Folks on the autism spectrum have difficulty with changes. Because they are not very good at reading other people's perspectives or intentions, they are at a great disadvantage at dealing with differences or changes when they happen. Most of us will look around to see what others are doing, make a judgement call on why they may be doing that, and will tend to adjust our own behavior and thoughts accordingly, perhaps match what others are doing so as to blend in or maybe occasionally to go against the flow intentionally. But folks on the spectrum don't read others well, and thus don't have that extra info to help them process changes or challenges very well and adjust their actions and thoughts in relation to what others are doing or thinking. As a result, they will usually find one way of doing something, and do it that same way every time, regardless of what everyone else is doing or thinking because they aren't really understanding what everyone else is doing or thinking in the first place, or why. It's safer and more predictable to just do things the same way over and over. That's one of those processing differences for folks on the spectrum that lead to repetitive behaviors such as little kids lining up toy cars instead of playing out various games or scenarios with them.
Thus, I found it especially interesting last night when Jman began communicating to me about wanting some popcorn. Up until now, when using the ProLoQuo2Go, he has punched in a sequence in which he uses a short cut button for the phrase "I want" which takes him to a new page with choices such as a button for "to use the computer" or a category button for "something to eat," which in turn takes him to the "Foods and Drinks" page.
However, last night, Jman did it differently. First, he navigated to "Word Spaces," which includes categories for "Actions" (verbs), "I, You, They, plus" (pronouns), "Describers" (adjectives), etc--basically all the words accessible through their various grammatical parts of speech rather than group by topic (food, clothing, etc).
Jman then selected "I" from the pronouns section. I watched as he began searching for another word, first in Actions, then Describers, then Linkers (conjunctions), then back to Actions. I interrupted him and asked him, "What are you looking for?" He kept browsing, but said (just like P2G says it, of course), "want." So, his first inclination was right--it WAS in Actions, but he just missed it when he looked. I scrolled down with him and pointed it out, and he quickly punched in "want." Then he navigated his way back to the home page and through categories to foods and drinks, where he began searching through Desserts. I figured he was looking for popcorn, and offered that that would be under Snacks, not Desert. He quickly took that advice, jumped over to snacks, and plugged in "popcorn." Thus, he had his complete messgage: "I want popcorn."
Now, there's nothing new about Jman wanting popcorn. What is new is that he found a new way to put the sentence together, finding each word individually instead of relying on cheater buttons. It's also the first time he's ever used a pronoun as an individual word instead of part of a rote phrase. There have been a few times when I was messaging something to him that I have used the pronouns section with him looking on, but only because that was what I needed at the time, rather than having in mind a direct teaching of pronouns. It was also new for him to use a word from the Actions category as well. All together, Jman, despite his autism and despite having one way that works for asking for popcorn, created a different way to ask for the same thing last night, purely for the fun and challenge of doing it differently! That is AWESOME! (Note, I'm tilting my head back and to the left, with a huge smile and two thumbs up, just like the symbolstix icon for 'awesome' on P2G--Jman imitates the poses of the stick figures, and the 'awesome' pose is becoming a family favorite!)
But wait--there's more!
After Jman told me "I want popcorn" the new and different (but still the same words) way, he took his 'same but different' one step further. He cleared out the first message and punched in the sentence starter button for "Let's." Then he punched in the Actions button for "eat." Then he jumped back over to Snacks where he again selected "popcorn." His new same-but-different message: "Let's eat popcorn." That's when it REALLY struck me and reconfirmed that Jman was actually playing with language and finding different ways to get across the same meaning or thought. He wasn't falling back on just the same one rote expression that he always used in the past, "I want popcorn." He wasn't relying on one way of saying that expression via ProLoQuo2Go either, using the starter phrase button "I want." No, Jman was branching out into new territory, discovering adn sharing that there's 'more than one way to skin a cat,' and best of all, he was making that discovering on his own because HE wanted to, and not because someone else was drilling yet another rule into his head.
Last night really got me to considering how the ProLoQuo2Go is helping him to break language up into component words that can be rearranged and reorganized rather than as longer units of stock phrases. When you simply hear someone talking, it's hard to know sometimes where the 'breaks' are, particularly when you have difficulty with the language being spoken (which can be the case for your 'first language' if you have language processing issues or auditory processing issues). When things are written, it's easier to see the breaks in words because there are spaces between words, and other punctuation between sentences and phrases. But with ProLoQuo2Go, there's the added advantage of 'context' associated with the written word, because the little pictures with each word convey additional information that abstract letters of course lack. By fooling around with ProLoQuo2Go (or 'babbling' with it, as I term it), Jman is discovering 'words,' and he's discovering how to put them together to communicate thoughts, and that there's more than one way set of words or one arrangement that you can use to express the same thought. He's got the sound, the letters, the pictures, the organization/categorization of the spaces, and the physical motion of moving through the pages all working together for him to turn his brain on to communication and to make his own effective discoveries about 'same but different.' That is just AMAZING.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
bizarro world at the barber shop
Today a bizarre thing happened. Habeeb and Sly were getting their military reg haircuts on base after we all ate lunch. When they were finishing up, Jman walked into the barbershop. He then climbed up into the barber's chair that Habeeb had just vacated. Then he tried to put on the barber's smock, and I helped him snap it in the back. We were all BAFFLED. This kid does NOT do haircuts, and especially not in a hair cutting place! I asked Jman if he wanted a haircut, including programming it into his ProLoQuo2Go, and he said yes. ????!!!!???? The problem was he still had his 'ears' on, and didn't really want to take them off (it'd be awfully hard to cut his hair with hearing protection on!).
Someone else came in for a haircut, and the lady barber, who was being AWESOME with letting Jman do his thing (what a rare and special treat to find someone so good!), asked Jman to move over to the next chair. It took him a couple times of hearing to understand, and then he moved on over. Into another barber's chair. Still amazing.
After another go at taking his 'ears' off, Jman decided to get up and move on out. Habeeb and Sly were done and ready to go. They started to head up the corrider to leave the building, but Jman decided to go back in. He sat down in the 2nd chair again, and put the smock back on. I asked again if he wanted a hair cut, and he said yes. Still not believing it, I pulled the leatherman micra out of my pocket and opened up the scissors. I gave his bangs a few snips, and he was liking it. ???!!!???
Then the lady barber (who was so awesome) suggested we let Jman hold her clippers with them turned on. Like I said, she was awesome! She was completely naturally tuned in to supporting Jman, allowing him freedom, increasing the opportunities for him to learn just enough without challenging him to 'behave' and without overwhelming him. What a rare and special gem!
So, anyway, Jman didn't want to hold the clippers. He wanted me to cut his hair with them. He tried to get me to cut higher toward the top of his head, but that would have been committing us to REALLY giving him a SHORT hair cut. Instead, I just clipped a few more bits from his bangs, leaving him a nice little wedge cut out right in the front. He wanted more, but I again told him the 'ears' would have to come off, and he finally decided he'd had enough hair cutting for one day. He took the smock off, and was ready to leave then.
Habeeb, Sly, and I are still in total SHOCK at Jman's adventures in the barber shop today! We're going to have to find out when the awesome barber lady is working again, and take Jman back and see what he does next time. Who knows--maybe someday the boy will actually get a REAL haircut! Wouldn't that be something?!?!
PS--Jman was having fun looking at his iPod/ProLoQuo2Go which he had turned on under the barber's smock. I suppose it was neat how the lit up screen showed through the smock. He really likes having his 'words' (though he still tries to take my iPod with the youtube not restricted!).
Someone else came in for a haircut, and the lady barber, who was being AWESOME with letting Jman do his thing (what a rare and special treat to find someone so good!), asked Jman to move over to the next chair. It took him a couple times of hearing to understand, and then he moved on over. Into another barber's chair. Still amazing.
After another go at taking his 'ears' off, Jman decided to get up and move on out. Habeeb and Sly were done and ready to go. They started to head up the corrider to leave the building, but Jman decided to go back in. He sat down in the 2nd chair again, and put the smock back on. I asked again if he wanted a hair cut, and he said yes. Still not believing it, I pulled the leatherman micra out of my pocket and opened up the scissors. I gave his bangs a few snips, and he was liking it. ???!!!???
Then the lady barber (who was so awesome) suggested we let Jman hold her clippers with them turned on. Like I said, she was awesome! She was completely naturally tuned in to supporting Jman, allowing him freedom, increasing the opportunities for him to learn just enough without challenging him to 'behave' and without overwhelming him. What a rare and special gem!
So, anyway, Jman didn't want to hold the clippers. He wanted me to cut his hair with them. He tried to get me to cut higher toward the top of his head, but that would have been committing us to REALLY giving him a SHORT hair cut. Instead, I just clipped a few more bits from his bangs, leaving him a nice little wedge cut out right in the front. He wanted more, but I again told him the 'ears' would have to come off, and he finally decided he'd had enough hair cutting for one day. He took the smock off, and was ready to leave then.
Habeeb, Sly, and I are still in total SHOCK at Jman's adventures in the barber shop today! We're going to have to find out when the awesome barber lady is working again, and take Jman back and see what he does next time. Who knows--maybe someday the boy will actually get a REAL haircut! Wouldn't that be something?!?!
PS--Jman was having fun looking at his iPod/ProLoQuo2Go which he had turned on under the barber's smock. I suppose it was neat how the lit up screen showed through the smock. He really likes having his 'words' (though he still tries to take my iPod with the youtube not restricted!).
Self talk and “I don’t like it no”
Two little quick ProLoQuo2Go stories for you from this evening. First, I overheard Jman doing some ‘self talk’ or ‘self narration’ on his ProLoQuo2Go this evening as he was getting a glass of water from the fridge. I don’t know exactly what he was punching in, but I definitely heard “drink” in there.
Many people make jokes about people who ‘talk to themselves,’ but in reality, ‘self talk’ or ‘self narration’ is an important developmental milestone. First we learn to listen to what others have to say, such as when mothers talk their babies or children through certain activities as the more experienced guide. Later those children will follow that model and talk themselves through activities, learning to ‘think like the guide’ even when the guide isn’t there doing the teaching anymore. Eventually the child learns to think and guide himself for many activities. If you watch little kids at play, you can see and hear them talking themselves through things out loud. As they grow even older, the self-talk becomes ‘in their heads’ and you don’t hear it any more (but it’s still going on). Even grown ups, when they are particularly challenged with some activity, will revert back to ‘talking to themselves’ out loud.
So, all that to say that Jman the other day was doing some ‘narration’ with the ProLoQuo2Go when we were going to brush his teeth. This evening he was self-narrating/self-talking himself through getting a drink. It’s a fascinating developmental step to see appearing (or maybe I should say to ‘hear’ appearing!).
Second story: Tonight Jman made his first spontaneous experience sharing/perspective sharing comment to me, unsolicited, using his ProLoQuo2Go, AND it was an expansion of language on a statement/request he had made previously, so there were TWO huge accomplishments all tied up in one little comment.
What happened was that Sly and I were going to go for a walk after cleaning up from dinner. I went to invite Jman to join us. He loves going for walks with us in the evening. I punched into his ProLoQuo2Go, “Let’s go to walk.” He took the ProLoQuo2Go and punched in, “Good night. Let’s go to bed.” He was in the middle of drawing a picture while in his bed, and apparently didn’t want to go. I pushed it and answered using the ProLoQuo2Go, “I want to go walk.” He took back the ProLoQuo2Go and punched in, “I don’t like it no” followed by, “Good night. Let’s go to bed!”
Note 1: He added an exclamation point to the second message just to make sure I understood! He likes to do that when he writes, but it's new for him to use it on ProLoQuo2Go, and he only used it on the second statement, not the original, so it was a dynamic use instead of a rote use.
Note 2: He didn’t reply using the same language structure that I did (I want ___) but instead used a different language structure (I don't like it no) to express his feelings. That is the first time that he has spontaneously initiated a ‘perspective’ comment without solicitation using the P2G, and the first time he has expanded his previous comment in such a way (sharing his perspective with new language altogether and then reiterating his request). That is SO cool!
Many people make jokes about people who ‘talk to themselves,’ but in reality, ‘self talk’ or ‘self narration’ is an important developmental milestone. First we learn to listen to what others have to say, such as when mothers talk their babies or children through certain activities as the more experienced guide. Later those children will follow that model and talk themselves through activities, learning to ‘think like the guide’ even when the guide isn’t there doing the teaching anymore. Eventually the child learns to think and guide himself for many activities. If you watch little kids at play, you can see and hear them talking themselves through things out loud. As they grow even older, the self-talk becomes ‘in their heads’ and you don’t hear it any more (but it’s still going on). Even grown ups, when they are particularly challenged with some activity, will revert back to ‘talking to themselves’ out loud.
So, all that to say that Jman the other day was doing some ‘narration’ with the ProLoQuo2Go when we were going to brush his teeth. This evening he was self-narrating/self-talking himself through getting a drink. It’s a fascinating developmental step to see appearing (or maybe I should say to ‘hear’ appearing!).
Second story: Tonight Jman made his first spontaneous experience sharing/perspective sharing comment to me, unsolicited, using his ProLoQuo2Go, AND it was an expansion of language on a statement/request he had made previously, so there were TWO huge accomplishments all tied up in one little comment.
What happened was that Sly and I were going to go for a walk after cleaning up from dinner. I went to invite Jman to join us. He loves going for walks with us in the evening. I punched into his ProLoQuo2Go, “Let’s go to walk.” He took the ProLoQuo2Go and punched in, “Good night. Let’s go to bed.” He was in the middle of drawing a picture while in his bed, and apparently didn’t want to go. I pushed it and answered using the ProLoQuo2Go, “I want to go walk.” He took back the ProLoQuo2Go and punched in, “I don’t like it no” followed by, “Good night. Let’s go to bed!”
Note 1: He added an exclamation point to the second message just to make sure I understood! He likes to do that when he writes, but it's new for him to use it on ProLoQuo2Go, and he only used it on the second statement, not the original, so it was a dynamic use instead of a rote use.
Note 2: He didn’t reply using the same language structure that I did (I want ___) but instead used a different language structure (I don't like it no) to express his feelings. That is the first time that he has spontaneously initiated a ‘perspective’ comment without solicitation using the P2G, and the first time he has expanded his previous comment in such a way (sharing his perspective with new language altogether and then reiterating his request). That is SO cool!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Teamwork!
Today was a lovely day for stringing up Christmas lights! Habeeb was eager to get to work, and I reminded him to include Jman as much as possible. Jman had been asking for the computer (go figure!), but as soon as I told him that dad was going to get down the 'red boxes' he dropped the computer idea in a flash and was out in the garage ready to get the lights down out of the attic.
Habeeb and Jman worked together to get the lights up along the front of the house. Each had a ladder, each had a job, and each kept a "good enough" eye on what the other was up to. SB3 also wanted to get in on the action! He kept trying to climb the ladders, especially "Jman's ladder." I did some quick problem solving and got him an "SB3 ladder"--the step stool. He thought he was big stuff then, just like Habeeb and Brother Jman!
Jman did fantastic 95% of the time he and Habeeb were working. He helped pass up clips to Habeeb (along with a saw and pruning shears for a quick tree limb fix). He moved his ladder when Habeeb moved his. He knew when to run back inside and grab another string of lights without having to be asked. He even kept a bit of a watchful eye on SB3, particularly with regards to the ladders.
Jman did have one major issue, though. He and Habeeb started from the garage corner of the house going towards the middle of the front. When that string was done, Habeeb went to the other corner of the house to again work towards the middle. That's when Jman freaked out. We couldn't figure out what his problem was, but he was seriously freaking out, including flailing and throwing himself on the ground. We weren't sure what his problem was, but I speculated that it might have something to do with switching to the other corner and going in the opposite direction. He did eventually get over it, and got back to being a good helper for Habeeb. When they finished that string and went back to the end of the first strung string, Jman again began to flip out, and that's when we both agreed that yes, it was the transition from one location/direction to the other location/direction that was throwing Jman for a loop.
