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Getting Joey Reading

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Joey continues to impress us with his strong visual memory. It seems as though I can introduce a sight word to him once, and he will soon be able to find it from a field of six. His ability to receptively identify these words in isolation continues to impress me. So we know he is able to recognize words. How do we get him from reading these words to reading and understanding what he reads? How do we measure that? How do we know when he is achieving it and it is time to increase the level of the work we give him?

One way I am working to make leveled guided reading books available to him is to use the on-line books offered from Pioneer Valley press. These books allow me to put Joey’s name into the book (giving him an anchor word on each page), and to print the books out at home. Although Joey and I can take turns reading each page of these books, using his device is laborious when matching each word, and he often makes mistakes, not because of his ability to recognize the word, but in his ability to maintain the motor control of his neck and to select the correct word. In short, it’s exhausting and no fun.

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Measuring Joey’s Progress

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As Joey begins accessing more academic content, we are constantly attempting to assess how we can best measure his knowledge. Taking all of the potential drawbacks of the AAC device into account, how do we make sure we are measuring the pure academic skills instead of simply measuring his academic skills in relation to the AAC device?

This is a tricky line that many families and educators whose children use AAC devices walk daily. It is a decision point that we make when we ask someone who uses an AAC what they want to do next, and we watch to see if they seem confident with their answer to our question, or if they seem frustrated because they hit an incorrect icon. It takes understanding and professional judgment on the part of the communication partner.  [Read more…]

Continuing to Presume Competence and Looking Beyond Behaviors

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One day I came in for a session with Joey and it felt as though I was engaging with another student. He couldn’t take his eyes off his screen, and rapidly fired words at me over and over again. If the words were connected I couldn’t follow his message, and if he asked me questions he did not wait for a response. It was so unlike him and I couldn’t stop wondering what was going on. 

I kept trying to get his attention, slow him down, and ask him to pause and look at me, but he wouldn’t – word after word spurted out of the device – so quickly that I couldn’t even collect my traditional data. What was happening here? I heard this is what he was doing in school as well, and I started to question everything I’ve ever done with Joey. Was he really able to use his device to speak, or was it all just coincidence until he gained this rapid fire ability and now he just strung words together, showing us he never understood anything to begin with?  [Read more…]

It’s Good to be Six!

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Currently, if you say hi to Joey he will quickly respond, “My name is Joey. I am five years old. My birthday is in February. I live in Virginia. Where do you live? Do you have any pets?

As he said, his birthday is coming up, and he is turning 6. What does a six year old look like?

Being a former first grade teacher, six year olds may be my favorite. (But then again, I say that about every developmental stage!)

As a child nears six, he often goes through what could be called a “behavior regression”. Chip Wood, author of Yardsticks, writes, “Although many of the characteristics of five carry over as children move toward six, increasingly unsettled behavior signals growth and change.” He notes that older fives tend to become more “oppositional, not sure of whether to be good or naughty”, can be insecure with their feelings, and test authority and limits more than they previously did. Older five year olds tend to become physically restless and tire quickly, work quickly, “make lots of mistakes, and recognize some of them.” Handwriting tends to regress, as the older five is trying to keep up with their fast thoughts. Children at this age need more physical activity and relaxed, free play, with even shorter work periods than younger fives.  [Read more…]

The Importance of Honoring Voice

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On Friday I arrived at Joey’s house to find that his eye gaze wasn’t working. For whatever reason, it was not picking up his eye gaze no matter how hard he stared at it. After tinkering with it for awhile, we reluctantly decided to have a low-tech session.

It’s always sad to realize just how fragile Joey’s ability to share his thoughts and opinions is, and just how much of his day to day work depends on the stars aligning and the technology working. 

We had a great session, and worked through so much academics, partly because Joey was not able to get off topic, tell me he was bored, or request to change activities. It is tempting to feel like that hour of one sided communication was more productive than ones when Joey is able to talk. And yet, a large part of Joey was missing from our session.  [Read more…]

Saturday Serenade

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