Helping Children Recover from Brain Injury
Joey loves fire trucks. Whenever I show him something red, he’ll often say fire engine on his eye gaze device after he labels it. So when I came across a fire engine book I figured I should try it with him. To be honest, the book does not have a lot of the qualities I usually look for when I’m choosing a good book to use with Joey, but it did have a dog and a fire engine. Since we are going for interactions and not quality literature, I thought we’d give it a go. [Read more…]
About a month ago, Joey turned four. Four! The big two plus two equals four. No longer the three-nager but not quite ready for kindergarten. What does it mean to be four?
Chip Wood, author of Yardsticks, writes “Four year olds tend to be ready for everything. They are explorers and adventurers who are soaking up the world of knowledge with incredible speed.” Although Joey is not your typical four-year-old, he still shares many characteristics with his typically developing peers. I find it helpful to remember children’s age related developmental stages. [Read more…]
I love when I find a simple picture book that gives so many great opportunities to model using Joey’s AAC device (and builds in some academic skills as well!). My most recent discovery is Oops! Pounce! Quick! Run! By Mike Twohy.
Oops! Pounce! Quick! Run! is an alphabet book, with each page giving just one or two words in alphabetic order to tell a story. It opens with a mouse Asleep, when suddenly a Ball bounces onto his lap, forcing him to Catch it. He is quickly stalked by a Dog, who sticks his Eye into the mouse hole. Upon seeing his ball, he sticks his Feet in. You get the idea. It’s simple, yet tells a clear (but silly) story about a dog and a mouse having a fight over a ball. What’s more, it uses many of the words on Joey’s AAC device, or at least provides an opportunity to use additional core words that are not in the book. [Read more…]
In the past few weeks we’ve looked at the definition of play, why it is important, and its developmental nature.
Although we know play is important, and that it develops in its own way, as adults we are often left wondering just how to support play development in our children. How do we honor true play at each developmental stage? How do we encourage the back and forth, reciprocal interactions that are so essential for developing neurological capacity? For Joey, it’s all about following his lead and responding to his interests. I often need to forget my own structured plan, and be willing to be a bit flexible in my hour with Joey so that I stretch out his happier moments into playful exchanges. [Read more…]
Often, when I work with Joey, I bring a book along with toy animals and props so that we can act out the book together. What I often want is to engage Joey in symbolic play during or after we’ve read the book. [Read more…]