Now, what we don't know is if it was because he was confused and didn't understand why we were doing what we were doing OR if it was some kind of OCD type thing where even though he may have understood, it just FELT wrong and wigged him out for a while. In either case, he got over his second flail-ex much more quickly than the first, and he and Habeeb finished stringing the roof line. They do still have the front door to string up, and Jman's bedroom, and whatever else Habeeb decides to string up in the house. (Actually, Jman has strung up the hallway bathroom, and is stringing up his bunk bed in lights as I type!)
A ProLoQuo2Go note: While Jman was NOT using the ProLoQuo2Go to communicate during today's festivities, he DID say at one point, "I need help." He had switched roles with Habeeb and was trying to attach a clip to the roof, and was having a bit of difficulty with a particular shingle, and so he told Habeeb he needed help quite calmly. He had a few other P2G-esque moments today as well, but it was mostly means-to-an-end and not experience sharing. Today's most common line (even prior to lights going up) was "Let's go to snow." He loves snow!
A few take home points for anyone doing RDI/Guided Participation with a kid on the spectrum: 1) No one's perfect. There are lots of flaws we make, both us and the kids. Just move on. 2) Think through what you want to do before you try to guide your kid through the activity. Habeeb had a plan for how to string the lights, and he has experience from stringing them in the past. It's much harder to guide your kid when you don't know what you're doing! 3) Don't expect your kid to be excited about an activity just because it excites you. In this case, stringing lights was an activity that really does excite Jman. He'd have been far less interested in helping us do other mundane chores. That doesn't mean you only do things that they find exciting, but do be aware that you may have a more willing apprentice when you have a "mutually meaningful project" rather than a project that one or the other person isn't really into. 4) Whatever your project, make sure the roles of the people are both clearly defined and are 'legitimate' roles. Don't assign a role that is either beneath the other person OR that is overwhelming to the other person. Do assign roles that have legitimate value, that are respectful of the other person as a person, that are in someone's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Remember, work in the ZPD is work that someone can't necessarily do alone but can do with proper guidance. It should be just challenging enough without being too challenging. 5) Slow down. Give the person time to think and respond and solve their own problems.
Friday, November 13, 2009
I need help, and LRE
I have spent the better part of the last two days searching like an obsessed madman trying to find information or message boards or blogs or websites or SOMETHING of other people who are homeschooling spectrum (or other) kids using AAC devices (such as ProLoQuo2Go or any other brand/device), or for information on specifically working on experience sharing communication and social-emotional-cognitive development using AAC devices, and I hate to say that I'm essentially empty handed and frustrated in my search. It seems that pretty much everyone out there using AAC devices with their kids has their kids in school settings for the majority of the day.
A funny thought occurred to me today as I was on my unsuccessful quest to find someone else 'like me.' The law requires that special education students be placed in the "least restrictive environment" (LRE) in which they can learn. Typically, the LRE is considered to be a mainstream inclusive classroom, and the most restrictive environment is home placement, but that's absolutely backwards! The Least Restrictive Environment is the homeschool setting. When a student is plugged into a classroom, even a mainstream classroom, they are very much restricted to interacting for a prescribed period of time in a restricted area of space with a restricted group of 'peers' who are grouped essentially by chronological age rather than abilities or interests or personalities, all while under the prescribed direction of a lone adult or two (if there's an assistant teacher in the classroom). Attendance is compulsory, curriculum is predefined and cookie cutter and in compliance with 'state standards,' and social interaction and individual self-development is extremely curtailed for the sake of 'classroom management.' If that is the 'least restrictive environment,' I'd hate to see what 'more of it' will do to our kids if they pass restrictive laws extending school days and academic years and further narrowing the 'scope and sequence' that kids have to regurgitate on a specific timeline for someone's restrictive standardized test where they mesaure how successfully they produced a bunch of standardized copies of kids. Ugh!!
No, I think the Least Restrictive Environment for anyone's education is the 'home' setting, which is rarely limited to 'staying home.' Students (and teachers!) are free to come and go as opportunities for life and learning permit. They are free to learn within the community at large, using the entire neighborhood as their school campus, or perhaps the entire state, nation, or world if they do much traveling (including cyber field trips as well). They get to interact with the broadest variety of peoples from all ages and developmental levels, from siblings to neighbors to grandparents to all varieties of workers/employees/employers throughout town and wherever they may roam. The students aren't restricted to cookie-cutter curriculums, but rather can pursue interests in depth, learning to develop excellence and expertise and leadership and thinking, rather than following the herd "because that's what you do" (anyone 'mooing' out there?). Yes, I suppose I have a completely different definition of "least restrictive environment." But then again, I define a lot of things differently than the crowd!
Which brings me back to my real rant and frustration, and that's that I'm feeling a bit TOO isolated in this quest to make the most of Jman's language and socio-emotional-cognitive development in part through his new ProLoQuo2Go. Self-study and self-development are fine and essential, but you can often go so much further with collaborative learning. That's exactly what I'm wanting for Jman--more 'collaborative learning.' And yet, I'm having a hard time finding folks to collaborate with about this particular angle of using AAC in a homeschooling environment for a kid who has autism and therefore even greater needs in developing collaborative experience sharing communication but is limited by mega language issues which don't further complicate the lives of everyone on the spectrum. Waaah!
But on the up side, I also know that I'm on the right track, even if no one else is running the same race. I think that there will be others like me down the road as ProLoQuo2Go becomes more 'mainstream' and other folks already on the journey of homeschooling autistic kids wtih language issues discover it and find themselves in a similar situation--wanting support and collaboration with other simlar users, but just really not interested in the 'schooly' options that are out there because we have bigger and richer developmental aspirations for our kids.
I'm sure I'll get back online again a few times/days in the future and begin questing again for homeschoolers learning with AAC for spectrum kids, but I've hopefully about got it out of my system now for a while. It's time to get back to just doing it--living life, teasing out some lessons in Jman's ZPD (zone of proximal development), and finding or creating ways to highlight those lessons with personal relevance for him so the learning sticks.
I did find TWO links to papers/presentation notes/handouts that were going along the lines of what I'm thinking. The ideas are good ideas in general, though the presentation is with regards to AAC. However, if you're a mom of a kid on the spectrum and you're looking for more than 'discrete trials' out of life, you may glean some wisdom or ideas you can apply from these links. The first is by Linda Burkhart: Key Concepts for Using Augmentative Communication with Children Who Have Complex Communication Needs. The second is by Gail van Tatenhove: Language Functions & Early Generative Language Production.
Btw, the title of this post is really more about Jman and what he's been saying with his ProLoQuo2Go several times last night and today: "I need help." It's not necessarily very impressive, because Jman has been able to ask for help for a long time by simply saying, "Help." The thing is, he often (but not always) didn't ask for help until you noticed that he needed help. Last night he wanted to the keys to unlock the footlocker with the DVD's (yes, we keep them locked up, because of Jman!). He looked at us and said, "I need help!" He got that from his ProLoQuo2Go, using the "I need" button on the homepage, which takes him to some options which include a generic "help" button, thus producing the simple message, "I need help." So, Jman went from one word spoken occasionally, and often in response when you noticed his dilemma, to three words spoken as a proper sounding sentence and initiated by him several times over the course of the evening and throughout today. I should also add that when he was told "No" yet again, at one point he burst into tears and said, "I feel sad!!!" On the one hand, my heart was sympathetic to his frustration, but on the other, I was dancing inside that he was being so communicative and expressive! But he still didn't get the DVD's. :) He also has continued to play around with "I like it/I don't like it" and is now playing around with "a drink of" (a button ending with a preposition, but he doesn't fill in the oject--a drink of what???). And today he told me with his ProLoQuo2Go at lunchtime, "I feel hungry. Let's eat dinners." (He has this thing where he likes to make nouns plural/with an s at the end, even when they shouldn't be.) So, there's the P2G update for anyone crazy enough to still be reading this (especially after my LRE rant! haha!)
A funny thought occurred to me today as I was on my unsuccessful quest to find someone else 'like me.' The law requires that special education students be placed in the "least restrictive environment" (LRE) in which they can learn. Typically, the LRE is considered to be a mainstream inclusive classroom, and the most restrictive environment is home placement, but that's absolutely backwards! The Least Restrictive Environment is the homeschool setting. When a student is plugged into a classroom, even a mainstream classroom, they are very much restricted to interacting for a prescribed period of time in a restricted area of space with a restricted group of 'peers' who are grouped essentially by chronological age rather than abilities or interests or personalities, all while under the prescribed direction of a lone adult or two (if there's an assistant teacher in the classroom). Attendance is compulsory, curriculum is predefined and cookie cutter and in compliance with 'state standards,' and social interaction and individual self-development is extremely curtailed for the sake of 'classroom management.' If that is the 'least restrictive environment,' I'd hate to see what 'more of it' will do to our kids if they pass restrictive laws extending school days and academic years and further narrowing the 'scope and sequence' that kids have to regurgitate on a specific timeline for someone's restrictive standardized test where they mesaure how successfully they produced a bunch of standardized copies of kids. Ugh!!
No, I think the Least Restrictive Environment for anyone's education is the 'home' setting, which is rarely limited to 'staying home.' Students (and teachers!) are free to come and go as opportunities for life and learning permit. They are free to learn within the community at large, using the entire neighborhood as their school campus, or perhaps the entire state, nation, or world if they do much traveling (including cyber field trips as well). They get to interact with the broadest variety of peoples from all ages and developmental levels, from siblings to neighbors to grandparents to all varieties of workers/employees/employers throughout town and wherever they may roam. The students aren't restricted to cookie-cutter curriculums, but rather can pursue interests in depth, learning to develop excellence and expertise and leadership and thinking, rather than following the herd "because that's what you do" (anyone 'mooing' out there?). Yes, I suppose I have a completely different definition of "least restrictive environment." But then again, I define a lot of things differently than the crowd!
Which brings me back to my real rant and frustration, and that's that I'm feeling a bit TOO isolated in this quest to make the most of Jman's language and socio-emotional-cognitive development in part through his new ProLoQuo2Go. Self-study and self-development are fine and essential, but you can often go so much further with collaborative learning. That's exactly what I'm wanting for Jman--more 'collaborative learning.' And yet, I'm having a hard time finding folks to collaborate with about this particular angle of using AAC in a homeschooling environment for a kid who has autism and therefore even greater needs in developing collaborative experience sharing communication but is limited by mega language issues which don't further complicate the lives of everyone on the spectrum. Waaah!
But on the up side, I also know that I'm on the right track, even if no one else is running the same race. I think that there will be others like me down the road as ProLoQuo2Go becomes more 'mainstream' and other folks already on the journey of homeschooling autistic kids wtih language issues discover it and find themselves in a similar situation--wanting support and collaboration with other simlar users, but just really not interested in the 'schooly' options that are out there because we have bigger and richer developmental aspirations for our kids.
I'm sure I'll get back online again a few times/days in the future and begin questing again for homeschoolers learning with AAC for spectrum kids, but I've hopefully about got it out of my system now for a while. It's time to get back to just doing it--living life, teasing out some lessons in Jman's ZPD (zone of proximal development), and finding or creating ways to highlight those lessons with personal relevance for him so the learning sticks.
I did find TWO links to papers/presentation notes/handouts that were going along the lines of what I'm thinking. The ideas are good ideas in general, though the presentation is with regards to AAC. However, if you're a mom of a kid on the spectrum and you're looking for more than 'discrete trials' out of life, you may glean some wisdom or ideas you can apply from these links. The first is by Linda Burkhart: Key Concepts for Using Augmentative Communication with Children Who Have Complex Communication Needs. The second is by Gail van Tatenhove: Language Functions & Early Generative Language Production.
Btw, the title of this post is really more about Jman and what he's been saying with his ProLoQuo2Go several times last night and today: "I need help." It's not necessarily very impressive, because Jman has been able to ask for help for a long time by simply saying, "Help." The thing is, he often (but not always) didn't ask for help until you noticed that he needed help. Last night he wanted to the keys to unlock the footlocker with the DVD's (yes, we keep them locked up, because of Jman!). He looked at us and said, "I need help!" He got that from his ProLoQuo2Go, using the "I need" button on the homepage, which takes him to some options which include a generic "help" button, thus producing the simple message, "I need help." So, Jman went from one word spoken occasionally, and often in response when you noticed his dilemma, to three words spoken as a proper sounding sentence and initiated by him several times over the course of the evening and throughout today. I should also add that when he was told "No" yet again, at one point he burst into tears and said, "I feel sad!!!" On the one hand, my heart was sympathetic to his frustration, but on the other, I was dancing inside that he was being so communicative and expressive! But he still didn't get the DVD's. :) He also has continued to play around with "I like it/I don't like it" and is now playing around with "a drink of" (a button ending with a preposition, but he doesn't fill in the oject--a drink of what???). And today he told me with his ProLoQuo2Go at lunchtime, "I feel hungry. Let's eat dinners." (He has this thing where he likes to make nouns plural/with an s at the end, even when they shouldn't be.) So, there's the P2G update for anyone crazy enough to still be reading this (especially after my LRE rant! haha!)
Thursday, November 12, 2009
See ya later!
This morning when Habeeb was leaving for work, Jman was up. Jman saw Habeeb and said, "Good morning!" Habeeb was a bit startled by the spontaneous greeting (learned from playing with the ProLoQuo2Go), and replied back, "Good morning!!"
Habeeb had to leave for work, so he waved to Jman, not saying any words but just using the nonverbal gesture. Jman noticed, and replied with "See ya later!" (also learned from playing around with the ProLoQuo2Go).
Jman has been saying "Good morning" and "Good night" fairly consistently since he got the ProLoQuo2Go and starting playing around with it, usually in response to one of us but occassionally he'll initiate, like this morning (Habeeb just isn't usually around for the morning stuff). But this is the first time Jman has ever used the phrase "See ya later" that I can recall. It sounds like such a small thing, and yet it's not so small. There's a lot that goes into noticing a wave, appraising whether it is a hello or a goodbye or maybe a sign to stop or to go away, and then formulate and deliver a response. Again, exciting little bits here and there cropping up with his developing language, developing relationship skills, and developing self awareness. Way cool!
Now, having said that, I've already reinstalled (and restored from my backup) ProLoQuo2Go twice today on his iPod! Arg! I wish I could make it undeletable!!! Does anyone know of a way to make downloaded apps undeletable off an iPod?????
Habeeb had to leave for work, so he waved to Jman, not saying any words but just using the nonverbal gesture. Jman noticed, and replied with "See ya later!" (also learned from playing around with the ProLoQuo2Go).
Jman has been saying "Good morning" and "Good night" fairly consistently since he got the ProLoQuo2Go and starting playing around with it, usually in response to one of us but occassionally he'll initiate, like this morning (Habeeb just isn't usually around for the morning stuff). But this is the first time Jman has ever used the phrase "See ya later" that I can recall. It sounds like such a small thing, and yet it's not so small. There's a lot that goes into noticing a wave, appraising whether it is a hello or a goodbye or maybe a sign to stop or to go away, and then formulate and deliver a response. Again, exciting little bits here and there cropping up with his developing language, developing relationship skills, and developing self awareness. Way cool!
Now, having said that, I've already reinstalled (and restored from my backup) ProLoQuo2Go twice today on his iPod! Arg! I wish I could make it undeletable!!! Does anyone know of a way to make downloaded apps undeletable off an iPod?????
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Yes I like it
For all of those readers who just can't get enough Jman stories about his ProLoQuo2Go, let me share with you the latest.
Today, Veterans Day (thank you, vets!), we pulled the Christmas tree down out of the attic and put it up (sans decorations) in the living room. Yes, it's early--we know that. But for starters, Jman LOVES all things Christmas, so, why not? And for seconders, we figured if we put it up NOW, maybe SB3 would get used to the tree being around before we put a bunch of decorations on it for him to play with. So, we put the tree up (artificial pre-lit) without decorations.
