Friday, August 29, 2014

Happy (Early) Labor Day

It's Friday before Labor Day and the boys and I are headed out to Emerald Creek to mine for purple, star garnets.  It is 8:00 and Mark has still not come out of his room and we are leaving at 8:30...I have a picnic already packed in the car.  Mark usually hangs out at Emerald Creek throwing rocks into the water...one of his favorite pastimes!  So, I guess we are not going to get our "work" in this morning.  He will work with Dan later today on the typing...have a great weekend!



Here are a couple of pictures from the conference in Syracuse.  
Top photo: Me and Naoki and the book he wrote The Reason I Jump
Bottom photo:  Keynote speaker and Advocater Lydia Brown

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Getting into the groove

Hello!  I don't have a lot to say today...Mark worked very well and was focused.  We seem to be hitting a good groove.  I am trying to make him "think" more and not provide so many words for him to copy.  It is clear to see that he is very good at copying but the point is for him to share his own personal thoughts (eventually...).  So, I am giving him less cues and still determining what he knows...I can see when he really has to stop and think about how to type a word that I have not given him to copy.

Our start of school here in Moscow, Idaho has been delayed for 2 weeks while they finish up construction work.  At first I was a little upset about this because I am very much ready for my little one to get back to school!  However, this is giving Mark and I a chance to work for and that is a good thing.  A friend asked what I was going to do when school starts.  We will not have time to do our "session" in the morning.  Initially, I was going to try and keep this to a 15 minute session but it clearly takes us longer than that and sometimes is depends on how cooperative Mark is.  I would guess we are working for at least 30 minutes and probably closer to 45 minutes.  It seems to be going fine...I want to keep it fun for him but get work done at the same time.  He does seem to enjoy his time with me.  Usually at the beginning, I have to reward him a bit  but once we get going, he gets in a good rhythm and stops asking for "gummies, gummies, gummies!

...I guess I did have a lot to say...


Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Mark knows my name...

Well, I hate to say this but I did not know that Mark knew my name...I guess I never asked him before and when I think about it, it makes me sad...it can be difficult to converse with children with limited verbal skills but I should have tried harder.  It was so amazing and rewarding to hear Mark say, "My mom is Denise!"

I am trying to re-evaluate the spelling words...I can tell it is confusing and difficult for him...so I am trying to decide if I should work on the same 5 words until he knows them all and then move on...


Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Mark is "13"....Yeah!

Today, when I asked Mark how old he was when we were doing his personal information, he said 13!!! Yeah, he usually says 11.  So, we are making progress...also, I can tell his typing is getting faster...doing well with pointing but needs cued to use a capital letter at the beginning.  He seems really good with the period at the end of the sentence.


Monday, August 25, 2014

"Fill in item given function" week...list of words every child with a disability should know

Hello Everyone!  I think I had mentioned before that I am not a speech therapist...in fact, I have great respect for all therapists that work with young children.  I had no idea what a speech therapist even was when Mark was 1 year old and we started to see a speech therapist...I couldn't believe that this was somebody's job to teach people how to talk!  (Yes, I had a bit of a sheltered upbringing...)

Anyway, if you don't know me, let's just say that I have a Type A personality and I am VERY goal driven.  So, I keep looking for some way to measure our progress with the typing.

We begin our session by working on personal information...I usually do not videotape that section because it is usually the same information.

Then, we do some spelling words...Mark is actually really good with phonics!  I would like him to get a little better with this but I can see he is coming along.

Lastly, I have been experimenting with different things and I have finally pulled out my old Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills book...there is a section on "Intraverbal" skills.  It has 43 subsections and we are going to work our way through them...number 5 is personal information so I feel that we are covering that well already.  Other early Intraverbal activities were to fill in animal sounds or words to songs and I feel that Mark has these mastered...so, this week we will begin with Fill in an item given function...all week we will work on this skill.  I also made pictures of the items in case he needed a visual.  I have noticed that Mark needs some work on "listening" to questions and does not really understand WH questions at all and they will be covered later in the Intraverbal activities...so, I think this is a great way to start!  Also, it is helping me to come up with other questions during the day to encourage Mark to extend a conversation...

I did a 100KM bike ride last weekend!  Mark came to see me cross the finish line.



Sorry the video ends abruptly, I can only put 15 minutes on the YouTube and I went too long so I just chop it off so I can get it under the correct time limit...

I saved this pdf as an image...IF you would like a copy of the original, email me and I will send it to you: denise_wetzel@yahoo.com

Friday, August 22, 2014

Comment section working?

