They're still brothers.

I just heard Jman tell SB3, "SB3, go downstairs." Then he brought him into my room where I'm sitting and said, "Stay there! Stay there!"

Of course then he (Jman) left and then ran back in and started grabbing SB3's hand and making SB3 untouch or undo something or other, I don't know, some weird OCD thing for Jman.

ooooooooohhhhhh! It's all clear now! SB3 just ran in with a COOTIE!!!!! (Which means Jman raided the box of cheapo games I got at Toys R Us last week to replace all those preschool games I long ago gave away!)

Sigh.

Now Jman carried SB3 in, placed him on the floor, thought (hand to the head), considered the bed/mattress on the floor, and said, "SB3, lay down. Lay down."

Siblings. :)

Tomorrow they can throw snowballs at each other.

Little Critter and Little Sister

more pix

Sly, Jman, SB3 & Iago--August 2010

This is SO our family! Jman is sucked into a screen, SB3 is about to take off, Iago is folded in half and drug along, and Sly appears to have it mostly all together. And Jamberry and Habeeb are working so hard to get all the kids in a decent picture that they of course are not able to be in the picture themselves. Yep, that's our family. There's a reason we haven't done family portraits in, oh, at least 6 years or so! They are too much WORK! This portrait may not win any photo awards, but it is definitely very much OUR family! And what a GREAT family! Everyone should be so blessed!

Pedal boats!

The Big Pool and some observations

Jman got his "big pool." Do you know how hard it is to find a "big pool" (of the "easy set" variety) on the Friday of Fourth of July weekend? It took us til Saturday afternoon/evening to get on and start setting it up, but it was up and available for Sunday, and Jman LIVED in that pool most of that day (and got nice and pink, and oh boy did his freckles POP out!).


After having the "big pool" for just a few days, Habeeb and I have noticed that Jman NEEDS a "big pool." One of the biggest improvements we've seen is in his language and communication, as well as in his general demeanor. For example, Jman came in from swimming yesterday afternoon, and said to me, "Mom James." I answered, and asked him if he'd had fun swimming. He replied, "That was funny!" (meaning "That was fun"), and then promptly followed it up with, "Cleaned up." He was wanting me to help him get the wet clothes off (which he can do himself) and help him get cleaned up (quick shower) before we all got ready to go to a baseball game for Sly's birthday. And I must add that even getting him 'cleaned up' was an easy process (it's never fun trying to shampoo an autistic kid that doesn't like his hair being washed, or cut, or combed, or touched, or . . . ).

Another language highlight occurred yesterday when he wanted me to put in the passcode so he could watch youtube videos on the iPod. Instead of "Try again" or "iPOD!" or "YouTUBE!" or one of his other 'demanding' requests, he laid the iPod down on the counter near me, pointed to it, and said, "Locked." Unfortunately for him, I still did not 'unlock' the iPod for him. And yet, he didn't melt down. He can still manage to listen to music on the iPod with it "locked," and that's what he did instead. Hmm.

There have been other "language" moments which I can't honestly remember at the moment, but there was a fabulous moment a couple days ago involving Jman's ability to deal with frustration and disappointment (something that has been a BIG problem for a while). Jman has desperately wanted to go ice skating recently, and I promised him Habeeb would take him when he was home next time. Well, a couple days ago, Habeeb, Sly, and Jman finally made it to the ice skating rink in the mall, only to discover that the rink was out of service due to a freon leak--there was NO ice. Habeeb was waiting for Jman's world to come to an end, and was quickly trying to figure out how to get them through this catastrophe with the least scarring. When he tried to get Jman to leave, Jman wouldn't. He wasn't freaking, but wouldn't just leave. Instead, Jman began to walk, around the ice skating rink, completely circumnavigating it. Habeeb and Sly walked with him. Jman checked out the iceless rink from the whole circumference, studying and confirming in his own mind that yes, there was NO ice, and there would be NO ice skating, much to his great disappointment. And then Jman said, "Bowling."