We had told Jman we were going to put the tree up today, but we had some errands to run first. Along the way I was playing around with the ProLoQuo2Go on my iPod, finding the preprogrammed Christmasy words. I was thinking we could organize them a little better, customize things for Jman, and maybe create a useful 'activity page' for him to help him communicate more about Christmas with us. Once Jman saw what I was doing, he began trying to swap iPod with me, only this time it was because he wanted the Christmas words and not just because he wanted to watch youtube videos (blocked on his iPod).
While we were out and about, we went to Target. There, Jman remembered we had no star for the top of the tree (ours bit the dust last year or the year before), and he took it upon himself to pick out a new star. We came home, put up the tree, and Jman had Habeeb put the star on top. Jman promptly disappeared and returned with the camera, immediately taking this picture of the new cheap-o star atop our otherwise undecorated tree. Too funny!
Btw, Jman also promptly began building a train set under the tree, and doing his best to try to keep SB3 away from said train. It was pretty funny!
Now, back to the ProLoQuo2Go and the real communication lessons. This evening we were out and about again, and Jman asked to go back to Target, both with and without his ProLoQuo2Go. He was muttering something about 'balls.' Now, knowing Jman, I KNEW that he was talking about Christmas ornaments, but he just didn't know that word. On the way into the store, I quickly programmed in to his ProLoQuo2Go a quickie for answering the proprogammed question "What's that?"
When we got back to the Christmas section of the store, Jman went straight for a set of ornaments that he wanted to buy. I took advantage of the real-life context to work on the language contructs of "What's that?" and the corresponding "That is . . . " along with introducing the vocabulary word/phrase "Christmas ornament." There's no better time to teach someone something new than when they are personally interested in real life. Now, because he's still very much learning, I demonstrated for him both asking the question and answering the question. I navigated from the home page to "Questions" and pushed the preprogrammed button for "What's that?" Then I jumped back to the home page and navigated through "Starters" (for quick and easy sentence starters used frequently), where I programmed in "That is", which took me directly to "Categories", from which I chose "Holidays" and ultimately "Christmas ornaments." Yes, that's quite a few pages to navigate through to get out the simple sentence "That is Christmas ornament" but it works much more quickly than it reads here. With a Christmas specific activity page, we could converse on Christmas things with fewer button pushes, but then again, we have fewer options as well. This seemed a more 'general' way to work on "What's that?" and quick answers for future additional real life opportunities involving more than just Christmas ideas.
So, back to the scenario in the store. Jman paid attention to what I was showing him, and began echoing "ornament." So far, so good: He was indeed stowing away and practicing that new vocabulary word, increasing the chances of him being able to use it in the future.
We wandered around the Christmas section for a while, me debating whether to indulge him and buy any ornaments. I finally decided it wouldn't hurt to get one pack of non-breakable ornaments and take greater advantage of this fabulous learning opportunity for Jman. So, I told Jman he could "Pick one." I of course meant one SET (he was looking at sets of ornaments), but he was a little confused. He was concerned that I meant one piece from a set of ornaments, and he began pointing to each of the 10 ornaments in the set and saying, "that one, that one, that one, . . . " I chuckled and said yes, one SET of ornaments. (Thinking ahead here, this could be a great scenario for working on that math language of 'each' vs 'set').
As we were leaving the Christmas section I had a huge lightbulb moment: This would be a GREAT opportunity to work on some "experience sharing" communication with Jman, as opposed to just the question/answer/vocabulary word aspects (which are important, but stale and static compared to sharing thoughts and ideas and perspectives with each other, which is particularly hard for someone on the spectrum, even without language issues), and in particular with some other preprogrammed buttons he'd been stimming on and playing with in the "Comments" section--"I like it" and "I don't like it."
So, I said aloud, "I like the Christmas ornaments you picked." Then I navigated to the Comments page and punched in "I like it." I asked him if he liked them, and then demonstrated for him, "Yes, I like it." He was VERY interested, and he repeated aloud, "Yes, I like it." Then he and I said something about going home, and of course taking the ornaments he picked.
Well, since he'd been stimming on the "I like it/don't like it" buttons as a pair, he began to say, "No, I don't like it." Every time he'd do that, I'd stop and say, "Oh, if you don't like it, then let's go put them back." That'd stop him cold in his tracks and he'd say and/or punch back in, "Yes, I like it." Then I'd say, "Oh, you do like it. Okay, we'll let's go buy them and take them home." We'd start back towards the front of the store, and after a couple aisles or so, he'd go back to 'balancing' out the words and punching in "No, I don't like it." At which I'd stop and offer to put the ornaments back, and so on and so forth. This happened several times before we made it to the cash register, where we finally bought the ornaments and started home.
Once we were out of the store, he again said he didn't like it, and I offered to take them back. He began to get a little distressed, because he really DID like the ornaments, and he was really wanting to decorate the tree with them, but he also had this autistic NEED to 'balance' the words out, or 'cancel' the words, and he really WAS not liking the 'excitement level' he was having to process at the time, made even harder by my stepping up the challenge with not only language but with 'commenting' or 'experience sharing language' to boot. He was trying really hard to deal with all those challenges, and began to get a little overwhelmed. Then things got even more interesting.
We climbed into the car, Jman holding his ornaments and intently looking at me trying to get ME to parrot for him, "I don't like it" (because I had only said that I did like the ornaments). I was trying to not 'give in' to his manipulative request, but he was getting more distraught.
Now, another area on ProLoQuo2Go is a category for "Feelings." We had demonstrated for Jman a few times in the past, "I feel hungry." He cataloged that, and was interested, and had copied it a time or two, but mostly hadn't done too much with the "Feelings" page to date. However, the "Feelings" page is very conducive to some of that "experience sharing" communication we'd particularly like to help him develop. Yes, it's great to be able to get one's needs met, but we as humans also have a 'need' to share our ideas and thoughts and feelings with others too, even those on the spectrum, even though that is one of their most challenging areas.
So, Jman, increasingly distraught, navigated to the "Feelings" page and punched in "I feel" (one preprogrammed button) and then hesitated briefly over the symbol for "frustrated" (a snarling, frustrated looking face) before moving on to "sad" (a word he's familiar with). He proceeded to tell me, therefore, "I feel sad." He couldn't tell me WHY, of course, but he was able to say, "I feel sad." Now, he's told us before that he was 'sad,' but it was only by saying the single word, "sad" OR by echoing a couple lines from a favorite story, "so, so sad, so so bad." This was new because he included "I feel" and also said aloud, "I feel sad" after punching it in.
I tried to talk with him a little about it, and along the way he also informed me that he was hungry (he didn't eat a lot of dinner, and it was 10pm by this time). I told him (and showed him on ProLoQuo2Go) that I was "sleepy." He noticed that "sleepy" and "tired" had the same symbol. He punched in "I feel sleepy sad tired," all of which were probably true! We decided to come on home, and I did along the way indulge him by saying "I don't like it" just to give him a little 'rest' from his 'frustration' (which was the real thing he was feeling, I think).
So, now in one little jaunt to Target, we'd worked on the language constructs "What's that?" and "That is . . .", we'd been introduced to a new vocabularly word "ornament," and we'd introduced the experience sharing language of "I like it" or "I don't like it" and worked a bit more on "feelings." All for the low low price of $5 worth of cheap-o plastic glittery Christmas ornaments! Wow!
One other little tidbit of info, for the autstically interested crowd: Folks with autism had an underdeveloped sense of "Self." Kind of funny when you think about it. Folks tend to think that someone with autism is ONLY interested in 'themselves' but that's not really accurate. Instead, they have a hard time actually learning who they are and who they aren't in comparison to other people and their likes/dislikes/experiences. So, working on "I like it" and "I don't like it" will be great for helping Jman develop a better sense of who he is IN RELATION TO who others are. For now, we can work on him saying what he likes (or doesn't) when he likes it (or doesn't). Down the road we can compare that to what someone ELSE may like or dislike. That will help him develop both a sense of his own Self and a sense of who others are, and whether he and others are 'the same' or 'not the same.'
Oh, that reminds me of one other 'aside' in the ProLoQuo2Go language lessons for the evening. While we were at the Chrsitmas section of the star, we noticed a box of ornaments in the wrong place. I glanced around and determined where they belonged, which happened to be next to where Jman had moved to. I carried the box over and showed them to Jman and also pointed out the matching sets on the shelf. I had navigated to his math lessons ahead of time, and, pointing to the matching sets of ornaments, I asked him, "Are they the same?" He looked, and quickly punched in his reply, "They are the same." And so we placed the ornaments back where they belonged. Is that cool or what? An opportunity to apply our little 'at home' focus lesson in the real world!
Okay, so, sorry this is such a long post, but I'm just amazed at the opportunities we're finding for communicating and for expanding communication and for learning language and for sharing experiences with this fabulous little ProLoQuo2Go app. It's fascinating to watch him both when he's learning/using it 'properly' and when he's just 'stimming' on it, laughing at the funny (to him) things he can make it say. When he's stimming on it, I remind myself that babies learning language for the first time do much the same thing--they 'babble.' Jman stimming on his ProLoQuo2Go is his version of 'babbling,' and we're already seeing little glimpses of his babbling growing into 'real' language. And just like a baby takes a year and a half to start talking, and even longer to make sentences, and even longer to ask questions, or tell a consistent tale, so to I expect this to be a 'long haul' process with Jman and not an overnight miracle. But boy, some of the little highlights along the way are just as fabulous as some of SB3's emerging language (which deserves it's own blog post sometime!).
Today, Veterans Day (thank you, vets!), we pulled the Christmas tree down out of the attic and put it up (sans decorations) in the living room. Yes, it's early--we know that. But for starters, Jman LOVES all things Christmas, so, why not? And for seconders, we figured if we put it up NOW, maybe SB3 would get used to the tree being around before we put a bunch of decorations on it for him to play with. So, we put the tree up (artificial pre-lit) without decorations.
We had told Jman we were going to put the tree up today, but we had some errands to run first. Along the way I was playing around with the ProLoQuo2Go on my iPod, finding the preprogrammed Christmasy words. I was thinking we could organize them a little better, customize things for Jman, and maybe create a useful 'activity page' for him to help him communicate more about Christmas with us. Once Jman saw what I was doing, he began trying to swap iPod with me, only this time it was because he wanted the Christmas words and not just because he wanted to watch youtube videos (blocked on his iPod).
While we were out and about, we went to Target. There, Jman remembered we had no star for the top of the tree (ours bit the dust last year or the year before), and he took it upon himself to pick out a new star. We came home, put up the tree, and Jman had Habeeb put the star on top. Jman promptly disappeared and returned with the camera, immediately taking this picture of the new cheap-o star atop our otherwise undecorated tree. Too funny! Btw, Jman also promptly began building a train set under the tree, and doing his best to try to keep SB3 away from said train. It was pretty funny!
Now, back to the ProLoQuo2Go and the real communication lessons. This evening we were out and about again, and Jman asked to go back to Target, both with and without his ProLoQuo2Go. He was muttering something about 'balls.' Now, knowing Jman, I KNEW that he was talking about Christmas ornaments, but he just didn't know that word. On the way into the store, I quickly programmed in to his ProLoQuo2Go a quickie for answering the proprogammed question "What's that?"
When we got back to the Christmas section of the store, Jman went straight for a set of ornaments that he wanted to buy. I took advantage of the real-life context to work on the language contructs of "What's that?" and the corresponding "That is . . . " along with introducing the vocabulary word/phrase "Christmas ornament." There's no better time to teach someone something new than when they are personally interested in real life. Now, because he's still very much learning, I demonstrated for him both asking the question and answering the question. I navigated from the home page to "Questions" and pushed the preprogrammed button for "What's that?" Then I jumped back to the home page and navigated through "Starters" (for quick and easy sentence starters used frequently), where I programmed in "That is", which took me directly to "Categories", from which I chose "Holidays" and ultimately "Christmas ornaments." Yes, that's quite a few pages to navigate through to get out the simple sentence "That is Christmas ornament" but it works much more quickly than it reads here. With a Christmas specific activity page, we could converse on Christmas things with fewer button pushes, but then again, we have fewer options as well. This seemed a more 'general' way to work on "What's that?" and quick answers for future additional real life opportunities involving more than just Christmas ideas.
So, back to the scenario in the store. Jman paid attention to what I was showing him, and began echoing "ornament." So far, so good: He was indeed stowing away and practicing that new vocabulary word, increasing the chances of him being able to use it in the future.
We wandered around the Christmas section for a while, me debating whether to indulge him and buy any ornaments. I finally decided it wouldn't hurt to get one pack of non-breakable ornaments and take greater advantage of this fabulous learning opportunity for Jman. So, I told Jman he could "Pick one." I of course meant one SET (he was looking at sets of ornaments), but he was a little confused. He was concerned that I meant one piece from a set of ornaments, and he began pointing to each of the 10 ornaments in the set and saying, "that one, that one, that one, . . . " I chuckled and said yes, one SET of ornaments. (Thinking ahead here, this could be a great scenario for working on that math language of 'each' vs 'set').
As we were leaving the Christmas section I had a huge lightbulb moment: This would be a GREAT opportunity to work on some "experience sharing" communication with Jman, as opposed to just the question/answer/vocabulary word aspects (which are important, but stale and static compared to sharing thoughts and ideas and perspectives with each other, which is particularly hard for someone on the spectrum, even without language issues), and in particular with some other preprogrammed buttons he'd been stimming on and playing with in the "Comments" section--"I like it" and "I don't like it."
So, I said aloud, "I like the Christmas ornaments you picked." Then I navigated to the Comments page and punched in "I like it." I asked him if he liked them, and then demonstrated for him, "Yes, I like it." He was VERY interested, and he repeated aloud, "Yes, I like it." Then he and I said something about going home, and of course taking the ornaments he picked.
Well, since he'd been stimming on the "I like it/don't like it" buttons as a pair, he began to say, "No, I don't like it." Every time he'd do that, I'd stop and say, "Oh, if you don't like it, then let's go put them back." That'd stop him cold in his tracks and he'd say and/or punch back in, "Yes, I like it." Then I'd say, "Oh, you do like it. Okay, we'll let's go buy them and take them home." We'd start back towards the front of the store, and after a couple aisles or so, he'd go back to 'balancing' out the words and punching in "No, I don't like it." At which I'd stop and offer to put the ornaments back, and so on and so forth. This happened several times before we made it to the cash register, where we finally bought the ornaments and started home.
Once we were out of the store, he again said he didn't like it, and I offered to take them back. He began to get a little distressed, because he really DID like the ornaments, and he was really wanting to decorate the tree with them, but he also had this autistic NEED to 'balance' the words out, or 'cancel' the words, and he really WAS not liking the 'excitement level' he was having to process at the time, made even harder by my stepping up the challenge with not only language but with 'commenting' or 'experience sharing language' to boot. He was trying really hard to deal with all those challenges, and began to get a little overwhelmed. Then things got even more interesting.
We climbed into the car, Jman holding his ornaments and intently looking at me trying to get ME to parrot for him, "I don't like it" (because I had only said that I did like the ornaments). I was trying to not 'give in' to his manipulative request, but he was getting more distraught.
Now, another area on ProLoQuo2Go is a category for "Feelings." We had demonstrated for Jman a few times in the past, "I feel hungry." He cataloged that, and was interested, and had copied it a time or two, but mostly hadn't done too much with the "Feelings" page to date. However, the "Feelings" page is very conducive to some of that "experience sharing" communication we'd particularly like to help him develop. Yes, it's great to be able to get one's needs met, but we as humans also have a 'need' to share our ideas and thoughts and feelings with others too, even those on the spectrum, even though that is one of their most challenging areas.
