In case you missed my blog post on Monday, I’m sharing Authentic AAC moments this month for #BHSM16 in an effort to expose my “behind the scenes,” less-than-ideal experiences. So, if you’re insecure about making mistakes or missing something, know you’re not alone. I strive to improve every day. We learn from our mistakes, and maybe by looking at mine, you’ll gain the confidence in your own use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).
Experience comes with action. The great thing about these posts is that in spite of my moments that are less than perfect, every one of these students laughed and learned something new during our time together. AAC implementation is a lifelong learning experience. Whether you’re using AAC or supporting it, there is always more to learn.
Each week, I’ll do a “round up” of my posts from the Speak for Yourself Facebook page for those of you who are not on Facebook. This is the first week!
Monday May 2nd, 2016:
This is a mistake that is probably going to be more relevant for SLPs.
I spent my morning driving to an out of county school because I messed up last week.
It’s IEP Annual Review meeting time in our area and as I was writing a summary for a student, I realized I needed the quantitative data from her device. I scheduled time to see her and figured I would pull the information from the history feature when I was there.
During the visit, I added a word and was going to go into the history feature when I had the app unlocked, but the student reached for her device. I quickly locked it into guided access and locked the programming. The aide had pulled out shaving cream and the student and I enjoyed it. Apparently, it was distracting to me because I never pulled the data from the device. I didn’t even think about it again until I was almost home.
(I thought about calling and asking someone to send pictures to me or email the data, but there is some specific information I wanted to include and everyone is so busy with meetings and regular schedules.)
So today, I asked the student if I could borrow her device and got the information from it.
it wasn’t one of my better moments. Seriously. I spent months working to design a feature for exactly this situation and forgot to use it.
It wasn’t all bad. I got to spend some more time with the student. When I gave the iPad back to her and explained that I was a knucklehead, she smirked and hugged her device.
Every single day, I am so thankful that this is how I spend my time.
Tuesday May 3rd, 2016:
While modeling for a student, she looked at a child across the room intently. I followed her gaze and asked her if she wanted to say something to the other child.
I waited for her to respond for about 20 seconds which felt like a long time (in hindsight, I would have given her more wait time). Her gaze didn’t change. I cleared what I had been modeling and said “Do you want her to COME?” and modeled “come.” She responded quickly.
Sometimes, you don’t realize your “fail” right away. Other times, it’s immediately apparent.
Wednesday May 4th, 2016:
I spent time with an awesome 10 year old this afternoon, teaching him to program.
Last time I saw him, I told him to take pictures of things he wants to program and we’ll work on adding them together. He had at least a dozen pictures of the Nick Jr. logo. (Did you know that they have different animals and shapes in the Nick Jr. Logo? There were caterpillars and lions and colored in stick people shapes.)
This video is when he first started showing me the pictures he wanted to add. You can see me struggling to hold my hand back from “helping” him to get back into the app. I kept reminding myself that he knows how to do it. smile emoticon
There are 2 other things I notice when I watch this that I would have done differently.
1. I asked him if he wanted me to program it or if he wanted to program it. He answers “yes.” I would have turned that into a yes/no question to give him time to process and answer. I would have said, “Do you want to do it?” and waited (which I did in the video when I realized that the way I asked my question was too confusing).
2. When I take the iPad to unlock the programming, he whines “pictures.” I didn’t realize that’s what he said until I watched this video. ? He says it again at the very end of the video.
On the positive side, we went into the app and pulled up the pictures, but I feel bad that I didn’t acknowledge that we were going to do that when he said it. It’s so clear and obvious in the video. Sorry, Owen.
Thanks to Owen and his family for allowing me to share this and Owen’s terrific 1:1 aide for taking it!
Thursday May 5th, 2016:
Some days the unexpected #AuthenticAAC moments aren’t mistakes or things that go wrong…they are therapy-dog-to-be adorable.
There was laughter all around when the puppy stepped on the message window and the device spoke “come read.”
Friday May 6th, 2016:
There are a few #AuthenticAAC moments in this short video from today.
First, positioning is critical for some students to accurately access the device. Others are able to adjust the positioning and maintain accuracy. Alec decided to lay on the couch and talk, so that’s where he stayed (sorry for the horizontal video:) Notice he has the iPad oriented for his position.
Unless it impacts someone’s ability to access the device and they have core strength issues that affect their ability to maintain positioning, I generally follow the student’s lead on where and how they are positioned.
Alec had just asked to watch YouTube so I got the other iPad and asked him what I should type.
Do you see him shake his head “no” and make the “n” sound when he says “octopus” and I repeat it? Well, I didn’t because I was busy typing “lobster.” He notices and clarifies by saying “no octopus.”
Watch how he moves his leg each time I ask him a question. Watching the video back several times, I think I was annoying him by interrupting his thinking while he was trying to coordinate the language to tell me that he really wanted me to “play Buzz Lightyear.”
Fortunately, he happily found the Buzz Lightyear video he wanted once I typed it into the YouTube search field.
Thanks to Alec and his mom for letting me share this and thanks to all of you who are sharing your Authentic AAC moments too!
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