Today is the first day of October and the beginning of AAC Awareness Month! We are following Mary, who is using her daughter’s (Jessie) back up iPad mini with the Speak for Yourself AAC app…for a WEEK! Today was the first full day of her “Voiceless But Still Talking Challenge.” Has anyone else joined her? We’d love to hear about your experiences!
My ten year old daughter will be joining her on Friday. Her teacher was very excited for Emma to teach the class about AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication). Emma and I will be giving the 5th grade class a short overview and explanation of AAC at the end of the day Thursday.
Here is Mary’s journal for today:
“Last night I caught myself talking to myself. I had a pang of guilt. Felt like even that should be spoken through SFY. I consoled myself with the fact that at least I don’t hear voices. If a tree falls in the woods, does anyone hear it? If I talk, who is going to know? ME!!! such guilt!
This morning, I broke my silence again. My husband came to wake me up and I said “it’s that time already?” then I put my hand over my mouth. There have been times when Jess has spoken. Even though she has Angelman’s Syndrome (AS) which is known for lack of speech, there have been times when we’ve heard her voice. I’ve always felt that she was severely apraxic and that her seizures interrupted her motor planning. That she learned it was just easier to not say anything. However, it is so special when we do hear her voice.
At breakfast, Jess and I were both talking back and forth with our devices. There is still a lag time for each of us, however, she is starting to listen to me more. I’m trying to explain to her that yes we are happy to hear what she wants to say, but she also has to listen and wait for others to speak. Interesting turn of events.
Nearing the end of my first day being voiceless. What an eye opener. When Jess left for her program, I went to the barn. The horses don’t mind my being quiet, but I do think even they like to hear an encouraging word. Today I gave more treats and pats to convey how good he was today.
From there, went to the pharmacy. When I asked through iPad, their response was “ I don’t know how to answer?”… I said you can use your words! When I walked away, I immediately programmed in the hold that thought (HTT) “this is my voice, you can talk. I understand”. When I was with the cashier, checking out my groceries, I told her “this is how my daughter talks” and her reply was “what, in an English accent?” lmao…. people are unreal.
The tile store was great. Christine was patient and listened and had good questions. We were able to navigate the order. I cannot find words fast enough, so had to rely mostly on the keyboard. If you don’t spell correctly, it does not forgive you. No auto-correct/ auto guess.
Christine at Regent Flooring in Pennington, NJ, deserves a shout out for being the most impressively patient person to wait for my responses!
By now, I’m feeling much more confident talking with the iPad. Went to the Quilt store.
They were helpful as well and intrigued by this amazing App. When I was walking away, I overheard someone say “I just love her English accent”…. too funny
At 3:30 today, I had a meeting here at home about services. It was to last 2 hours, but it lasted 3. I used SFY the whole time. Mostly I had to type my responses and as much as I could, I used the icons. Sha-ron was very understanding, patient and extremely cooperative. However, it was tedious to quickly phrase short answers that conveyed enough information. Hopefully, I will rely less and less on the keyboard because I can find the words.
Things I miss: singing, calling my kitty, talking to my husband before falling asleep (the mini is charging and in the other room).
One last thing… when the phone rings, I don’t bother to answer it.
Look Heidi, I’m using nearly all the core words. However, my memory isn’t good enough to remember where they are… practice, practice, practice will get me to Carnegie Hall.”
Leave a Reply