So, Jman, increasingly distraught, navigated to the "Feelings" page and punched in "I feel" (one preprogrammed button) and then hesitated briefly over the symbol for "frustrated" (a snarling, frustrated looking face) before moving on to "sad" (a word he's familiar with). He proceeded to tell me, therefore, "I feel sad." He couldn't tell me WHY, of course, but he was able to say, "I feel sad." Now, he's told us before that he was 'sad,' but it was only by saying the single word, "sad" OR by echoing a couple lines from a favorite story, "so, so sad, so so bad." This was new because he included "I feel" and also said aloud, "I feel sad" after punching it in.
I tried to talk with him a little about it, and along the way he also informed me that he was hungry (he didn't eat a lot of dinner, and it was 10pm by this time). I told him (and showed him on ProLoQuo2Go) that I was "sleepy." He noticed that "sleepy" and "tired" had the same symbol. He punched in "I feel sleepy sad tired," all of which were probably true! We decided to come on home, and I did along the way indulge him by saying "I don't like it" just to give him a little 'rest' from his 'frustration' (which was the real thing he was feeling, I think).
So, now in one little jaunt to Target, we'd worked on the language constructs "What's that?" and "That is . . .", we'd been introduced to a new vocabularly word "ornament," and we'd introduced the experience sharing language of "I like it" or "I don't like it" and worked a bit more on "feelings." All for the low low price of $5 worth of cheap-o plastic glittery Christmas ornaments! Wow!
One other little tidbit of info, for the autstically interested crowd: Folks with autism had an underdeveloped sense of "Self." Kind of funny when you think about it. Folks tend to think that someone with autism is ONLY interested in 'themselves' but that's not really accurate. Instead, they have a hard time actually learning who they are and who they aren't in comparison to other people and their likes/dislikes/experiences. So, working on "I like it" and "I don't like it" will be great for helping Jman develop a better sense of who he is IN RELATION TO who others are. For now, we can work on him saying what he likes (or doesn't) when he likes it (or doesn't). Down the road we can compare that to what someone ELSE may like or dislike. That will help him develop both a sense of his own Self and a sense of who others are, and whether he and others are 'the same' or 'not the same.'
Oh, that reminds me of one other 'aside' in the ProLoQuo2Go language lessons for the evening. While we were at the Chrsitmas section of the star, we noticed a box of ornaments in the wrong place. I glanced around and determined where they belonged, which happened to be next to where Jman had moved to. I carried the box over and showed them to Jman and also pointed out the matching sets on the shelf. I had navigated to his math lessons ahead of time, and, pointing to the matching sets of ornaments, I asked him, "Are they the same?" He looked, and quickly punched in his reply, "They are the same." And so we placed the ornaments back where they belonged. Is that cool or what? An opportunity to apply our little 'at home' focus lesson in the real world!
Okay, so, sorry this is such a long post, but I'm just amazed at the opportunities we're finding for communicating and for expanding communication and for learning language and for sharing experiences with this fabulous little ProLoQuo2Go app. It's fascinating to watch him both when he's learning/using it 'properly' and when he's just 'stimming' on it, laughing at the funny (to him) things he can make it say. When he's stimming on it, I remind myself that babies learning language for the first time do much the same thing--they 'babble.' Jman stimming on his ProLoQuo2Go is his version of 'babbling,' and we're already seeing little glimpses of his babbling growing into 'real' language. And just like a baby takes a year and a half to start talking, and even longer to make sentences, and even longer to ask questions, or tell a consistent tale, so to I expect this to be a 'long haul' process with Jman and not an overnight miracle. But boy, some of the little highlights along the way are just as fabulous as some of SB3's emerging language (which deserves it's own blog post sometime!).
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Self-narration
This morning we were getting ready to make a commissary run. I told Jman he needed to brush his teeth. Usually I get balking at this, but today he got up and walked into the bathroom, carrying his iPod with him. As he entered the bathroom, I heard some of the pages he was navigating through in ProLoQuo2Go: My Spaces, followed by My Places, followed by My House, followed by Bathroom, followed by Personal Care. Each of those was a ‘category’ that led his to another page of choices.
Now in the bathroom, with the page opened up to “Personal Care,” Jman punched in “brush teeth” “toothbrush” “toothpaste” “awesome”. And it truly was awesome! He was ‘narrating’ the activity of getting his teeth brushed! Associating language with the action going on, self-narrating, and even commenting on the whole scenario (awesome!) is so way cool! Those really are huge developmental leaps for someone on the spectrum. In Jman's case, he's doubly challenged by his complicating language issues. For him to begin some proto-type self-narration with the P2G is fabulous stuff, and continuing confirmation that AAC was a great way to go for helping Jman finally begin to learn and expand language. It seems it will also help him with encoding episodic memories as well, especially as he plays around with and uses some of the comments and emotional language choices available. (He's having fun playing around with "I like it" and "I don't like it" lately. He hasn't applied them to anything yet, that I know of, but he played around with "awesome" for a while before spontaneously applying it this morning.)
Down the road we’ll continue to work on details of grammar and syntax and communicating in ‘complete sentences,’ but the fact that his mind is engaged and narrating events with language is just fabulous. We have a long way to go, but he’s taking some terrific baby steps on his own with ProLoQuo2Go. Now if we could just keep him from deleting the app from his iPod! Hopefully that’s just a phase he’ll grow out of. :)
Jman, YOU are awesome!
Now in the bathroom, with the page opened up to “Personal Care,” Jman punched in “brush teeth” “toothbrush” “toothpaste” “awesome”. And it truly was awesome! He was ‘narrating’ the activity of getting his teeth brushed! Associating language with the action going on, self-narrating, and even commenting on the whole scenario (awesome!) is so way cool! Those really are huge developmental leaps for someone on the spectrum. In Jman's case, he's doubly challenged by his complicating language issues. For him to begin some proto-type self-narration with the P2G is fabulous stuff, and continuing confirmation that AAC was a great way to go for helping Jman finally begin to learn and expand language. It seems it will also help him with encoding episodic memories as well, especially as he plays around with and uses some of the comments and emotional language choices available. (He's having fun playing around with "I like it" and "I don't like it" lately. He hasn't applied them to anything yet, that I know of, but he played around with "awesome" for a while before spontaneously applying it this morning.)
Down the road we’ll continue to work on details of grammar and syntax and communicating in ‘complete sentences,’ but the fact that his mind is engaged and narrating events with language is just fabulous. We have a long way to go, but he’s taking some terrific baby steps on his own with ProLoQuo2Go. Now if we could just keep him from deleting the app from his iPod! Hopefully that’s just a phase he’ll grow out of. :)
Jman, YOU are awesome!
I want to use the computer.
Last night we went to Moe's Southwest Grill for dinner. A few doors down from Moes is the apple store. Jman loves to go into the apple store and play on their computers, going online to youtube and watching videos because we have been severely limiting his access to youtube/etc at home lately.
After we finished eating, Jman punched into his ProLoQuo2Go one of his most common sayings: I want to use the computer. At first I didn't think about it, because he's ALWAYS saying he wants to use the computer. But then it occurred to me that what he meant was that he wanted to go down to the apple store (and yes, use the computer).
Habeeb and I were still finishing eating and so didn't get up right away. We actually had been planning on going down there after we ate anyway. While we were finishing up the last few bites, Jman was sort of wandering around the place. Then he did something he hadn't done before: He walked up to me and put the iPod right at my ear and played the message "I want to use the computer."
What's significant about that? Jman recognized that he needed to not only formulate the statement on the ProLoQuo2Go, but that he actually had to direct the statement towards ME. Just because he had the thought in his head and punched it into the ProLoQuo2Go did NOT mean that he had transferred that thought from his mind to my mind. In the past he has punched stuff into the ProLoQuo2Go but continued to keep his attention largely on the iPod instead of directing it to me. Habeeb and I have discussed how to help guide Jman in learning to direct his communications to a communication partner. Last night, he did it, by sticking that iPod inches from my ear and playing his message.
Of course, after we got home, he deleted P2G from his iPod for the THIRD time that day! Fortunately, I've figured out how to reinstall and update it very quickly now. Oh, and I already reinstalled it again this morning too. I think he's protesting the fact that we won't let him use the iPod for youtube! He's a hard headed little cuss!
After we finished eating, Jman punched into his ProLoQuo2Go one of his most common sayings: I want to use the computer. At first I didn't think about it, because he's ALWAYS saying he wants to use the computer. But then it occurred to me that what he meant was that he wanted to go down to the apple store (and yes, use the computer).
Habeeb and I were still finishing eating and so didn't get up right away. We actually had been planning on going down there after we ate anyway. While we were finishing up the last few bites, Jman was sort of wandering around the place. Then he did something he hadn't done before: He walked up to me and put the iPod right at my ear and played the message "I want to use the computer."
What's significant about that? Jman recognized that he needed to not only formulate the statement on the ProLoQuo2Go, but that he actually had to direct the statement towards ME. Just because he had the thought in his head and punched it into the ProLoQuo2Go did NOT mean that he had transferred that thought from his mind to my mind. In the past he has punched stuff into the ProLoQuo2Go but continued to keep his attention largely on the iPod instead of directing it to me. Habeeb and I have discussed how to help guide Jman in learning to direct his communications to a communication partner. Last night, he did it, by sticking that iPod inches from my ear and playing his message.
Of course, after we got home, he deleted P2G from his iPod for the THIRD time that day! Fortunately, I've figured out how to reinstall and update it very quickly now. Oh, and I already reinstalled it again this morning too. I think he's protesting the fact that we won't let him use the iPod for youtube! He's a hard headed little cuss!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
They are the same color.
Jman has continued to work on his math language using ProLoQuo2Go. Last week we played a card game in which he demonstrated mastery of "They are the same" vs "They are not the same." He is on a VeggieTales kick, and I had an old VeggieTales card game that plays like Memory/Concentration. I pulled out the 4 cards each for Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber, and Junior Asparagus, shuffled them, and Jman and I played a game of Outhouse Solitaire. I pulled the top and bottom cards of the deck and held them up. He, being Jman, made sure they were "upside up" ("upside down" is NOT allowed in Jman's world!). Then Jman's job was to tell me, using the ProLoQuo2GO, whether they were the same or not the same. If they were the same, he got to keep the pair of cards. If they were not the same, they went into the discard pile.
It took him just a couple of turns before he figured out the game, and he was always delighted to get a match and keep the cards. Once he had all the cards matched in pairs, the game was over and so was the 'lesson.' It was especially neat when he'd look up at me with a big grin when he got a match. That's showed me that we were working not only on language but also on experience sharing. He wanted to share with me how happy he was and look to see what my reaction was. Hmmmm. Down the road maybe we can compare our reactions and whether they are 'the same' or 'not the same.'
Prior to the math lesson, btw, Jman wanted to do Reading Milestones. However, he never even waited for me to open the book. Instead, he punched into the ProLoQuo2Go his memorized version of the story: "The boy rock jumps. The boy log jumps. The boy water jumps. The boy fence jumps. Home. The end." I throw that in here to point out some of the 'disorder' in Jman's language. He comprehended the story (the boy jumps over those various obstacles to get home), but his language is mixed up in describing it. Instead of subject-verb-direct object, Jman said subject-object-verb. That's something we'll have to work on down the road.
Back to math language now. Today Jman and I played a different version of Outhouse Solitaire using the VeggieTales cards. Instead of identifying same/not the same characters (completely identical cards), I wanted him to learn to identify when thing which were not identical ('not the same') were still the same in some way, in this case the same color. Instead of having 4 each of identical cards, I had only one each of certain character cards. Most of the Veggies are green (Larry, Junior, Archibald, the French Pea, Pa Grape), two are orange (Laura the carrot and Jimmy Gourd), and one is red (Bob the Tomato). I left Bob out (no other match for red) and Pa Grape (had an odd number of green veggies). That left me with 4 green veggies and 2 orange veggies.
The first pair of cards I showed to Jman were the same color, but of course they were different characters. Jman quickly punched in "They are not the same." He thought he was correct, and of course he was correct. But I pointed out to him that they were both green, and modeled for him, "They are the same . . . color" using two different buttons (one for the phrase and one for 'color'). We set them aside and pulled out two more cards. I again had to demonstrate for him that they were the same color. He was thinking, but still not quite sure what we were doing here.
Through a few more turns I developed the pattern of showing him the two cards and saying out loud, for example, "Junior is green. Larry is green. Are they the same color?" With this extra bit of scaffolding, Jman was able to figure out the game and begin to correctly respond with "They are the same color" or "They are not the same color," depending upon which two cards we were looking at. We had to reshuffle the cards a few times, since I had so few cards in the deck, but he was okay with that. And once again, once Jman had the game figured out, he would look up at me with huge grins when he punched in the right reply. It was way cool!
So, that's our update on math language as of today. A next step will be to compare colors of other items. Then we'll want to teach him to identify when things are not the same, but ARE the same color. We also will want to compare other attributes, such as shape and size. But one step at a time. The goal is not to frustrate or overwhelm him, but to let him learn at the best pace for him.
Speaking of learning, Jman likes to stim on ProLoQuo2Go, which I think I mentioned before. However, some of the words and phrases he stims on he is beginning to use in real life. This morning when Habeeb left for work, Jman said, "Good bye" to him. When I got up and said good morning to Jman, he replied back "Good morning." He's getting opportunities to practice some of the words on his on, and is applying them in real life. That's way cool.
Last little bit of info: Yesterday we dropped the bucks and got Jman an iPod Touch of his very own. That way I don't have to share mine with him (he was deleting things and rearranging things and surfing youtube and such), and he will always have access to his "words." Now we just have to order a waterproof case for his if we want it to survive! Anyway, he was very excited to have his very own iPod/ProLoQuo2Go, despite the fact that we passcode protected all the online stuff so he can't use it to go online and watch videos himself. It'll be fun to see how the increased access works for him.
It took him just a couple of turns before he figured out the game, and he was always delighted to get a match and keep the cards. Once he had all the cards matched in pairs, the game was over and so was the 'lesson.' It was especially neat when he'd look up at me with a big grin when he got a match. That's showed me that we were working not only on language but also on experience sharing. He wanted to share with me how happy he was and look to see what my reaction was. Hmmmm. Down the road maybe we can compare our reactions and whether they are 'the same' or 'not the same.'
Prior to the math lesson, btw, Jman wanted to do Reading Milestones. However, he never even waited for me to open the book. Instead, he punched into the ProLoQuo2Go his memorized version of the story: "The boy rock jumps. The boy log jumps. The boy water jumps. The boy fence jumps. Home. The end." I throw that in here to point out some of the 'disorder' in Jman's language. He comprehended the story (the boy jumps over those various obstacles to get home), but his language is mixed up in describing it. Instead of subject-verb-direct object, Jman said subject-object-verb. That's something we'll have to work on down the road.
Back to math language now. Today Jman and I played a different version of Outhouse Solitaire using the VeggieTales cards. Instead of identifying same/not the same characters (completely identical cards), I wanted him to learn to identify when thing which were not identical ('not the same') were still the same in some way, in this case the same color. Instead of having 4 each of identical cards, I had only one each of certain character cards. Most of the Veggies are green (Larry, Junior, Archibald, the French Pea, Pa Grape), two are orange (Laura the carrot and Jimmy Gourd), and one is red (Bob the Tomato). I left Bob out (no other match for red) and Pa Grape (had an odd number of green veggies). That left me with 4 green veggies and 2 orange veggies.
The first pair of cards I showed to Jman were the same color, but of course they were different characters. Jman quickly punched in "They are not the same." He thought he was correct, and of course he was correct. But I pointed out to him that they were both green, and modeled for him, "They are the same . . . color" using two different buttons (one for the phrase and one for 'color'). We set them aside and pulled out two more cards. I again had to demonstrate for him that they were the same color. He was thinking, but still not quite sure what we were doing here.
Through a few more turns I developed the pattern of showing him the two cards and saying out loud, for example, "Junior is green. Larry is green. Are they the same color?" With this extra bit of scaffolding, Jman was able to figure out the game and begin to correctly respond with "They are the same color" or "They are not the same color," depending upon which two cards we were looking at. We had to reshuffle the cards a few times, since I had so few cards in the deck, but he was okay with that. And once again, once Jman had the game figured out, he would look up at me with huge grins when he punched in the right reply. It was way cool!