Hello everyone and TGIF!  Mark and I worked together this morning...he kept saying "dumb"...not sure where that is coming from or if he is calling me dumb or our typing dumb (I hope not...) nonetheless, I found it to be pretty funny.

It has now been 2 weeks that Mark and I have been working together and I am starting to feel like I am getting a handle on all this...my friend, Toni, sent this list of key words that every child with a disability should know...I would like to share it but I can't seem to figure out how to upload a pdf file to the blog...
She said she tried to leave it in the comments but could not get it to work...I think on my other computer I can turn it into an image and then I can load the information so look for that on Monday!

I am new to the blogging and I am learning as I go.  I will try to look at the settings and see if I can fix it.  I want to say Thank You to Joe Raiden for helping me figure out the Subscription button!

If anyone is reading this...please, try to make a comment and let me know if it does not work.  I am wondering if you have to have a Google account to comment?




Thursday, August 21, 2014

Information about Maryland school pilot program...

I was able to look up some more information about the Maryland school FC pilot program...

This is written in a parent blog...http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2014/08/guest-post-communication-is-human-right.html

Excerpt from blog regarding access to communication technology:
The problem of equal access to the program and even the strategies/technology in it  is significant. My hunch is that maybe there is a perception that kids who should have supportive typing technology available to them are ONLY those who are perceived as being more "high functioning" or  worse, have had to prove that they are!   

This is outrageous,  because communication is a human right, regardless of how "low or high functioning" someone is , and to deprive somewhat of the right to communicate in a way that might work for them is unethical and immoral.  It would be like not giving a kid with intellectual disabilities eye glasses when he needs them because he is perceived as "not smart enough"   Seeing is a human right, so is communicating.   Access to medical treatments for diseases are not withheld based on intellectual ability,  and neither should educational strategies be either.

Here is a newspaper article: http://www.gazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140806/NEWS/140809581/1261/helping-autistic-students-unlock-the-key&template=gazette
The boy in the picture was at the conference in Syracuse.

My personal opinion:  Communication is key...how can you teach someone that you cannot converse with???  It can be done but it is difficult...communication is so important on so many levels!!!

Today, Mark was very "cheeky" at first...he did finally calm down and focus.  He seemed to really enjoy looking into the video camera today and watch himself ...







Wednesday, August 20, 2014

AT in Schools...

Mark did great today...it's good to "work" early when he is fresh and lively!

Ran into Mark's Life Skills teacher today at Walmart...gave her the address for this blog!  I hope she tunes in ...which reminds me that I am going to send a link to the blog to Mark's Special Ed. teacher too...

There was a group of teachers that went down to Boise this summer for a 2 day conference on Assistive Technology...I hope that there will be more AT integrated into coursework for students with disabilities....at the conference in Syracuse, one of the presentations I attended was about a school in Maryland.  There were 5 students that used supported typing.  I believe they had been taught privately.  The parents urged the school to use the supported typing at school.  These boys were young, I would say 9-11 years old...the parapros at the school were each trained in supported typing and then all the boys were fully included into their classrooms with their peers!  Prior to this, they had all been segregated to special education classrooms...it is so nice to hear a story with a happy ending!!!






Tuesday, August 19, 2014

AAC apps

A friend asked which AAC app we are using for the typing.  It is called Assistive Express.  I like it because it is simple, easy to use and costs $25.  You can also use Proloquo2Go but it costs around $200.  The Proloquo does allow you to set up a grid type of communication too in addition to the typing.

The Assistive Express is only typing/speaking.

A great site to compare different AAC apps is: Jane Farrall Consulting website.  She lists several AAC apps and compares them on what features that they have!

Not sure why but there is no thumbnail today...


Monday, August 18, 2014

Moving on to sentences...

Mark is doing great so I really cranked up the workload...we are now working on personal information, spelling and then short sentences.  I can tell that he needs to be working on sentences...single words are just too easy for him!  I really our session today and he totally nailed the spelling words!!!  Good job Mark!!!


Friday, August 15, 2014

Wrapping up week 1...Lessons learned

Well, it is Friday and we are wrapping up week 1 of Mark's supported typing.

Lessons learned:
1. Pointing skills are VERY important!
2. Mark knows how to spell many words
3. Having Mark do the same Lesson at 2 different times is not going to work...too boring for him.  So, we are going to use the same type of questions but asked in a different way for the second lesson.

I have take a group of site words from the internet (Fry words).  I am using these because I know he has used these at school in the past.  Next week, I am going to add a "spelling" test section and I think we will work on these words and also introduce simple sentences for him to start copying.