Habeeb was floored. Not only did Jman NOT meltdown, but he studied the situation, and came up with his own suggested alternative of another fun thing they could do in the face of disappointment. And you can bet, Habeeb was more than happy to take the boys bowling after that amazing processing of Jman's! When he came home and shared the story with me, I just looked at him and reiterated, "Jman NEEDS a big pool!" And Habeeb agreed.

In case anyone is wondering what about a big pool is possibly helping Jman, I have three main theories. First is simply the increased physical activity (exercise). Second is the sunshine and all the biochemistry that goes along with being outside in the sunshine (think Vitamin D and its role in many biochemical processes, including mood stabilization). And third is sensory, primarily the "proprioceptive" input from the water pressure, but also vestibular input from motion. I'm sure that there are other 'advantages' as well (fresh air vs recirculated A/C, for example). But the big three for Jman, I'm confident, are more about increased physical activity, sunshine, and proprioceptive input. Those are ALL "calming" to the physio-neurological system, and are making him more "available."

And just for fun, here's a few extra photos of the rest of the boys (btw, we love having an underwater camera!):

"BIG POOL"

So, Jman has wanted a pool forever. Earlier this summer we talked about getting a large above ground pool, but given logistical issues decided against it at the time. We did get a large inflatable kiddie pool, which Jman still enjoyed last year, but that just wasn't sufficient for him this year. He did get in it, but not without re-asking for a "big pool."

Well, we've decided to go ahead and get one of the "bag pools" (as I call them) afterall for the rest of the summer. Sly said he'll keep it clean (because I won't be able to) and it'll be great for the boys. So, when Jman recently began pestering me for a "big pool" again, I told him we'd get one the next time daddy was home.

Today he was at it again, and I walked over to the calendar and showed him today and which day we were gonna get the pool. I wrote on that date "pool" and of course Jman started to freak out for some reason. Fair enough, so I erased "pool." He then took the pencil and I thought would scratch out where I erased, but much to my surprise and delight he instead began writing. First a "P" then above that he wrote (in all caps) "BIG." Then he dropped back down to the P and wrote "OOL." Then he underlined "POOL" and then "BIG," and then said, "Big pool!"

You got it, buddy Jman--we'll get a "big pool" this time, but NOT until daddy is home again to set it up for us!
Pretty awesome communicating for a severely language impaired kiddo!

Bowling

This summer Jman joined a local "special needs" bowling league for the summer. The kids meet every Saturday in June and July at one of the local bowling alleys and can bowl two games. Some kids have autism (or some version thereof) and others have other "special needs." Jman has bowled with kids born with spina bifida and wearing leg braces, plus a young man with Down Syndrome, and another young man with autism, for example. Shoes are included but not required (like I said, it's "special needs friendly.") The bowlers also each received a cool red T-shirt they can wear if they want.

The first week (June 5), I wasn't too sure how Jman would handle things. I took him to "preview" the alley a couple evenings before, just so it wouldn't be ALL new to him. I knew Saturday morning would be overwhelming enough with registration and crowds and expectations. Anyway, that first Saturday was kind of tough on Jman, but with a LOT of support, he DID manage to stay and bowl one whole game (except for the second ball of frame one). He ended up not wearing the bowling shoes that first game, and I didn't even offer him the T-shirt until after we left. However, when we did make it back out to the truck I offered him the shirt and he IMMEDIATELY put it on over the shirt he was wearing. That was how I knew that he himself considered the morning a success and wanted to come back again, despite the fact that while we were there, he was overwhelmed, "sad," and was more than ready to leave after one game.

So, we went back the next Saturday, and he was all for it that week! He happily wore his bowling T-shirt, and actually gave the ball good forward motion the second week! (Another "new" thing the first week was that he didn't have a "ramp" to send the ball down--there simply weren't enough to go around, and more physically challenged and/or little bitty kids and/or wheelchairs had dibs, of course!). He also happily wore his bowling shoes week 2. Jman so enjoyed himself during week 2 that I even went so far as to try to get a picture or two, and he was actually happy to smile for photos! WOW! So all these photos of a happy Jman are week 2 photos (except the last one, which was week 3). Enjoy! :)

When one of the dads of a kid on his lane pulled out his iPod touch and started showing Jman silly apps on it about frame 7, I didn't know whether to be grateful that he was reaching out and trying to connect with Jman or whether to scream "NOOOOO! No SCREENS!!!!!" But, I restrained myself, and Jman enjoyed some screen time between his turns. I thought for sure Jman would want to stay for game two if it meant more silly iPod time, but he didn't. He still was ready to leave after one game, as indicated by his removing his bowling shoes and putting his own shoes back on. Worked for me, and we headed towards home with a much more relaxed Jman than after week one.