So, that's our update on math language as of today. A next step will be to compare colors of other items. Then we'll want to teach him to identify when things are not the same, but ARE the same color. We also will want to compare other attributes, such as shape and size. But one step at a time. The goal is not to frustrate or overwhelm him, but to let him learn at the best pace for him.
Speaking of learning, Jman likes to stim on ProLoQuo2Go, which I think I mentioned before. However, some of the words and phrases he stims on he is beginning to use in real life. This morning when Habeeb left for work, Jman said, "Good bye" to him. When I got up and said good morning to Jman, he replied back "Good morning." He's getting opportunities to practice some of the words on his on, and is applying them in real life. That's way cool.
Last little bit of info: Yesterday we dropped the bucks and got Jman an iPod Touch of his very own. That way I don't have to share mine with him (he was deleting things and rearranging things and surfing youtube and such), and he will always have access to his "words." Now we just have to order a waterproof case for his if we want it to survive! Anyway, he was very excited to have his very own iPod/ProLoQuo2Go, despite the fact that we passcode protected all the online stuff so he can't use it to go online and watch videos himself. It'll be fun to see how the increased access works for him.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Hello, Race Friends!
I was blessed last night to finally get to meet another good cyberfriend irl! She and her dh and parents were traveling for a big race and were able to squeeze in a pit stop with us. Here's the photo finish:
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
back up, back up, back up!
So, yesterday Jman was having a not-so-great day. I don't think he'd slept any the night before, and he's gotten too much 'screen time' (movies/videos) the last week or so too, and it was time to put some restrictions on the iPod so he couldn't access youtube or the internet for a while.
Well, in the process of trying to re-find those options, Jman managed to delete ProLoQuo2Go. Aaaaaahhhh! The good news is it was no big deal to reinstall it. Once you've bought an app, its yours to delete and reinstall as often as you like, including installing it on additional units. The app is associated with your iTunes account, not your device. So I was able to sync back up to the computer and reinstall in short order.
The bad news is that I hadn't made any hard backups of the changes I'd made up to that point. Stupid me! There is a way to do that (I think), and now I have great motivation for figuring that out too. Ah well, live and learn.
So after I reinstalled ProLoQuo2Go on the iPod, I set about rebuilding his reading and math pages first. It really didn't take very long--I knew exactly what I wanted on there this time and how to do it quickly. I didn't bother recreating the page for our trip to the pumpkin patch or some other little excursions. I can do that again if we decide to go back.
I did begin a new page for an event this Saturday. We don't really do the Halloween thing. We'll pass out candy if we're home, but we don't go trick or treating ourselves for a variety of reasons (not the least of which is that the boys can't eat most of that candy anyway, between artificial stuff and milk in the chocolate for Jman). We usually go out for dinner, then watch a movie at home and give out candy to whoever comes by. We still have to decide on the movie for this year.
But there's trick or treating at Habeeb's work on Saturday, and we're thinking about letting the boys go. We can use the candy they collect to give out on the 31st. (Yeah, I'm feeling cheap this year! Re-gifting Halloween candy! Ha!) Jman has a Spiderman costume he likes to wear in general, and Hutch has an Indiana Jones fedora and brown leather jacket he likes to wear in general. SB3 has cute baseball jammies and paraphenalia from the local minor league team. So costumes are easy. I may even get all motivated and pull out the clown face stuff and my unicycle this year--haven't done that in a while.
Anyway, for Jman's PLQ2G page I included a button with kids in costume that says "Trick or Treat!" It also has buttons for "I feel" and "happy," "scared," and "sad." There are plenty of other 'feelings' available, but I'm trying to keep it simple on this little page here. I included a few other likely buttons as well (jack o'lantern, spider, spider web, costume). Over the next couple days I'll think about what else I should add, without overdoing it. "I see" or "This is fun" might be good. There's plenty I don't need to add, though. He can very easily navigate his way through to tell us if he's hungry and what he would like to eat (last night he wanted gfcf pizza and learned how to ask for that using the PLQ2G!) or if he wants to go home (or use the computer, his favorite button, of course). He doesn't have to be limited to the "Halloween page" when he talks to us there. I'm just making it to organize a few things quickly for him which he might not otherwise be able to find and share yet. In the RDI world, this would be called 'Scaffolding.'
As for his reading and math lessons, we didn't do those yesterday. A--he was ALL out of sorts, and B--I had to rebuild those darn pages because I didn't back up. Last night he slept some though (and is still asleep right now, which is why I can be here blogging), so hopefully today will be better all around AND we can work on 'langauge lessons' (aka, reading and math) again.
Well, in the process of trying to re-find those options, Jman managed to delete ProLoQuo2Go. Aaaaaahhhh! The good news is it was no big deal to reinstall it. Once you've bought an app, its yours to delete and reinstall as often as you like, including installing it on additional units. The app is associated with your iTunes account, not your device. So I was able to sync back up to the computer and reinstall in short order.
The bad news is that I hadn't made any hard backups of the changes I'd made up to that point. Stupid me! There is a way to do that (I think), and now I have great motivation for figuring that out too. Ah well, live and learn.
So after I reinstalled ProLoQuo2Go on the iPod, I set about rebuilding his reading and math pages first. It really didn't take very long--I knew exactly what I wanted on there this time and how to do it quickly. I didn't bother recreating the page for our trip to the pumpkin patch or some other little excursions. I can do that again if we decide to go back.
I did begin a new page for an event this Saturday. We don't really do the Halloween thing. We'll pass out candy if we're home, but we don't go trick or treating ourselves for a variety of reasons (not the least of which is that the boys can't eat most of that candy anyway, between artificial stuff and milk in the chocolate for Jman). We usually go out for dinner, then watch a movie at home and give out candy to whoever comes by. We still have to decide on the movie for this year.
But there's trick or treating at Habeeb's work on Saturday, and we're thinking about letting the boys go. We can use the candy they collect to give out on the 31st. (Yeah, I'm feeling cheap this year! Re-gifting Halloween candy! Ha!) Jman has a Spiderman costume he likes to wear in general, and Hutch has an Indiana Jones fedora and brown leather jacket he likes to wear in general. SB3 has cute baseball jammies and paraphenalia from the local minor league team. So costumes are easy. I may even get all motivated and pull out the clown face stuff and my unicycle this year--haven't done that in a while.
Anyway, for Jman's PLQ2G page I included a button with kids in costume that says "Trick or Treat!" It also has buttons for "I feel" and "happy," "scared," and "sad." There are plenty of other 'feelings' available, but I'm trying to keep it simple on this little page here. I included a few other likely buttons as well (jack o'lantern, spider, spider web, costume). Over the next couple days I'll think about what else I should add, without overdoing it. "I see" or "This is fun" might be good. There's plenty I don't need to add, though. He can very easily navigate his way through to tell us if he's hungry and what he would like to eat (last night he wanted gfcf pizza and learned how to ask for that using the PLQ2G!) or if he wants to go home (or use the computer, his favorite button, of course). He doesn't have to be limited to the "Halloween page" when he talks to us there. I'm just making it to organize a few things quickly for him which he might not otherwise be able to find and share yet. In the RDI world, this would be called 'Scaffolding.'
As for his reading and math lessons, we didn't do those yesterday. A--he was ALL out of sorts, and B--I had to rebuild those darn pages because I didn't back up. Last night he slept some though (and is still asleep right now, which is why I can be here blogging), so hopefully today will be better all around AND we can work on 'langauge lessons' (aka, reading and math) again.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Cinderella and Prince Charming at the Ball
So, I've done a lot of typing with no pictures. Here's some 'relief' from all that reading! (And if you haven't been reading it all, you're missing out--I'm not doing a great job of editing, but it's fascinating stuff!)
Friday night Sly baby sat while Prince Charming took Cinderella to the ball. I love my Prince Charming! He cleans up, good, huh?? :)
And every Prince Charming has to have a 'weird' side! haha!! I love his funny faces!!! I hope he makes you smile too! (Btw, he said he was 'the ugly stepsister!' bwah!!!)
Friday night Sly baby sat while Prince Charming took Cinderella to the ball. I love my Prince Charming! He cleans up, good, huh?? :)
And every Prince Charming has to have a 'weird' side! haha!! I love his funny faces!!! I hope he makes you smile too! (Btw, he said he was 'the ugly stepsister!' bwah!!!)
The boy jumps: Automorphology on the ProLoQuo2Go
Jman has some reading books that were originally developed for deaf kids and are also useful for helping teach kids with language delays or disorders how to read. Now, Jman already can read quite a bit, and write quite a bit as well, but it's still very "Jman-ish." I was interested in these books not for teaching Jman to read, but for helping Jman to slowly master language. Rather than being phonics based books, as is typical with beginning readers, these books instead introduce reading through one syntactical language structure at a time. For example, in the first book every sentence of every story is ONLY of the form subject + verb, and in particular the verbs are limited to singular present tense intransitive verb forms (verbs that do not take a direct object, eg, jumps or runs: The boy jumps. The girl runs.) There are other advantages to this reading book series. You can read all about it here: Reading Milestones.
Now let me tell you a little about a really awesome feature of ProLoQuo2Go. In ProLoQuo2Go, you can identify each button/word by its part of speech, indicated by the color of the border around the button. Nouns have a yellow border, verbs have a pink border, adjectives have a blue border, etc. Here's what's really awesome, though. If you have a button for "boy" and just press the button, it will pop up as "boy" in the message window. However, if you hold that button down for just a little while (you can change the duration required--we have it at .5 sec), a small window of choices will pop up for you that automatically offer you different versions of "boy": boy, boys, boy's, or boys' (singular, plural, singular possessive, and plural possessive, respectively). With one button, you quickly and easily have all those options available, without having to navigate to other pages or do fancy things or have a bunch of extra buttons cluttering up your pages.
Even cooler, IMO, is the automorphology ir auto-conjugation of the verbs. If you hold down the button for "see," it will give you the following choices: see, sees, saw, will see, seeing, seen. How cool is that?!??!? I do have one wish, though, and that is that it would also offer the infinitive "to see." But hey, the English major in me would find something to complain about!
So, recently we pulled Jman's Red Reading Milestones books back out with the intentions of 'reading' them via the ProLoQuo2Go. He was already very familiar with the first story about a boy who jumps a variety of obstacles to get back home. As we turned the pages, I demonstrated to Jman how to punch in the words on the page: "The boy" (programmed in as one button for the purposes of this lesson) and "jumps." Jman's initial attempts were to simply push 'jump' and be done with it, but that says, "The boy jump," which of course is 'bad English.' I demonstrated for him instead that when you hold the 'jump' button down, you get choices. Then I chose 'jumps.' He wasn't terribly impressed. We continued on.
We read through the first story the first day, with me doing a lot of Guided Demonstration on how to choose "jumps" instead of "jump." The next day, we read the same story, and Jman would hold the button down for choices, but he would be as likely to still choose "jump" as "jumps." We went ahead and read story two as well, adding in a new verb, "runs." Jman began to correct himself sometimes if he chose the wrong verb form, but he was very unreliable. However, he was very engaged and definitely trying to figure out the pattern of what we were doing.
Fast forward a couple days to yesterday afternoon. We only read the first story, but Jman was all over it this time. He read the page and entered "The boy." Then he'd pause as he pushed and held down "jump" waiting for the choices to apeear. He'd look up at me eagerly, with that crooked half grin of his, giving a little bitty nod, and then he'd quickly look back down and choose "jumps," perhaps followed by a verbal "all right!" from him. Was he excited because he was learning something, or because he was anticipating getting the computer that much more quickly? I don't know, but I know that we are making progress. The automorphology feature of ProLoQuo2Go should be absolutely fantastic for helping someone who has language learning issues to experience more success more quickly with less pain. I'm sorry I don't have pictures for you, but you can watch some great demonstration videos at the ProLoQuo2Go website. You can see the auto-conjugation of verbs in video 4 (intro to vocabulary part 3).
Now let me tell you a little about a really awesome feature of ProLoQuo2Go. In ProLoQuo2Go, you can identify each button/word by its part of speech, indicated by the color of the border around the button. Nouns have a yellow border, verbs have a pink border, adjectives have a blue border, etc. Here's what's really awesome, though. If you have a button for "boy" and just press the button, it will pop up as "boy" in the message window. However, if you hold that button down for just a little while (you can change the duration required--we have it at .5 sec), a small window of choices will pop up for you that automatically offer you different versions of "boy": boy, boys, boy's, or boys' (singular, plural, singular possessive, and plural possessive, respectively). With one button, you quickly and easily have all those options available, without having to navigate to other pages or do fancy things or have a bunch of extra buttons cluttering up your pages.
Even cooler, IMO, is the automorphology ir auto-conjugation of the verbs. If you hold down the button for "see," it will give you the following choices: see, sees, saw, will see, seeing, seen. How cool is that?!??!? I do have one wish, though, and that is that it would also offer the infinitive "to see." But hey, the English major in me would find something to complain about!
So, recently we pulled Jman's Red Reading Milestones books back out with the intentions of 'reading' them via the ProLoQuo2Go. He was already very familiar with the first story about a boy who jumps a variety of obstacles to get back home. As we turned the pages, I demonstrated to Jman how to punch in the words on the page: "The boy" (programmed in as one button for the purposes of this lesson) and "jumps." Jman's initial attempts were to simply push 'jump' and be done with it, but that says, "The boy jump," which of course is 'bad English.' I demonstrated for him instead that when you hold the 'jump' button down, you get choices. Then I chose 'jumps.' He wasn't terribly impressed. We continued on.
We read through the first story the first day, with me doing a lot of Guided Demonstration on how to choose "jumps" instead of "jump." The next day, we read the same story, and Jman would hold the button down for choices, but he would be as likely to still choose "jump" as "jumps." We went ahead and read story two as well, adding in a new verb, "runs." Jman began to correct himself sometimes if he chose the wrong verb form, but he was very unreliable. However, he was very engaged and definitely trying to figure out the pattern of what we were doing.
Fast forward a couple days to yesterday afternoon. We only read the first story, but Jman was all over it this time. He read the page and entered "The boy." Then he'd pause as he pushed and held down "jump" waiting for the choices to apeear. He'd look up at me eagerly, with that crooked half grin of his, giving a little bitty nod, and then he'd quickly look back down and choose "jumps," perhaps followed by a verbal "all right!" from him. Was he excited because he was learning something, or because he was anticipating getting the computer that much more quickly? I don't know, but I know that we are making progress. The automorphology feature of ProLoQuo2Go should be absolutely fantastic for helping someone who has language learning issues to experience more success more quickly with less pain. I'm sorry I don't have pictures for you, but you can watch some great demonstration videos at the ProLoQuo2Go website. You can see the auto-conjugation of verbs in video 4 (intro to vocabulary part 3).
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The same or Not the same--that is the question!
People often think of math as being about numbers, calculating and manipulating numerals. But 5 - 2 = 3 doesn't have any meaning by itself. However, if you have five dollars and want to buy a slushie and candy bar for two dollars and wonder if you'll have enough left for a slice of gas station pizza, then the 'math' has meaning.
But the language of math begins long before we ever reach numeral manipulation. When we look at an object and declare it to be big or small, we're doing math, we're measuring. When we describe an object as round or square, we're doing math, we're doing geometry. When we locate an object as inside or beside or behind something else, we're doing math, we're doing visual-spatial graphing. Likewise, when we compare two items and declare them to be the same or to be not the same, we're doing math. "Equals" = "the same as." 5 - 2 is the same as 3. It's part of the language of mathematics.
