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!)