Last Saturday was week three. The dad with the iPod wasn't there (nice guy, but I must admit I was kind of relieved! I didn't want the iPod expectation the whole time we were there!). Instead Jman had two new people to bowl with. He dealt with that change up just fine, but wasn't interested in switching to a different lane. The folks in charge were cool with that, and Jman stuck to his lane 14. The only real challenge was that this week there was no one bowling on lane 15 on, so Jman kept having fun "making laps." At least he was leaving because it was "fun" instead of like the first week when he was "escaping" because he was overwhelmed and frustrated. Still, it got old! Otherwise, it was a GREAT morning. Jman not only had fun, but stayed for BOTH games! AND he started both games with a STRIKE! He also got a pair of spares in both games, and personal best scores, breaking 100 both games! Not bad, considering we weren't sure this was going to work out AT ALL when we signed up! Over the course of the three weeks, Jman went from 86 (of which 85 points were his) to 79 (but a much happier 79) to 109 (wow!) to 116 (super wow!!!).

Today when we were out and about, passing through the general neighborhood of the bowling alley, Jman piped up from his seat, "Bowling." Sorry, buddy, not today, but we will bowl again next week! (And this is Jman with his new babysitter/buddy, who will be taking over bowling when I'm laid up in another couple weeks for most of July! He's terrific!)

Jman Art: Harold's Rocket Ship (and the art of conversation!)

Just a little while ago I walked into Jman's room while he was in the midst of coloring in this drawing of his. I commented on the amazingly cool train layout he had going around his room and out into the hallway, and then simply stopped to watch him color for a bit.

And that's when the beautiful stuff happened.

Like I said, instead of talking at him, or trying to get him to respond, or anything, I just stopped and watched him color. And that gave him time and space.

And he said to me, as he continued coloring, "Black." (He was coloring outer space, but with a blue crayon. My interpretation: He needed a black crayon, but was making do with what was left in the box. It was both an observation and a sort of request, though he clearly was NOT expecting me to hand him a black crayon because he just kept on working with what he had.)

I answered that I guess we needed to buy some new crayons.

Then he said, "Rocket ship." (He paused in his coloring just long enough to point at the rocket as he spoke, and then promptly resumed filling in outer space again. Yep, that's a rocket ship, all right.)

Then he said, "Purple." (Quickly after the rocket ship comment, he pointed to a small area of outer space where he had apparently initially begun coloring with a dark purple. In addition, he may have been letting me know where the picture came from, in case I didn't already recognize it.)

I observed that he was drawing a picture from a nearby book on his bed, "Harold's Trip to the Sky" by Crockett Johnson. Remember the Harold and the Purple Crayon books? Fabulous books! And Jman has been enjoying them again recently. And drawing lots of pictures from them. And coloring in the pictures in the books as well. Great books.

Right after my comment, Jman piped up again with, "White baby." (He pointed at his drawing of Harold on the rocket ship. Yep, Harold was white, and he was a 'baby.' Thus, in this color dominated conversation, Jman so eloquently elaborated and described more of his drawing for me!).

I commented, "Yep, that's Harold!" And Jman continued finishing the coloring in of outer space.

Is that an AMAZING conversation, or what? I mean, seriously, for a man of few words, such as Jman, that was QUITE the conversation! And HE started it! And kept going with it! And it all made perfect SENSE! No scripting. Nice turn taking. On topic. Great elaboration. Mutually interesting to us both. Relevant. Sharing. Not trying to "get" anything from anyone. I was not trying to get words or attention. He wasn't trying to get anything from me either, just sharing about what he was working on, while I was seeming interested by standing there just watching for a few moments (and I genuinely WAS interested!). It's totally the kind of conversation ANY kid might have with their mom when mom walks in and sees the kid is drawing a picture--the same KIND of conversation, but with a LOT fewer words, of course!