That is one of Jman's new language lessons we're addressing with the ProLoQuo2Go. To begin our study of the language of mathematics, we started with 'the same as' and 'not the same as.' I programmed two button choices for him into the P2G. Each button speaks not just one word, but the complete sentence, "They are the same" or "They are not the same." I could have chosen to use the words 'same' and 'different,' but by using 'the same' and 'not the same' we achieve two purposes. First, it comes closer to 'equals' and 'does not equal' and will therefore translate better into traditional math symbols down the road. Second, it introduces the language concept of 'not,' which we can develop more generally in other areas of language studying. "The boy is jumping." "The boy is NOT jumping." And so, Jman's first math language lesson is learning to appraise when things are "the same" or "not the same."
So, Jman has two options on his ProLoQuo2Go--'They are the same' or 'They are not the same.' My next task was to find things for us to compare. I gathered a variety of objects I intended to use--cards, pick up sticks of different colors, bear counters of different colors. I quickly decided against the cards because while the numbers might be the same, the colors might be different, or at the very least the suits would be different (unless I used two decks of identical cards). There were too many potential attributes to compare, so I decided against the cards for now. I decided to use the bear counters. I have two different style of bears, but I have plenty of each style in each color, so I could easily generate lots of pairs that were exactly the same.
Now, I should clarify one point, perhaps. Jman KNOWS when things are exactly the same and when they are not. That was not the issue or the lesson I was trying to teach. What I was trying to help him learn is what LANGUAGE to use in order to share with someone else the observation that things are the same or not the same. This wasn't a lesson to learn about 'sameness' but a lesson to learn the language about sameness.
When I sat down with Jman and the bag of bears, Jman was in no way interested in comparing a pair of bears and saying whether they were the same or not the same. I demonstrated a few times for him (Guided Demonstration), but he would have none of it. He either wanted to play with the bears (sorting or lining them up or setting them up like bowling pins), or he wanted the bears put away. And so, thus ended lesson one of "the same or not the same."
The next day I decided to try our 'same game' with coins. I grabbed some pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Jman was more cooperative and interested this time, in part because he'd asked for the computer and I had told him we were doing a few things first. Yes, sometimes bribery is your friend.
I placed a couple of pennies together, and punched into the P2G, "They are the same." Jman watched. Then I put together a couple dimes, and together we punched, "They are the same." Next nickels, and Jman happily punched in "They are the same," and ditto with quarters.
Okay, we'd covered 'the same,' and he seemed interested and cooperative, so I put together two different coins. Jman promptly punched in, "They are the same." Um, no. They are NOT the same. I erased his error and punched in "They are not the same." He didn't care. I tried again with a couple other different pairs of coins, but he was done. Lesson over. You can't teach a kid who has checked out.
The next day, Jman and I were stopping by the drive thru for some french fries. I pulled out two one dollar bills to pay for them, and while we waited I showed them to Jman and pointed out that they were 'the same'--they both had numeral one's and they both had the same picture of George Washington. "They are the same." Jman listened but didn't comment. And we got our fries and drove home.
Back at the house, SB3 brought me a pair of identical yellow wood blocks from a knock-off Jenga game. I commented to SB3 that they were the same. He of coursed loved the acknowledgement and the attention, and maybe he'll learn "the same" faster too. :)
I turned to Jman, who was eating his fries, and showed the two blocks to him. I commented again to Jman, "They are the same. They are both yellow." Jman finished his fries as I gathered a pair of red blocks and a pair of blue blocks to go with the yellows. Then we sat down together and Jma (again hoping for the computer, which he did get after this) himself selected the two yellow blocks and punched into the ProLoQuo2Go "They are the same." I offered two reds, and he qucickly and enthusiastically shared "They are the same." Ditto for blue.
And then I grabbed two of different colors, and Jman quickly and easily identified "They are not the same." Woo-hoo! He was quite pleased and having much fun. I don't know if his excitement was about his being 'right' or if it was mostly in anticipation of getting some computer time, but either way, he was happy and participating. I pulled out several more pairs of matching or not matching blocks, and he quickly and correctly identified each pair as being the same or not the same. Hooray!
We called it a day and he happily began watching Animaniacs on the computer for a while I made some modifications to the 'same' choices on the ProLoQuo2Go. I added in buttons for "color" and "shape." This week coming up, we will try to help him expand and differentiate not only when things are the same or not the same, but clarify whether they are the same color or not the same color, and later whether they are the same shape or not the same shape. We could add choices for size, location, function, category, orientation--lots of possibilities. However, some of those will come further down the road. For now, we'll focus on same or not, color, and shape. Yes, he knows his colors by name, and his shapes by name as well. This isn't about teaching him those things, but about teaching him language, developing his ability to communicate thoughts and ideas with others.
As an aside, in case anyone is actually interested, I have an old used set of the Singapore Math workbooks for kindergarten. The table of contents includes, of course, the list of lessons, along with the objectives of each lesson and the vocabulary or phrases associated with each of these math objectives. Some of the langauge Jman already has (such as colors, shapes, numbers, counting, etc). But other bits of language he doesn't have, even if he understands the math concept (such as 'the same' or 'not the same'). It is from these vocabulary and phrases that I am developing Jman's math language lessons, but with as much variance and adjustment on my part as will be necessary. Think of it this way--the Singapore Math workbooks are my 'Guided Demonstration' of one way of approaching math and language. I don't have to do it exactly that way or follow their workbooks exactly as laid out. In fact, I most certainly won't, because the books are all written in from years ago. But they are serving as a simple guide to how I can approach helping Jman learn the language of math, and I'm very pleased with our first few days. It may take years for Jman to master all the language in these K workbooks, but hey, if that's what it takes, that's okay. For Jman, learning math will be more about learning the language to describe what he already knows rather than learning the 'math.' These early Singapore books are a handy reference because they have that 'language development' component that I haven't noticed being emphasized in other curriculums I'm familiar with from homeschooling Sly over the years. I don't know what the Singapore books are like after the K workbooks, but it'll be a long time before we're there anyway.
Fwiw, Jman just came up wanting the computer. I asked him to find me two things that are the same. After cleaning up the spilled counter bears that SB3 dumped out earlier, Jman selected two red bears and happily punched into the P2G while he muttered under his breath repeatedly, "They are the same." I asked for two 'different' bears, and he looked at me a little unsure. I realized my mistake and asked for two bears that were 'not the same.' He promptly pulled out a red bear and a yellow bear, muttering, 'not the same, not the same' and punching "They are not the same" into the P2G. He then pulled out two red bears again and muttered 'they are the same' as he punched in "They are the same." So, I'm guessing he's got 'the same' and 'not the same' down in his head now! Tomorrow we'll add 'color' to his sentence!
But the language of math begins long before we ever reach numeral manipulation. When we look at an object and declare it to be big or small, we're doing math, we're measuring. When we describe an object as round or square, we're doing math, we're doing geometry. When we locate an object as inside or beside or behind something else, we're doing math, we're doing visual-spatial graphing. Likewise, when we compare two items and declare them to be the same or to be not the same, we're doing math. "Equals" = "the same as." 5 - 2 is the same as 3. It's part of the language of mathematics.
That is one of Jman's new language lessons we're addressing with the ProLoQuo2Go. To begin our study of the language of mathematics, we started with 'the same as' and 'not the same as.' I programmed two button choices for him into the P2G. Each button speaks not just one word, but the complete sentence, "They are the same" or "They are not the same." I could have chosen to use the words 'same' and 'different,' but by using 'the same' and 'not the same' we achieve two purposes. First, it comes closer to 'equals' and 'does not equal' and will therefore translate better into traditional math symbols down the road. Second, it introduces the language concept of 'not,' which we can develop more generally in other areas of language studying. "The boy is jumping." "The boy is NOT jumping." And so, Jman's first math language lesson is learning to appraise when things are "the same" or "not the same."
So, Jman has two options on his ProLoQuo2Go--'They are the same' or 'They are not the same.' My next task was to find things for us to compare. I gathered a variety of objects I intended to use--cards, pick up sticks of different colors, bear counters of different colors. I quickly decided against the cards because while the numbers might be the same, the colors might be different, or at the very least the suits would be different (unless I used two decks of identical cards). There were too many potential attributes to compare, so I decided against the cards for now. I decided to use the bear counters. I have two different style of bears, but I have plenty of each style in each color, so I could easily generate lots of pairs that were exactly the same.
Now, I should clarify one point, perhaps. Jman KNOWS when things are exactly the same and when they are not. That was not the issue or the lesson I was trying to teach. What I was trying to help him learn is what LANGUAGE to use in order to share with someone else the observation that things are the same or not the same. This wasn't a lesson to learn about 'sameness' but a lesson to learn the language about sameness.
When I sat down with Jman and the bag of bears, Jman was in no way interested in comparing a pair of bears and saying whether they were the same or not the same. I demonstrated a few times for him (Guided Demonstration), but he would have none of it. He either wanted to play with the bears (sorting or lining them up or setting them up like bowling pins), or he wanted the bears put away. And so, thus ended lesson one of "the same or not the same."
The next day I decided to try our 'same game' with coins. I grabbed some pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Jman was more cooperative and interested this time, in part because he'd asked for the computer and I had told him we were doing a few things first. Yes, sometimes bribery is your friend.
I placed a couple of pennies together, and punched into the P2G, "They are the same." Jman watched. Then I put together a couple dimes, and together we punched, "They are the same." Next nickels, and Jman happily punched in "They are the same," and ditto with quarters.
Okay, we'd covered 'the same,' and he seemed interested and cooperative, so I put together two different coins. Jman promptly punched in, "They are the same." Um, no. They are NOT the same. I erased his error and punched in "They are not the same." He didn't care. I tried again with a couple other different pairs of coins, but he was done. Lesson over. You can't teach a kid who has checked out.
The next day, Jman and I were stopping by the drive thru for some french fries. I pulled out two one dollar bills to pay for them, and while we waited I showed them to Jman and pointed out that they were 'the same'--they both had numeral one's and they both had the same picture of George Washington. "They are the same." Jman listened but didn't comment. And we got our fries and drove home.
Back at the house, SB3 brought me a pair of identical yellow wood blocks from a knock-off Jenga game. I commented to SB3 that they were the same. He of coursed loved the acknowledgement and the attention, and maybe he'll learn "the same" faster too. :)
I turned to Jman, who was eating his fries, and showed the two blocks to him. I commented again to Jman, "They are the same. They are both yellow." Jman finished his fries as I gathered a pair of red blocks and a pair of blue blocks to go with the yellows. Then we sat down together and Jma (again hoping for the computer, which he did get after this) himself selected the two yellow blocks and punched into the ProLoQuo2Go "They are the same." I offered two reds, and he qucickly and enthusiastically shared "They are the same." Ditto for blue.
And then I grabbed two of different colors, and Jman quickly and easily identified "They are not the same." Woo-hoo! He was quite pleased and having much fun. I don't know if his excitement was about his being 'right' or if it was mostly in anticipation of getting some computer time, but either way, he was happy and participating. I pulled out several more pairs of matching or not matching blocks, and he quickly and correctly identified each pair as being the same or not the same. Hooray!
We called it a day and he happily began watching Animaniacs on the computer for a while I made some modifications to the 'same' choices on the ProLoQuo2Go. I added in buttons for "color" and "shape." This week coming up, we will try to help him expand and differentiate not only when things are the same or not the same, but clarify whether they are the same color or not the same color, and later whether they are the same shape or not the same shape. We could add choices for size, location, function, category, orientation--lots of possibilities. However, some of those will come further down the road. For now, we'll focus on same or not, color, and shape. Yes, he knows his colors by name, and his shapes by name as well. This isn't about teaching him those things, but about teaching him language, developing his ability to communicate thoughts and ideas with others.
As an aside, in case anyone is actually interested, I have an old used set of the Singapore Math workbooks for kindergarten. The table of contents includes, of course, the list of lessons, along with the objectives of each lesson and the vocabulary or phrases associated with each of these math objectives. Some of the langauge Jman already has (such as colors, shapes, numbers, counting, etc). But other bits of language he doesn't have, even if he understands the math concept (such as 'the same' or 'not the same'). It is from these vocabulary and phrases that I am developing Jman's math language lessons, but with as much variance and adjustment on my part as will be necessary. Think of it this way--the Singapore Math workbooks are my 'Guided Demonstration' of one way of approaching math and language. I don't have to do it exactly that way or follow their workbooks exactly as laid out. In fact, I most certainly won't, because the books are all written in from years ago. But they are serving as a simple guide to how I can approach helping Jman learn the language of math, and I'm very pleased with our first few days. It may take years for Jman to master all the language in these K workbooks, but hey, if that's what it takes, that's okay. For Jman, learning math will be more about learning the language to describe what he already knows rather than learning the 'math.' These early Singapore books are a handy reference because they have that 'language development' component that I haven't noticed being emphasized in other curriculums I'm familiar with from homeschooling Sly over the years. I don't know what the Singapore books are like after the K workbooks, but it'll be a long time before we're there anyway.
Fwiw, Jman just came up wanting the computer. I asked him to find me two things that are the same. After cleaning up the spilled counter bears that SB3 dumped out earlier, Jman selected two red bears and happily punched into the P2G while he muttered under his breath repeatedly, "They are the same." I asked for two 'different' bears, and he looked at me a little unsure. I realized my mistake and asked for two bears that were 'not the same.' He promptly pulled out a red bear and a yellow bear, muttering, 'not the same, not the same' and punching "They are not the same" into the P2G. He then pulled out two red bears again and muttered 'they are the same' as he punched in "They are the same." So, I'm guessing he's got 'the same' and 'not the same' down in his head now! Tomorrow we'll add 'color' to his sentence!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Guided Demonstration and ProLoQuo2Go
A few nights ago, Jman and I were on the couch late in the evening. I pulled out the ProLoQuo2Go and navigated around to produce the message, “Good night. Let’s go to bed.” Jman watched what I was doing, and agreed with the thought. We got up and got ready for bed.
The next night I went into Jmans’ room to say good night to him, and he took the iPod and punched In, “Good night. Let’s go to bed.”
One of the important things we learned from our days of formal RDI was Guided Demonstration. So often we parents of autistic kids try to get our kids to do something, to perform. Often though, we expect them to perform before they have any idea what they are supposed to do. One aspect of autism is that they are very bad at reading someone else’s mind, knowing what they are thinking or expecting or intending. And so we often expect the child to do something for us, but we fail at helping them know what it is they are supposed to do.
Now consider that most folks on the spectrum have anxiety issues, related in part to the fact that they can’t read other people’s minds very well. When they do try to join in, they often make mistakes, and they have enve more trouble trying to fix those mistakes or recover from them. Often it’s easier to just avoid joining in at all, especially when no one seems to be particularly aware of or helpful about your challenges. The person on the spectrum is expected to join in, to play a part, but for a variety of reasons related to autism, they don’t know what they’re expected to do, and it’s quite stressful.
With Guided Demonstration, the Guide (adult/parent/teacher/person with a clue) can first model for the apprentice (child/learner/person needing a clue and security) without placing any expectations or pressure on the apprentice to perform or to even join in. Many people, not just those on the spectrum, like to watch someone else before trying something new themselves, or prefer to have an example or a model to work from, even if their final creation turns out completely different from the sample. For someone who doesn’t easily read minds or intentions and who probably has performance anxieties too, ismply modeling for them without immediate expectations can create a sense of safety that not only enables them to learn, but also ultimately invites them to join in when they feel ready to try (as opposed to demanding that they join in before they feel ready to try).
So, all that to say that rather than teaching or expecting Jman to say good night with (or without) the ProLoQuo2Go, I simply modeled for him one way to do it. I let him look on while I navigated through the screens, and he watched. In addition, what I modeled was contextually appropriate at the time—it really was time to go to bed. Later, when he was ready to use his new info himself, he voluntarily and spontaneously used the iPod to tell me good night.
I should also add that following his good night message to me, he backed up and explored some of the other greetings preprogrammed on the “Hi, Bye” page of ProLoQuo2Go. Those were not directed to me, as was the good night message, as evidenced by his body language. When he was just exploring on his own, he wasn’t making the somewhat subtle eye and body orientation changes that would indicate he was addressing me. Instead, he was intrigued by his discovery of when and how to use the ‘good night’ greeting, and was now studying the other options on the greetings page, pushing the buttons and reading and listening to the responses, perhaps considering when those other greetings might be useful in the future or why they didn’t apply to going to bed.
