No one...
Not a Doctor, a therapist, an Autism expert, a Teacher, an article or even a book... Michael is a close second- but no one knows him better than me. His Momma...
I know when to push him. I know when he's giving 78% and should be giving 100%. I know when he's giving 110% and not succeeding but truly giving his all. I know that his ears fold just like mine. I know he has a sweet tooth. I know what makes him sad or scared and I know what makes him happy... I don't always know what makes him mad, but I am trying to figure it out...
There are times Greyson succeeds because I know what knobs to turn and what buttons to push...
There are also times, that I hold him back... Maybe I don't want a disagreement...maybe I don't think he's capable of it... Maybe I just don't have the energy... and that's when exceptional therapists and Teachers come in. They push and push and get more than I would have ever expected... they don't give up on a task- when I would have...and they get results...
I thought of that in an instant this morning out of nowhere...
Who says Greyson can't play T-Ball? Why did I think that? Grey can hit a ball like Ozzie Smith in the 80's for the awesome St. Louis Cardinals. He loves his T-ball stand we have. He can run so fast. Sure- he wouldn't have any idea that he was supposed to stop when he got to the base- but I could help him. I'm pretty sure the other 3 year olds aren't quite Pro-status... I'll stand on the damn field with him the entire game if I need to and am allowed to... And if he doens't like it after he's given it a few tries- we will try something else...
I think I'll always be learning when to push and when it's OK to back off... Sometimes that feels like it means I am making a mistake but I think it just means I am always trying...
Doodle at speech today... If you have a child with Super Powers doing Speech Therapy--I hope it looks like fun. The teaching part is snuck in there...
Do you want to go down? and then Parker must say down to get what he wants...
It's so important that it doesn't look like a teacher sitting at a desk reviewing flash cards with a child sitting at a desk...it's just not how kids on the Spectrum are wired to learn...
It's also a bonus to have a therapist that will review current pop culture with your child...
Parker was then taught to say- I don't give a crap about the Kardasdians...and then-
Why are they famous again?
(I'm just joking about the magazine- in case you took me seriously. Parker had just grabbed it from the table).
_____________________
I still surprises me...the depth of my love for words...And the irony that my sons can't share that with me... I swirl that around sometimes and look for the meaning inside... I know it is there... But I realized something today- it's not just words that truly mean the most to me... It's words and pictures and music...they all help me explain and emote and communicate and feel...
And the truth is- Greyson can experience pictures and music...And we can even share in those things together...and it was like a tiny weight was lifted when I realized that...
Pictures are my favorite...and God gave me this passion for pictures and my camera... And pictures give me incredibly insanely so much...and the fact that my passion can be used to help Greyson speak makes me believe there is no such thing as a coincidence... Well Done God...Thank you...and I forgive you for making me hate mornings so much...
The colored boards on the right with the larger pictures are called Choice Boards and are used during the boys Behavior Therapy sessions.
The primary purpose of giving someone choices is to give them some control over certain situations. Both adults and kids like to have some control over their lives. It is more motivating to be able to decide which snack to have, which show to watch or what toy to play with. Providing choice is a positive strategy that may reduce some situational behavior problems.
A choice board is a visual 2 or 3D exhibit of the choice possibilities. The choices may be expressed as pictures or text (2D) or can be represented by objects or tangible symbols (3D). Verbalizing choices often isn't effective with individuals with autism spectrum disorders.
Greyson- Do you want to jump, go to the pool or play with the water table? Is too much. He may not listen to the whole message, he may not be paying attention until the second or third option is being listed, and the message may be quickly forgotten. With a visual display, Greyson has time to see all the possibilities, has time to think about the decision, and has time to check the options as often as he needs, before making a decision. At first when we begin to use the board each boy will only have a couple of pictures to choose from as to not overwhelm them.
When it comes to most kids on the spectrum- Pictures are preferred learning tools versus the spoken word. I've heard it said- they think in pictures and we think in words...
When we took Greyson out of school in March, we reevaluated everything we were doing for him. One thing we decided to implement was something called PECS- Picture Exchange Communication. In the picture above it's the green binder on the left.
When we started Speech Therapy with Greyson 2 years ago- we were against using PECS because Greyson is good at verbal imitation (If I say --Greyson say ball...he will say ball.)
We discussed it with his Speech Therapist and completely agreed with her recommendation that we put our communication efforts into teaching him to speak instead of teaching him to use pictures to speak. However since we are 2 years in and he still does not spontaneously initiate communication we are ready to try something new. And now on some days pretzel, jump and purple can sound very much the same- so pictures help to remove some of his frustration of being misunderstood.
PECS begins by teaching an individual to give a picture of a desired item to a “communicative partner", who immediately honors the exchange as a request. The system goes on to teach discrimination of pictures and how to put them together in sentences. In the more advanced phases, individuals are taught to answer questions and to comment.
Many students using PECS end up developing speech. As we implement PECS- we will make sure that Greyson verbalizes any requests he makes using the pictures.
I... want... ipad...
This page has all his favorite shows...a Special thank you to JB for printing and laminating and cutting out all of those little tiny damn pictures for the PECS book... We love you!
So tonight I go to bed proud that I finished two projects that have been cluttering up my guest bedroom for too long...
That's it for now... thanks for stopping by.
Love,
Chrissy
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