Getting the word out...

Hello!  Last night, Joshua found out that I have a "YouTube" channel.  He was so excited and wanted to help me get the word out so he posted a small video on his Facebook page.  I am nervous about people seeing Mark and I working but also happy if it can help someone else.  Today, I forgot to turn the camera on at the beginning of our session!

My Aunt Louise was asking if we were using some "typing" program.  The short answer is "no".  I am making up some lessons as we go.  I am going to look into Bitsboard for some help.  It is an education app and has lots of different word games to play...one of the "boards" you can purchase if related to sentence formation...we are still working on isolating his index finger...it is SO important to typing success!

I find that Mark definitely knows how to type certain words and I need to find a way so that he can ask for help if he does not know how to spell the word.  I think we need to more toward 2 word phrases because typing one word is just too easy for him.


Wednesday, August 13, 2014

More than you know...

I am so happy with the progress that Mark and I are making.  I am learning to take cues from his body when he is reaching toward the keyboard and experimenting with different placement of my hand.  He knows so many words and I am trying to identify a way to "categorize" the words he knows.  At the same time, I am trying to think of a way to start teaching him new words.  I think I will start with a simple spelling list and include it into our set work.  Also, I am thinking that we should start to move to two word phrases, typing one word at a time is just too easy for him.

We work on his pointing skills a lot.  Sometimes, he does not isolate his "pointer" and I give gentle reminders.  This was mentioned a lot when I was in Syracuse and now I realize how critical it is to his learning to type!


Thank you, Thank you, Thank you...

I wanted to take a minute to say a big Thank You to the Idaho Council on Developmental Disabilities, Idaho Parents Unlimited and Stepping Stones, Inc.  Each of these organizations provided scholarship money to help me attend the conference in Syracuse.  I could NOT have made that trip without this support!  I really wanted to go last year (2013) but just could not afford it so I immediately started lining up support so I could make it this year.  I even put together a powerpoint presentation of the information I learned and will present it to anyone that is interested!!!

One important thing I learned in Syracuse was to use video documentation to show progress.  For this reason, I decided to start this blog and insert our videos into the blog to keep a record of our progress.  I work with Mark each morning and I have another individual that works with Mark in the afternoon.  We both do the same lesson plan.  I have created all the lesson plans myself and they will change as I learn more about Mark's abilities.  I am already thinking that I should incorporate a spelling list...if anyone has suggestions, I would love to hear them!  Also, keeping this blog will keep me motivated to keep going and working on our reMARKable communication...



Tuesday, August 12, 2014

"Uh oh..."

Hello and welcome! Today (August 11, 2014) I started working with Mark to learn supported typing. I have been wanting to start this for some time. I had read Tito Mukhopadhyay's book Beyond the Silence: My Life, The World and Autism (2000) years ago.  It describes how a nonverbal child in India learned to type for communication from his mother.  Then, a couple of years ago, the movie Wretches and Jabberers came out.  Again, I was thinking that I would like to try this type of communication for my son, Mark.  A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Summer Institute at the Institute on Communication and Inclusion at Syracuse, New York.  I got to attend workshops and presentations on facilitated communication.  I kept looking for a "curriculum" or some instructions on how to get started.  They said you just have to practice, practice, practice...so, we are going to start this journey and see where it leads us!

Before I post our session for today, I want to make note of something that happened this morning.  If you don't know my son, Mark, he has limited speech and can repeat many things and make simple requests for things that he enjoys i.e. juice, cheetos, pizza, swimming, tickle, bike ride, go for a walk....  Well, this morning, we have to go to the doctor's office for a blood draw.  We usually only have to do this about once a year.  Before we go, I make sure that Dr. Gordon is available.  Right now, Mark is 13 years old and 6 foot and 180 pounds.  Dr. Gordon is probably about 6 foot 4 inches and weighs close to 250 pounds.  He is the "biggest" doctor at the office and so we ask him to help "hold" Mark's arms so the nurse can get the draw.  Well, we were waiting in the room and when the doctor came in, Mark says, "Uh oh".  I tried so hard not to laugh but I was so happy because I knew that Mark knew what was going to happen....I have to honestly say that I think this is one of the first times that I have heard Mark spontaneously respond to a situation with appropriate verbage!  I was so excited!!!  Furthermore, the blood draw went fine and Mark even watched the whole thing and moved very little!  Success and success!!!

Okay, I am not a videographer and we definitely have to get some better equipment to work with but I want to post these videos to show our progress on this reMARKable communication journey...