed his life from the very first day we got it and I am so glad I did not listen to those who said he "can't".
After 2 years of near constant use Junior's ipad is starting to have some glitches and get slow. Since having him lose his voice for any period of time is just not an option(think of it as you suddenly losing the ability to talk), we are now working on getting him a ipad 2 or 3. We are talking to the school district since it is a huge part of how all his educational needs are met and is part of all his goals on his IEP. His home instruction teacher wants to be able to put whats on the ipad screen up on to the tv screen during his sessions(the ipad 2 or 3 would allow this). When he isn't feeling well it would still make some school work possible. It would also allow him to have the ipad in front of him so we could do things where he is touching the screen but he would be able to look up at the tv to see what he is doing(leaning down to see the ipad while he touches it is not easy for him). Praying things move quickly so he has a new ipad in place before this one completely stops working.
playing one of his favorite games, he has to match the sound to the animal
Bible time
learning about snow during science time
math
picking the items to put in the Christmas ornament he was making
working on his valentines day craft and saying Happy Valentines day
at the doctors office
telling me he has a headache, such a pitiful face
He has experienced so many firsts with it. I will never forget the first time I heard "I love you" or the first time he called grandma and talked to her on the phone using "his" voice. The first time we went to the zoo with it and he got to tell us where we were going and what animal he wanted to see next. Another huge thing is his ability to "tell" me whats wrong. If he is crying he will usually calm down the moment he sees me reach for his ipad. He knows he will be able to tell me whats wrong and we aren't just going to go through yes/no for 5min trying to figure it out. Not to say he doesn't have his moments but his tantrums disappeared with the ability to communicate his needs.
He can now tell me "I need help, please take off my back brace", or , " I need help, my tummy hurts". He also loves to "chat" with it and especially enjoys telling me "I don't know", "thats cool", "no way", etc.
It didn't take long for us to realize his reading and math skills were further along then we thought. His inattentiveness was much to do with him being bored during our sessions. We still use his felt board often but it is used in conjunction with his ipad and educational apps. He stays much more focused and for the most part he enjoys school time now. We love proloquo2go and often I put together boards right during our school sessions. Love the ease with which boards can be created and the ability to layer boards for our needs. Now he can interact with all parts of our school sessions even things like history and science. I have boards so he can even direct his art projects and tell me what he wants to add next/paint next/ etc. We are working on more switch accessibility with the ipad but even if there is never great switch access for it that would be okay. Eye gaze may not be the typical way to use it but it works for Junior and we have made our own little modifications to help.
Junior now knows at least a couple hundred symbols and we have realized he must be reading what is below many(considering he can typically be shown them once and doesn't need to again be reminded what they are even though many look very similar).
I still think back to when we first heard about the ipad and I really wasn't so sure it would work for him. I mean it is a touch screen and Junior has little to no use of his hands. His teacher brought it over and let him try it for a few days and we quickly saw his ability to use it even without his hands. After watching him with it for a few days and seeing him use eye gaze even with the games we knew it was just what he needed so did our own research and raised the money ourselves. We looked at several communication apps and saw that proloquo2go allows the most personalization and had nice large boxes so we could see what he was looking at with his eye gaze. I had run ins with several people who thought we were just wanting the "next big thing" and were not willing to consider the possibility that it might really benefit him. The school district didn't see it as an option for him, again "he can't use his hands". The ipad and communication app changed his life from the very first day we got it and I am so glad I did not listen to those who said he "can't".
After 2 years of near constant use Junior's ipad is starting to have some glitches and get slow. Since having him lose his voice for any period of time is just not an option(think of it as you suddenly losing the ability to talk), we are now working on getting him a ipad 2 or 3. We are talking to the school district since it is a huge part of how all his educational needs are met and is part of all his goals on his IEP. His home instruction teacher wants to be able to put whats on the ipad screen up on to the tv screen during his sessions(the ipad 2 or 3 would allow this). When he isn't feeling well it would still make some school work possible. It would also allow him to have the ipad in front of him so we could do things where he is touching the screen but he would be able to look up at the tv to see what he is doing(leaning down to see the ipad while he touches it is not easy for him). Praying things move quickly so he has a new ipad in place before this one completely stops working.
Ipad use, pics from the past year
art time
learning about snow during science time
math
picking the items to put in the Christmas ornament he was making
Telling me he needs a treatment
more school time activity
painting, the ipad is set up so he can tell me what colors he wants
history, he was learning about the mail system
Sunday, May 20, 2012
So Far Behind
Wow, I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted here. Things have been very busy and Junior has been having his share of asthma as well as a few viruses. Feel free to visit his regular blog to see what has been going on.
His communication with the ipad continues to expand as he adds more and more symbols to his vocabulary. Hard to believe it has been nearly 2 years since he got his ipad and we first "heard" his voice. Such an amazing and life changing piece of technology that we are so thankful for.
These are a few pictures taken over the past couple months.
Easter time, using his ipad while decorating Easter cookies
His ipad set up to play a new game(I will be sharing more on this one soon)
What he told me when he was sick and asked what was wrong
enjoying a story on his ipad while not feeling well(not sure why this one pic stayed sideways, he is on his bipap and the blue on the side is a piece of fleece to protect his face from the strap)
enjoying Shrek and feeling a bit better
His communication with the ipad continues to expand as he adds more and more symbols to his vocabulary. Hard to believe it has been nearly 2 years since he got his ipad and we first "heard" his voice. Such an amazing and life changing piece of technology that we are so thankful for.
These are a few pictures taken over the past couple months.
Easter time, using his ipad while decorating Easter cookies
Using his ipad during an art project(he was painting a canvas divider)
His ipad set up to play a new game(I will be sharing more on this one soon)
The weather is warming up and soon the asthma should be leaving. If Junior's health stays stable we will be off to Joni and Friends Family Retreat in June. We are all so excited.
Hoping for a fabulous summer with lots of fun and sunshine.
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