I read the book Seals on the Bus to Joey, while he sat with his physical therapist behind him so that he could sit on a bench and not his chair. This isn’t an easy activity for Joey, and he struggled a bit to keep his head up while we read the book and played with the bus and the animal toys. A few times his head fell forward, out of a loss of control and exhaustion from working so hard. Other times he struggled to grab the toys, and his physical therapist helpfully coached me in how to assist him in making his grasp stronger and firmer. At other times, Joey threw himself backwards into the therapist’s arms, and I watched as she carefully held him, calmed him, and coached him into sitting back up. [Read more…]
Painting the Gingerbread Man
When I pulled out paint during my session with Joey a few weeks ago, a smile spread across his face. Joey knew immediately what I had planned. He went into his talky and said PAINT. Joey loves to paint, which is good because painting gives us so many good opportunities to incorporate language and fine motor goals, while tying these goals together with whatever theme or book we are focused on at the moment. In fact, when we read Seals on the Bus , Joey specifically used his eye gaze “talky” to ask me to paint. The next time I came back I brought yellow paint and a picture of a bus. [Read more…]
Reflecting on 2017
As 2017 draws to a close, it is hard to imagine that Joey has only had access to his eye gaze AAC device for a year. A year ago, we were so excited to get started with Joey’s eye gaze system, but also unsure of what it would mean, or even how to use it. Since the eye gaze technology itself is fairly new, we were all learning how to use it right along with Joey. [Read more…]
Words, Words, Words
As we roll Joey’s chair closer to his eye gaze AAC device, Joey’s eyes light up as though he is reuniting with an old friend. Once we position him in front of his screen, and make sure he is close enough so that the sensor can pick up his eye gaze, he’s off to the races. Some days he dives into his words right away. Helicopter. Purple. Car. Fast. Tyrannosaurus Rex. Tiger. Parrot. Penguin. Where. Alligator. Purple. White. Over. The words come out fast and furious – there are so many words and so much time to make up for. [Read more…]
Seals on the Bus!
My new favorite book (and I’m pretty sure it is also Joey’s) is Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort. Seals has everything I look for in a good picture book – a repetitive, rhythmic phrase or lines that a child can learn and sing/move along with, an interesting story line (or any sort of story line), animals (not just the cute ones), and good core vocabulary words. A preschool teacher recommended the book to me, and it is quickly becoming one of my favorites. [Read more…]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- …
- 38
- Next Page »
