The last time I worked with Joey he was fairly quiet, and not as engaged as he usually is. He had just worked hard during his in home occupational therapy, and he just seemed tired. I was wondering if he was with me when he scanned the room and then gave me a disapproving look.
“What’s up?” I asked. “What book do you want to read? What will Fat Cat Sit on? or What is Chasing Duck?” (I’m on a Jan Thomas kick since Joey told me he loved funny, silly books. You don’t get sillier or funnier than Jan Thomas.)
Joey looked past both books I was holding up and again scanned the area of the room behind me, obviously looking for something.
He turned back to his device. “Where a a which on?” he asked, then once again looking past me. [Read more…]
Every time I see Joey these days he seems to have more words on his device. His vocabulary is exploding, and he spends most of his time exploring these new words. During these times it is always hard for me to track his meaning and determine if he is exploring where his words are, trying to communicate a message, or if he is unintentionally hitting the new words while seeking out the old ones. I’ve learned to sit back and listen to him and give meaning to his words when I can.
As most special education teachers are, I’m a bit of a data geek. I mean, I love data. I love tracking my students’ progress. I love seeing growth over time. I love looking for behavior patterns and I love standing back and asking “what does this tell us?”
On October fourth MaryAnn Shaw (one of Joey’s grandmothers and a special education professor) and I had the opportunity of presenting our research on Joey at the Pennsylvania Council for Exceptional Children’s conference. Other than this blog this was my first opportunity to share Joey with the world.
“Love. Love. Love,” Joey said to me after we read the book 