Guided Demonstration works well no matter what activity or lesson you’re hoping to help your child learn. It gives the child the opportunity to safely observe and prepare before having to risk his own performance. It increases his chances of joining in successfully. It increases his feeling of safety and security with you. Trust is essential to helping your child with autism. We’ve been intentionally using Guided Demonstration for a long time now with James. In the case of saying, “Good Night” with the ProLoQuo2Go, he picked it up very quickly and subsequently used it for himself very quickly. Granted, he already was familiar with both pecs and with navigating through ProLoQuo2Go in general, and he was familiar with the context/routine of going to bed. When it’s an entirely new activity and he has no context or foundation upon which to build, we have to do more demos, more scaffolding, backing up to lay useful foundations. Guided Demonstration preceded Guided Participation and is one way of slowing down in order to go faster.
The next night I went into Jmans’ room to say good night to him, and he took the iPod and punched In, “Good night. Let’s go to bed.”
One of the important things we learned from our days of formal RDI was Guided Demonstration. So often we parents of autistic kids try to get our kids to do something, to perform. Often though, we expect them to perform before they have any idea what they are supposed to do. One aspect of autism is that they are very bad at reading someone else’s mind, knowing what they are thinking or expecting or intending. And so we often expect the child to do something for us, but we fail at helping them know what it is they are supposed to do.
Now consider that most folks on the spectrum have anxiety issues, related in part to the fact that they can’t read other people’s minds very well. When they do try to join in, they often make mistakes, and they have enve more trouble trying to fix those mistakes or recover from them. Often it’s easier to just avoid joining in at all, especially when no one seems to be particularly aware of or helpful about your challenges. The person on the spectrum is expected to join in, to play a part, but for a variety of reasons related to autism, they don’t know what they’re expected to do, and it’s quite stressful.
With Guided Demonstration, the Guide (adult/parent/teacher/person with a clue) can first model for the apprentice (child/learner/person needing a clue and security) without placing any expectations or pressure on the apprentice to perform or to even join in. Many people, not just those on the spectrum, like to watch someone else before trying something new themselves, or prefer to have an example or a model to work from, even if their final creation turns out completely different from the sample. For someone who doesn’t easily read minds or intentions and who probably has performance anxieties too, ismply modeling for them without immediate expectations can create a sense of safety that not only enables them to learn, but also ultimately invites them to join in when they feel ready to try (as opposed to demanding that they join in before they feel ready to try).
So, all that to say that rather than teaching or expecting Jman to say good night with (or without) the ProLoQuo2Go, I simply modeled for him one way to do it. I let him look on while I navigated through the screens, and he watched. In addition, what I modeled was contextually appropriate at the time—it really was time to go to bed. Later, when he was ready to use his new info himself, he voluntarily and spontaneously used the iPod to tell me good night.
I should also add that following his good night message to me, he backed up and explored some of the other greetings preprogrammed on the “Hi, Bye” page of ProLoQuo2Go. Those were not directed to me, as was the good night message, as evidenced by his body language. When he was just exploring on his own, he wasn’t making the somewhat subtle eye and body orientation changes that would indicate he was addressing me. Instead, he was intrigued by his discovery of when and how to use the ‘good night’ greeting, and was now studying the other options on the greetings page, pushing the buttons and reading and listening to the responses, perhaps considering when those other greetings might be useful in the future or why they didn’t apply to going to bed.
Guided Demonstration works well no matter what activity or lesson you’re hoping to help your child learn. It gives the child the opportunity to safely observe and prepare before having to risk his own performance. It increases his chances of joining in successfully. It increases his feeling of safety and security with you. Trust is essential to helping your child with autism. We’ve been intentionally using Guided Demonstration for a long time now with James. In the case of saying, “Good Night” with the ProLoQuo2Go, he picked it up very quickly and subsequently used it for himself very quickly. Granted, he already was familiar with both pecs and with navigating through ProLoQuo2Go in general, and he was familiar with the context/routine of going to bed. When it’s an entirely new activity and he has no context or foundation upon which to build, we have to do more demos, more scaffolding, backing up to lay useful foundations. Guided Demonstration preceded Guided Participation and is one way of slowing down in order to go faster.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
There's an app for that! Introducing ProLoQuo2Go
For years I've thought about getting Jman an augmentative communication device to help him communicate. I kept putting it off for several reasons, not the least of which was the fact that they were big, clunky, and cumbersome, and very expensive (on the order of thousands of dollars for something that would meet his needs). However, factors have now reached the point where technology, functionality, and practicality have all merged at a cost that is affordable for almost anyone.
Last week we ordered a 32Gb 3rd generation iPod Touch (about $290) for me. The day after it arrived we downloaded the application called ProLoQuo2Go, a nifty aug comm program that runs on an iPhone or an iTouch. It cost us about $190. A few days later we added an Otter case and a screen protector to help the iPod stand up better to the beatings it is sure to endure. So, for around $500 (instead of $5000) Jman now has a slick little aug comm device that's easy to program and use, and that fits in a pocket and does as much or more than the big, clunky, expensive ones (including playing music, surfing the web, and more that the other aug comm devices can't do) AND, being an iPod Touch, it's very high on the 'coolness factor' to boot!
Jman has very quickly begun to understand how to use ProLoQuo2G. He has used some PECS books in the past where he had to flip through pages to find picture cards that he could then assemble in order to say something (such as "Mom Jman drive McDonalds" if he wanted to go to McDonalds for something to eat). PECS were a pain because you had to make little cards, laminate them, attach velcro to the backs, organize them in a notebook, and then lug that big notebook around, AND when you used the cards you had to remove them from their stored location, assemble them into a sentence, and then return them to their stored location. PECS books are relatively inexpensive, but very cumbersome to actually use.
But because of his experience with PECS, Jman had no trouble transitioning to ProLoQuo2Go for similar communications. He quickly learned how to navigate through some of the preprogrammed pages to say, "I want to use the computer" and "I want french fries ketchup hot sauce." Yep, that's my boy! He also, of course, has found it great fun to "stim" with ProLoQuo2Go, making it say such things as, "I want I want I want I want to use the computer to use the computer to use the computer." (He likes things in sets of four. Yeah, that's my boy too.)
I have several posts I could write about ProLoQuo2Go so far, but I particularly want to point out a couple ideas in this introduction. First, ProLoQuo2Go can help Jman with word retrieval issues, which he has had for years (and was one one of the first reasons I became interested in aug comm devices years ago when he was about 4yo). P2G can also help him with speaking out loud. There are many times where Jman wants to say something, but the words just won't come out of his mouth. It's not that he can't articulate the words (apraxia). It's that the words just won't come out, more like a type of mutism. The P2G can speak the messages out loud, so when Jman can't speak for some reason, he can let the P2G do the out-loud talking for him.
There's one issue that ProLoQuo2Go will not as easily solve, however. If you noticed, Jman was quickly using the P2G to make requests. Requesting is a very important form of communication known as 'imperative' or 'instrumental' or 'means-to-an-end' communication. Generally, folks on the spectrum don't have a problem with 'means-to-an-end' communication such as making requests, answering questions, following rules, etc. They can use 'means-to-an-end' communication to do just that--use language as a means to achieve some end result. The end result might be getting something or it might be acquiring quantities of information about topics of interest. Using the common popular definition of 'higher functioning' equating to 'lots of language,' sometimes the 'higher functioning' kids on the spectrum are called 'little professors' because they know so much about certain topics and will talk your ear off about their topic of interest (whether you are interested anymore or not).
Means-to-an-end communication comprises only about 20% of human language use. Most of the time, people converse with 'declarative' or 'experience sharing' communication. People are constantly commenting on ('declaring') what is going on around them, what they see, what they hear, wondering what other's are seeing or hearing, or what others think about what's going on. People are intrinsically interested in other people, how they feel, what they think, what their reactions are in comparison to your own. People are interested in 'sharing experiences.'
However, folks on the autistic spectrum really struggle with 'experience sharing' and therefore with 'experience sharing communication.' In a normal 'experience sharing' conversation with someone, you may make the occasional request, but more likely you'll 'go with the flow' and share information and thoughts and feelings about whatever the topic is. Instead of simply, "I want to go to McDonald's" and then expecting the other person to therefore take you to McDonald's, you might comment to someone, "I was so busy today that I forgot to eat lunch." Note that in the first sentence (I want to go to McDonald's), there is an expected response--yes, let's go or no, let's not (with the 'yes let's go' being the obviously desired response).
With sentence number two (I was so busy today that I forgot to eat lunch), there is no required or expected or 'correct' response from the other person. In fact, the other person may have to do a little thinking to figure out just exactly what the first speaker means with that comment. Are they merely pointing out that they are hungry? Are they asking if you have something to eat in your backpack? Are they saying that they're really looking forward to dinner? Are they saying that they are so hungry they can't wait for dinner to get soemthing to eat? Or maybe they aren't really hungry at all, but instead are needing to talk to someone about the busy day they had. The speaker shared a bit of information that could mean many different things, and the listener will have to think and consider and perhaps ask for more info or make his own comment to understand the intent of the first speaker.
ProLoQuo2Go will not automatically help Jman with experience sharing communication because Jman first has to have that 'experience sharing' intent in his head. ProLoQuo2Go will however help him with the type of language he already uses and understands better--imperative or 'means to an end' communication.
We have several 'language goals' for Jman that we hope the ProLoQuo2Go will help with. The first step he is already undertaking--learning to navigate his way around ProLoQuo2Go to more easily say what he already would like to say. It will help him with word retrieval. It will help him with speaking out loud. It will help him to get more of his needs and wants across to us as a result, and that alone makes it worth it. We hope to be able to use the ProLoQuo2Go as a useful tool to help teach the structures of the English language also, and the unique 'automorphology' features of ProLoQuo2Go should prove especially helpful with that. And, of course, we also hope over time to be able to use the ProLoQuo2Go to help Jman begin to develop and use 'experience sharing communication' in addition to 'means to an end' communication.
If you would like more information on ProLoQuo2Go, check out the very helpful videos on their webpage. They also have FAQ's (of course) and a community discussion board where users, developers, and those interested can ask questions and 'share experiences' with each other. You may also find ProLoQuo2Go you can see and handle at a resource center near you if you want to maybe give it a test drive. Finally, here's a link to an article online about ProLoQuo2Go which you may find interesting.
Last week we ordered a 32Gb 3rd generation iPod Touch (about $290) for me. The day after it arrived we downloaded the application called ProLoQuo2Go, a nifty aug comm program that runs on an iPhone or an iTouch. It cost us about $190. A few days later we added an Otter case and a screen protector to help the iPod stand up better to the beatings it is sure to endure. So, for around $500 (instead of $5000) Jman now has a slick little aug comm device that's easy to program and use, and that fits in a pocket and does as much or more than the big, clunky, expensive ones (including playing music, surfing the web, and more that the other aug comm devices can't do) AND, being an iPod Touch, it's very high on the 'coolness factor' to boot!
Jman has very quickly begun to understand how to use ProLoQuo2G. He has used some PECS books in the past where he had to flip through pages to find picture cards that he could then assemble in order to say something (such as "Mom Jman drive McDonalds" if he wanted to go to McDonalds for something to eat). PECS were a pain because you had to make little cards, laminate them, attach velcro to the backs, organize them in a notebook, and then lug that big notebook around, AND when you used the cards you had to remove them from their stored location, assemble them into a sentence, and then return them to their stored location. PECS books are relatively inexpensive, but very cumbersome to actually use.
But because of his experience with PECS, Jman had no trouble transitioning to ProLoQuo2Go for similar communications. He quickly learned how to navigate through some of the preprogrammed pages to say, "I want to use the computer" and "I want french fries ketchup hot sauce." Yep, that's my boy! He also, of course, has found it great fun to "stim" with ProLoQuo2Go, making it say such things as, "I want I want I want I want to use the computer to use the computer to use the computer." (He likes things in sets of four. Yeah, that's my boy too.)
I have several posts I could write about ProLoQuo2Go so far, but I particularly want to point out a couple ideas in this introduction. First, ProLoQuo2Go can help Jman with word retrieval issues, which he has had for years (and was one one of the first reasons I became interested in aug comm devices years ago when he was about 4yo). P2G can also help him with speaking out loud. There are many times where Jman wants to say something, but the words just won't come out of his mouth. It's not that he can't articulate the words (apraxia). It's that the words just won't come out, more like a type of mutism. The P2G can speak the messages out loud, so when Jman can't speak for some reason, he can let the P2G do the out-loud talking for him.
There's one issue that ProLoQuo2Go will not as easily solve, however. If you noticed, Jman was quickly using the P2G to make requests. Requesting is a very important form of communication known as 'imperative' or 'instrumental' or 'means-to-an-end' communication. Generally, folks on the spectrum don't have a problem with 'means-to-an-end' communication such as making requests, answering questions, following rules, etc. They can use 'means-to-an-end' communication to do just that--use language as a means to achieve some end result. The end result might be getting something or it might be acquiring quantities of information about topics of interest. Using the common popular definition of 'higher functioning' equating to 'lots of language,' sometimes the 'higher functioning' kids on the spectrum are called 'little professors' because they know so much about certain topics and will talk your ear off about their topic of interest (whether you are interested anymore or not).
Means-to-an-end communication comprises only about 20% of human language use. Most of the time, people converse with 'declarative' or 'experience sharing' communication. People are constantly commenting on ('declaring') what is going on around them, what they see, what they hear, wondering what other's are seeing or hearing, or what others think about what's going on. People are intrinsically interested in other people, how they feel, what they think, what their reactions are in comparison to your own. People are interested in 'sharing experiences.'
However, folks on the autistic spectrum really struggle with 'experience sharing' and therefore with 'experience sharing communication.' In a normal 'experience sharing' conversation with someone, you may make the occasional request, but more likely you'll 'go with the flow' and share information and thoughts and feelings about whatever the topic is. Instead of simply, "I want to go to McDonald's" and then expecting the other person to therefore take you to McDonald's, you might comment to someone, "I was so busy today that I forgot to eat lunch." Note that in the first sentence (I want to go to McDonald's), there is an expected response--yes, let's go or no, let's not (with the 'yes let's go' being the obviously desired response).
With sentence number two (I was so busy today that I forgot to eat lunch), there is no required or expected or 'correct' response from the other person. In fact, the other person may have to do a little thinking to figure out just exactly what the first speaker means with that comment. Are they merely pointing out that they are hungry? Are they asking if you have something to eat in your backpack? Are they saying that they're really looking forward to dinner? Are they saying that they are so hungry they can't wait for dinner to get soemthing to eat? Or maybe they aren't really hungry at all, but instead are needing to talk to someone about the busy day they had. The speaker shared a bit of information that could mean many different things, and the listener will have to think and consider and perhaps ask for more info or make his own comment to understand the intent of the first speaker.
ProLoQuo2Go will not automatically help Jman with experience sharing communication because Jman first has to have that 'experience sharing' intent in his head. ProLoQuo2Go will however help him with the type of language he already uses and understands better--imperative or 'means to an end' communication.
We have several 'language goals' for Jman that we hope the ProLoQuo2Go will help with. The first step he is already undertaking--learning to navigate his way around ProLoQuo2Go to more easily say what he already would like to say. It will help him with word retrieval. It will help him with speaking out loud. It will help him to get more of his needs and wants across to us as a result, and that alone makes it worth it. We hope to be able to use the ProLoQuo2Go as a useful tool to help teach the structures of the English language also, and the unique 'automorphology' features of ProLoQuo2Go should prove especially helpful with that. And, of course, we also hope over time to be able to use the ProLoQuo2Go to help Jman begin to develop and use 'experience sharing communication' in addition to 'means to an end' communication.
