I was excited to get back to see Joey after our week apart for his family’s beach trip. We sat down to work and after we got situated I asked him “How was your trip?”
“Ride beach” he replied, telling me where he’d been and what he’d done.
Two words seems so little, but it made my heart soar.
Over the last two weeks I’ve touched on the science behind Joey’s Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device that uses the Language Acquisition through Motor Planning approach (LINKs). We talked about various aspects of the theory and learning process, but not a lot about Joey.
So how is Joey doing with his communication? [Read more…]
Last week 
On vacation with my family, miles away from Joey, we passed a fire station. My own four-year-old shouted out “FIRE ENGINE!” and I found my fingers immediately itching to push the buttons on Joey’s AAC device. Just the notion of a fire engine stimulates my motor memory. My index finger twitches and I visually see the icons on the screen – hit ride– hit fire engine (top right on the screen). I had not been thinking about Joey, or alternative communication, or anything but beach traffic and what we’d find for lunch. Yet suddenly there I was, with a twitchy index finger. I didn’t even respond to my daughter’s exclamation, because my first instinct was to respond with the device. 
Although Joey loves art projects I often struggle to find appropriate projects he can access easily. Painting projects always please him, but it usually ends up being a rather large mess and I can only get paint on someone else’s carpet so many times a month. Painting also tends to be over quickly and does not always allow him to be overly independent or purposeful.
Sometimes I find it takes a long time to explain Joey’s successes because there is so much background needed to set the stage for each story. Sometimes it involves explaining where words are on his AAC device, or how he uses his AAC device and words to communicate, or even what an AAC device is. These stories get complicated. That being said, read on because I think you’ll be as proud of Joey as I am. 