Anyway, I was just fascinated. What a cool thing. It also reminded me of several other things he took the time to show me today, mostly when I walked in to see what he was doing, but once when he actually brought something to me just to show me. I guess he just wanted me to see what he'd made. Way cool.

So, Jman art--both his drawing AND his art of conversation! Who'd've thunk? :) I'm so glad I didn't go in and start asking him questions or start commenting myself on what he was doing! Less is more. Just give Jman time and space to think, and he can blow you away! I love that boy!

Jman Video Art: "Ow!"

Jman got some Toy Story legos for his birthday. He recently pulled them back out, and today we caught him making a home video of Woody and Buzz riding RC and wrecking on the kitchen counter. It's blurry. It's short. But when we heard Jman's "Ow!" at the end, we decided this HAD to make it to the much neglected blog. You go, Jman!

Jman's Words, update #2--"progress"

Last week I blogged some about several obstacles we/Jman has had with using his ProLoQuo2Go and/or the iPod in general. Those obstacles still stand, and I could add one more I think I left out: He likes to "chew" on the iPods (and charging plugs/cords and headphone cords). Spit and electronics just don't mix real well. Here's a tip for anyone out there who has had the unpleasant experience of "wet electronics:" After you dry the outside as well as you can, close the electronic device up in a sealed jar or container of DRY (uncooked) rice. The dry rice absorbs the internal moisture that you couldn't get to with a towel. Unless something has short circuited inside (keep the power off to avoid that!), there's a very good chance your electronic device will survive the wet event just fine. (Yes, we've done this with iPod and cell phones multiple times, thanks to "belows in headwork" from both Sly and Jman!)

Now, on to "progress" updates from Jman with regards to his "words" on the ProLoQuo2Go. Jman still primarily uses the ProLoQuo2Go for "instrumental" or "means-to-an-end" communication, such as making requests ("Let's eat dinners." "Let's go to McDonald's." "I want to use the computer.") The "progress" is that he is both using the iPod/P2G to make more 'verbal' requests such as those, AND he is also making more 'verbal' requests such as those WITHOUT using the iPod/P2G. In other words, he is 'learning' and 'practicing' the language/statements/words on the P2G, and transferring them into his head. He is then better able to access those words/phrases out of his own head even if he doesn't have the P2G available at the time. It IS still very scripted, but at the same time it is reducing a 'frustration' factor from knowing what he wants but not being able to find the words in his head and get them out of his mouth. So, I still consider that progress.

Now, with regards to "experience sharing communication," or communicating with others just for sharing perspectives or letting each other know what the other is thinking (rather than trying to 'get' something from the other, such as food or the computer), Jman has made some noticeable progress as well, although the quantity is much less. In particular, P2G comes pre-programmed with a "feelings" section. Jman can select the "feelings" page, and from there contruct the simple sentence "I feel ______." His most commonly shared feelings have been 'hungry' and 'thirsty.' He will also tell us he feels 'scared' or 'sad.' But his newest shared feeling, and one that has come 100% from his own personal studying of the pre-programmed options on ProLoQuo2Go has been "FRUSTRATED!" Yep, he can now tell us (sometimes) when he feels "FRUSTRATED!" And when he tells us he's frustrated, he clearly IS frustrated. He apparently put together his internal feeling with the symbolstix icon/frustrated face, and learned the word from listening to it repeatedly on the P2G. So, I personally think that's pretty awesome. Not only is he recognizing and naming his own internal state, but he's found a way to share that internal state with us in ways other than just looking and acting frustrated. That means there's some improved levels of self-awareness and intersubjectivity going on up there in that head of his, despite his many obstacles.

Jman has also added other words or phrases to his vocabulary/communication (both spoken and using P2G) as a result of playing around with the P2G on his own. Some we get tired of hearing ("youtube" or "What do you watch on TV?" come to mind!). Some are funny ("home chat" or "community chat" or "school chat"--we wonder who he's doing all this 'chatting' with!). Some are useful or make sense ("check this out"). Some are just plain weird ("Today at school, I . . . " and he of course never finishes the sentence because it has no meaning/context for him--it's just a pre-programmed phrase/sound he can make the P2G say, and I haven't bothered to take it off).