If you would like more information on ProLoQuo2Go, check out the very helpful videos on their webpage. They also have FAQ's (of course) and a community discussion board where users, developers, and those interested can ask questions and 'share experiences' with each other. You may also find ProLoQuo2Go you can see and handle at a resource center near you if you want to maybe give it a test drive. Finally, here's a link to an article online about ProLoQuo2Go which you may find interesting.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
what can a 14mo do?
Well, a 14mo can start to walk into his big brother's bed room, until he notices the robogator standing guard in the doorway. Then the 14mo stops, considers, and then carefully walks backwards until he's a safe distance away, at which point he turns and finds some OTHER room to go into.
A 14mo can drop a ball at the head of the driveway and watch it roll all the way down until it's in the street. He'll start chasing after it, at which point mom will catch up with the ball and kick it back up the driveway. Seeing mom kicking the ball with her foot, the 14mo will be completely fascinated. He'll hurry over to where the ball is, slow down, stop, and then try to kick the ball himself. If he's lucky, he kicks the ball a foot or so. If he's not so lucky, he kind of steps on the ball and may even fall down. But, being the resilient and determined little fellow that he is, he just gets back up and tries to kick the ball again. When he does, he beams with pride, then watches as the ball starts to slowly roll back down the driveway into the street again.
A 14mo can screech an amazingly loud and high pitched vocalization when he's being ignored, particularly if he wants something to eat or drink. Once he has your attention, he may smile and will reach in the direction of whatever it is he wants. He'll look intently at the desired cup of water, glance at you to see if you're paying attention, and screech again if you're not. If you are paying attention and begin to move in the right direction, he will start smiling and laughing, glancing back and forth between you and the cup until he finally has it in his hands.
A 14mo can try to put his hands and feet in the sleeves and legs of his clothes when you dress him. When you take his shirt off, he can raise his hands up over his head to make it easier. When you put it on, he may bite the shirt as it goes over his face, and then smile at you with the shirt stuck between his teeth. He thinks this is hysterically funny.
A 14mo can decide it's time for a bath and start trying to get his diaper off. He can also pull at his shirt to tell you he wants the shirt off too. If you pull his pants down while he is standing, he will carefully step out of his britches and to the side so he isn't still standing on them. Then he'll start trying to throw one leg up and over the edge so he can get into the bathtub. Sometimes he may just succeed at that. When he's finally ready to get out, he can come to the edge of the tub and hold his arms up for you to wrap him in a towel and lift him out. Then he can wiggle and squirm when you try to get a diaper and clothes back on him because he'd really rather run around the house wearing nothing at all.
A 14mo can think footie pajamas are weird the first time you put them on him, especially if he still doesn't wear shoes and hasn't worn socks for months. But then he'll decide that they are different and fun. Then he'll start picking up everyone's shoes and putting them in piles or delivering them to some lucky person who then drops them in piles. If you later put shoes on the 14mo, he may think they aren't so bad after wearing footie pajamas a few times, though they still won't stay on his feet for too long.
A 14mo who still nurses can be very good at saying his first two real words--"mom mom mom mom" and "boooooooooob!" If he's gotten mom to pick him up, he can pull at mom's shirt while saying "boooooooob" just to make his wishes a little more clear. If thinks he's going to get some boob, he'll start smiling and chuckling. Once he's happily nursing, he'll stop, look up and grin like the dickens, and then get back to business. Somewhere along the way he may take a break for the express purpose of blowing a bunch of zerberts on mom's belly. After a while he'll grin at her, laugh at himself and how funny he is, and then get back to his booby. A nursing 14mo is hysterical!
A 14mo can also be quite good at speaking feline. When one of the kitty cats meows, a 14mo can reply with a nice "Eeooooooooooooowwwwwww" in a really high and soft squeaky mewing pitch. When a kitty walks by quietly, a 14mo may start pointing and saying, "gack! gack! Eeoooooooowwwww." He will also try to pet the kitties, whack the kitties with sticks (or whatever else he may have in his hands), and give the poor kitty a bear hug. Fortunately, we have very patient kitties!
A 14mo can wave bye-bye when he or someone else is leaving (unless it's mom, in which case crying and having a fit is more appropriate!). He can wave at neighbors ariving home from work, or at daddy leaving for work, or at people left behind at the train station at the zoo, or at cashiers in stores. A 14mo can also be learning and using two more real 'signs' as well, such as "all done" and "more." Of course, he'll still prefer his loud attention getting screech to a less noticeable but more polite "more" in sign language, in which he brings his right and left fingers together in front of him to let you know he wants more of whatever it was he was getting. He also likes to use the screech to get your attention let you know when he's done eating. You can then ask him if he's all done, and he will very quietly and politely make his "all done" sign, waving both hands in the air over his head, indicating that he is indeed done eating and ready to be let down from his chair.
A 14mo can get up in the morning and want to go right outside to play. He can walk over to the back door, point very nicely, make his funny little narrative baby talk noises, and glance around to see if you're noticing he wants to go outside and play. Then the cat will walk over to the door, thinking you'll open it. When you open it to let the cat out, but you keep the 14mo inside, the 14mo will try to climb over or around you to make his escape. When you close the door with him still safely in the house, he'll have a fit and proceed to give you the evil eye. He may then go over to the garage door instead and try to get you to let him outside through the garage. A 14mo very much enjoys being outside. He may especially enjoy the rain, reaching out to feel the rain drops hit his hand.
A 14mo can see your hairbrush and want it for himself. If you give it to him, he will try to brush his own hair. Likewise, he can see you sweeping and want the broom for himself. If you give it to him, he will try to push it around on the floor, banging it into all sorts of things. A 14mo can see you open the refrigerator door and will try to get all the bottles in the door out before you get it closed again. He can also empty the drawer of kitchen towels you just put away yet again.
A 14mo can see your toothbrush and want to brush his own teeth. He can see you getting ready to take a shower and drop what he's doing, making a bee line for the tub, because he wants to take a bath too. A 14mo can pull all the tissues out of the tissue box, grinning at you after each and every pull.
A 14mo can pick up your cell phone, hold it up to his ear (probably upside down), and start making cute little narrative baby noises as he talks on the phone.
A 14mo can find every cabinet you forget to put the child locks back on, and then pull all the pots and pans out. He'll also dump out everything you just picked up, especially if it involves blocks and multiple pieces. He can pull book after book off the shelf, sometimes leaving them in the floor, sometimes bringing them to you, sometimes sitting and flipping through the book (multiple pages at a time, half the time with the book upside down, pointing at pictures or words in the book and making his funny little narrative baby noises, occasionally glancing up at you to make sure you're aware of what he's doing, and sometimes he'll decide to tear the pages too).
A 14mo can help you unload the silverware from the dishwasher, even if it's dirty and you're trying to load the dishwasher. He will hand you one piece of silverware at a time, giving you a little baby noise comment with each utensil. He may sometimes wait for you to take the utensil he's offering before dropping it and going after the next utensil, but you can't count on it. He'll do a better job if you keep up with him, rather than him keeping up with you. A 14mo will enjoy beginning sorting the silverware as he selects which piece to pull out next. He may sort by going front to back, or he may sort by getting all the knives, then all the spoons, etc. This is easier if you also put your wood handled steak knives in the dishwasher (pointy side down, of course, for safety). After a while he'll lose interest in his self-created sorting and just go back to grabbing a piece and handing it to mom with a very "Tim the Tool Man Taylor grunt." A 14mo will think helping mom with the dishes is wonderful, but mom has to be willing to have the occasional breakable dish dropped on the ceramic tile floor (ouch!).
A 14mo can hear an airplane flying low overhead and run over to the door to try to get a better look. He will point in the direction of the plane or noise, and he will comment with his little narrative baby noise grunts. When he loses sight or sound of the plane, he'll turn and look for you to see if you were as amazed as he was at the low, loud plane flying by.
A 14mo can bonk his head or toe, and then look right at you and make the most hysterical face with squinty eyes, a scrunched up nose, and an "ooooooo" mouth when he bonks and it actually hurts him a bit. Once he gets validation from you with a comparable "poor baby" face and comment, he will continue on with his business as if nothing happened. Meanwhile, you'll be cracking up at how cute he is when he looks at you with that squinty, scrunchy, puckery boo-boo face!
Yeah, those are all things a 14mo can do, assuming he's not autistic of course. SB3 is so NOT autistic!
A 14mo can drop a ball at the head of the driveway and watch it roll all the way down until it's in the street. He'll start chasing after it, at which point mom will catch up with the ball and kick it back up the driveway. Seeing mom kicking the ball with her foot, the 14mo will be completely fascinated. He'll hurry over to where the ball is, slow down, stop, and then try to kick the ball himself. If he's lucky, he kicks the ball a foot or so. If he's not so lucky, he kind of steps on the ball and may even fall down. But, being the resilient and determined little fellow that he is, he just gets back up and tries to kick the ball again. When he does, he beams with pride, then watches as the ball starts to slowly roll back down the driveway into the street again.
A 14mo can screech an amazingly loud and high pitched vocalization when he's being ignored, particularly if he wants something to eat or drink. Once he has your attention, he may smile and will reach in the direction of whatever it is he wants. He'll look intently at the desired cup of water, glance at you to see if you're paying attention, and screech again if you're not. If you are paying attention and begin to move in the right direction, he will start smiling and laughing, glancing back and forth between you and the cup until he finally has it in his hands.
A 14mo can try to put his hands and feet in the sleeves and legs of his clothes when you dress him. When you take his shirt off, he can raise his hands up over his head to make it easier. When you put it on, he may bite the shirt as it goes over his face, and then smile at you with the shirt stuck between his teeth. He thinks this is hysterically funny.
A 14mo can decide it's time for a bath and start trying to get his diaper off. He can also pull at his shirt to tell you he wants the shirt off too. If you pull his pants down while he is standing, he will carefully step out of his britches and to the side so he isn't still standing on them. Then he'll start trying to throw one leg up and over the edge so he can get into the bathtub. Sometimes he may just succeed at that. When he's finally ready to get out, he can come to the edge of the tub and hold his arms up for you to wrap him in a towel and lift him out. Then he can wiggle and squirm when you try to get a diaper and clothes back on him because he'd really rather run around the house wearing nothing at all.
A 14mo can think footie pajamas are weird the first time you put them on him, especially if he still doesn't wear shoes and hasn't worn socks for months. But then he'll decide that they are different and fun. Then he'll start picking up everyone's shoes and putting them in piles or delivering them to some lucky person who then drops them in piles. If you later put shoes on the 14mo, he may think they aren't so bad after wearing footie pajamas a few times, though they still won't stay on his feet for too long.
A 14mo who still nurses can be very good at saying his first two real words--"mom mom mom mom" and "boooooooooob!" If he's gotten mom to pick him up, he can pull at mom's shirt while saying "boooooooob" just to make his wishes a little more clear. If thinks he's going to get some boob, he'll start smiling and chuckling. Once he's happily nursing, he'll stop, look up and grin like the dickens, and then get back to business. Somewhere along the way he may take a break for the express purpose of blowing a bunch of zerberts on mom's belly. After a while he'll grin at her, laugh at himself and how funny he is, and then get back to his booby. A nursing 14mo is hysterical!
A 14mo can also be quite good at speaking feline. When one of the kitty cats meows, a 14mo can reply with a nice "Eeooooooooooooowwwwwww" in a really high and soft squeaky mewing pitch. When a kitty walks by quietly, a 14mo may start pointing and saying, "gack! gack! Eeoooooooowwwww." He will also try to pet the kitties, whack the kitties with sticks (or whatever else he may have in his hands), and give the poor kitty a bear hug. Fortunately, we have very patient kitties!
A 14mo can wave bye-bye when he or someone else is leaving (unless it's mom, in which case crying and having a fit is more appropriate!). He can wave at neighbors ariving home from work, or at daddy leaving for work, or at people left behind at the train station at the zoo, or at cashiers in stores. A 14mo can also be learning and using two more real 'signs' as well, such as "all done" and "more." Of course, he'll still prefer his loud attention getting screech to a less noticeable but more polite "more" in sign language, in which he brings his right and left fingers together in front of him to let you know he wants more of whatever it was he was getting. He also likes to use the screech to get your attention let you know when he's done eating. You can then ask him if he's all done, and he will very quietly and politely make his "all done" sign, waving both hands in the air over his head, indicating that he is indeed done eating and ready to be let down from his chair.
A 14mo can get up in the morning and want to go right outside to play. He can walk over to the back door, point very nicely, make his funny little narrative baby talk noises, and glance around to see if you're noticing he wants to go outside and play. Then the cat will walk over to the door, thinking you'll open it. When you open it to let the cat out, but you keep the 14mo inside, the 14mo will try to climb over or around you to make his escape. When you close the door with him still safely in the house, he'll have a fit and proceed to give you the evil eye. He may then go over to the garage door instead and try to get you to let him outside through the garage. A 14mo very much enjoys being outside. He may especially enjoy the rain, reaching out to feel the rain drops hit his hand.
A 14mo can see your hairbrush and want it for himself. If you give it to him, he will try to brush his own hair. Likewise, he can see you sweeping and want the broom for himself. If you give it to him, he will try to push it around on the floor, banging it into all sorts of things. A 14mo can see you open the refrigerator door and will try to get all the bottles in the door out before you get it closed again. He can also empty the drawer of kitchen towels you just put away yet again.
A 14mo can see your toothbrush and want to brush his own teeth. He can see you getting ready to take a shower and drop what he's doing, making a bee line for the tub, because he wants to take a bath too. A 14mo can pull all the tissues out of the tissue box, grinning at you after each and every pull.
A 14mo can pick up your cell phone, hold it up to his ear (probably upside down), and start making cute little narrative baby noises as he talks on the phone.
A 14mo can find every cabinet you forget to put the child locks back on, and then pull all the pots and pans out. He'll also dump out everything you just picked up, especially if it involves blocks and multiple pieces. He can pull book after book off the shelf, sometimes leaving them in the floor, sometimes bringing them to you, sometimes sitting and flipping through the book (multiple pages at a time, half the time with the book upside down, pointing at pictures or words in the book and making his funny little narrative baby noises, occasionally glancing up at you to make sure you're aware of what he's doing, and sometimes he'll decide to tear the pages too).
A 14mo can help you unload the silverware from the dishwasher, even if it's dirty and you're trying to load the dishwasher. He will hand you one piece of silverware at a time, giving you a little baby noise comment with each utensil. He may sometimes wait for you to take the utensil he's offering before dropping it and going after the next utensil, but you can't count on it. He'll do a better job if you keep up with him, rather than him keeping up with you. A 14mo will enjoy beginning sorting the silverware as he selects which piece to pull out next. He may sort by going front to back, or he may sort by getting all the knives, then all the spoons, etc. This is easier if you also put your wood handled steak knives in the dishwasher (pointy side down, of course, for safety). After a while he'll lose interest in his self-created sorting and just go back to grabbing a piece and handing it to mom with a very "Tim the Tool Man Taylor grunt." A 14mo will think helping mom with the dishes is wonderful, but mom has to be willing to have the occasional breakable dish dropped on the ceramic tile floor (ouch!).
A 14mo can hear an airplane flying low overhead and run over to the door to try to get a better look. He will point in the direction of the plane or noise, and he will comment with his little narrative baby noise grunts. When he loses sight or sound of the plane, he'll turn and look for you to see if you were as amazed as he was at the low, loud plane flying by.
A 14mo can bonk his head or toe, and then look right at you and make the most hysterical face with squinty eyes, a scrunched up nose, and an "ooooooo" mouth when he bonks and it actually hurts him a bit. Once he gets validation from you with a comparable "poor baby" face and comment, he will continue on with his business as if nothing happened. Meanwhile, you'll be cracking up at how cute he is when he looks at you with that squinty, scrunchy, puckery boo-boo face!
Yeah, those are all things a 14mo can do, assuming he's not autistic of course. SB3 is so NOT autistic!
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