Jman has sometimes used other 'visual' ways of trying to communicate something to us if it's not available in his head or on the P2G. For example, he and I were leaving a store the other day, and he saw a restaurant and decided he wanted to us to go there. He pointed at it, and then spelled out to me: "R-Y-A-N-S" (the name of the restaurant). I told him how to SAY the word, and after a few tries, he could copy "Ryan's" (he clearly has auditory processing issues, because it DOES take him sometimes several tries PLUS watching my mouth for him to really say a word correctly that he has misheard/misprocessed). Later I was able to add an icon to his P2G for Ryan's, which gives him not only the option on the P2G, but more chances at practicing hearing the word pronounced over and over, without me having to pronounce it over and over (and over) myself. It's just terrific to be able to add words of HIS choosing to his P2G, thus giving him the chance for further practice without driving mom completely insane in the process! These are words that he clearly DOES want to communicate with, and this facilitates his own expansion of available verbal language.

Another interesting thing with regards to Jman playing around with the ProLoQuo2Go is that he is also teaching himself some spelling. For example, he will be trying to program in words for himself, using symbols included with the programming or using pictures/images that have been uploaded to the iPod or downloaded from the internet. He'll know what he wants to say, and he'll find the image he wants to use, but then he'll come to me for spelling help when he gets stuck. He is a very visual kind of reader, tending to spell by sight memorization rather than by 'sounding it out.' When he types into the P2G an incorrect spelling, the device doesn't say the correct word. He'll then come to me to have me tell him how to spell it correctly so the device will say the words he means for it to say. I think that's kind of neat. Sometimes he knows that he can't remember how to spell a word in it's entirety, and then he'll come to me sooner. He really seems to have fun playing around with adding and/or rearranging and/or deleting and then replacing words on his P2G, and it does seem to have an impact on his generally bizarre way of learning and processing and using language (both verbally, orally, auditorially, and written, and for both instrumental and experience sharing purposes).

I wish that I could say that I was seeing miraculous improvement in his experience sharing communication as a result of the P2G, but that's something that comes not as a result of having more words available but rather of having more shared experiences together and a better relationship overall. Thus the P2G is NO replacement for RDI/life, but it is a potential enhancement. We have much further to go in that arena, and hope to perhaps find a personal guide for US when we move in the not too distant future.

Jman's Words, update 1--obstacles

I know it's been a LONG time since I posted anything about Jman and his ProLoQuo2Go. Oh well--such is life!

But it's time for an update of sorts. What with the holidays and some family and health issues, I have not created sufficient opportunity to work very intentionally with Jman on using the P2G. But that does not mean that he has not been using it, and even teaching himself some new language from it, and also developing some 'obstacles' to using the iPod/ProLoQuo2Go as well. I'll try to touch on some of all the obstacles here, and some of his progress in another post. Warning: This is long and wordy!

First, Jman LOVES messing around with "bird" or "Jman's Words." "Bird" because the ProLoQuo2Go icon is an owl. "Jman's Words" because he has HIS iPod and I have MINE, "Mom's Words." Jman would greatly prefer to have "Mom's Words" because "Mom's Words" still has access to the internet and therefore to not only the web browser but also YouTube. He has become a total YouTube junkie. Unfortunately, there are not any good parental controls on the iPod for blocking inappropriate YouTube videos, and there are so many lovely people out there taking kid's favorite characters and movies (such as Thomas or Wall-E) and creating some very NOT kid-friendly videos. We certainly don't want Jman running around echoing some of the lines he hears from some of the Thomas and Wall-E youtube videos he manages to find! Not to mention the fact that too much of even the 'good' videos mess with his brain anyway.

So, we have the two iPods--one WITH internet access and one WITHOUT.

But I must say, that's not entirely accurate. Jman's iPod still DOES have internet/wifi, and Safari, and YouTube. What he does NOT have is the Key Code for logging on to the secure wifi at home. We found that when we restricted the apps for Safari or YouTube, Jman would completely freak out. He KNEW the buttons were supposed to be there. And of course every iPod case/accessory out there shows the icons for Safari and YouTube as well, resulting in him wanting to purchase every case, in the hopes that the buttons on the stickers would work. Sometimes it was funny, and other times it was annoying! So, we decided to leave Safari and YouTube ON his iPod AND leave the wifi turned ON as well, BUT Jman doesn’t have the Key Code to be able to log on to the secure wifi at home. Thus, he doesn’t have internet access at home on HIS iPod, but doesn’t melt down at the missing buttons on his iPod. Instead, he asks me to connect him to the wifi, OR he tries to steal MY iPod from my pocket. Now THAT gets really annoying! But it’s the ‘happy medium’ we have at the moment.

There is one more aspect to the “Jman’s Words” vs “Mom’s Words” issue. Jman HAS figured out how to spy on me when I log on to my iPod with the 4 digit passcode. Then when/if he is able to get his hands on my iPod, he logs himself on and has his beloved YouTube. So, I’m now having to cycle through a series of pass codes, trying to stay one step ahead of him. Again, it’s annoying, but on the other hand, I’m kind of proud of him figuring out how to be that sneaky and successfully pulling it off (more than once, no less!).

Well, aside from the general iPod/YouTube/Safari obstacles, we also have Jman using his iPod to listen to music. At first we put on some Jman favorites, but they quickly became stimmy obstacles interfering with not only communication and interaction, but also LIFE. So, we removed some of the ‘cool’ albums we had initially installed on there, including Garfield (the comic) and Bugs On Broadway (as in Looney Tunes). We also never put any of his VeggieTales albums on there, OR any of the Sing The Word albums from Sonlight Curriculum (Bible verses set to song, which he has stimmed on for years). Instead we put only instrumental music on his iPod, so he couldn’t stim on the lyrics like he’d been doing. He has a definite favorite with, of course, “Linus and Lucy” (as in The Peanuts/Charlie Brown) as performed by George Winston (solo piano). The album is fabulous, and he listens to IT over and over again, with a couple favorite songs in particular. But being just music instead of lyrics, it really does fade into the background most of the time and doesn’t interfere with his ability to communicate or engage with us, even while his music is on (most of the time).

About a week ago, though, Jman did something totally new: He sat down at the piano, with his iPod playing the end of a particular favorite Charlie Brown song, and tried to imitate what he was hearing on the piano! Was he successful? Well, not exactly. He was successful enough that we could clearly recognize what he was TRYING to do, even though he wasn’t exactly pulling it off.

Also particularly interesting were the facts that, 1) He didn’t ONLY try to imitate the part he was listening too. He also played around on the keyboard in general, alternating between trying to learn the passage he wanted to imitate and just exploring the piano in general; and 2) he did NOT freak out when Habeeb was recording him on video at one point (though he did later delete the video and we haven’t been able to recover it yet! Darn!).

One other aspect about the music on the iPod before I move on. We later added an album that includes acapella vocals (only voices, no musical instruments) with some fabulous harmonies. Jman has spent a lot of time ‘studying’ this music, listening to it intently. He seems fascinated by the complex vocal harmonies he hears. Kind of funny—we’ve given him albums with NO vocals and albums with ONLY vocals, but the albums with both instruments and vocals create huge stimmy obstacles. There’s got to be something profound about that observation with regards to auditory processing or something, but I don’t know what it is exactly.  In any case, the music has become not so much of an obstacle with his current selections, and yet he still enjoys listening.


The next obstacles revolve more around ProLoQuo2Go in specific rather than the iPod in general. First is the fact that when Jman is really upset about something (such as YouTube not working sometimes), he will express his displeasure by deleting ProLoQuo2Go. I know I’ve mentioned that before. I still wish there was a way to prevent him from deleting that app. He goes through phases of that, not deleting it for a couple weeks, and then deleting it 4 times in a single day. Sometimes he’ll be upset (with me, because I won’t log him on to YouTube, or whatever he’s upset about at the time), he’ll delete ProLoQuo2Go , and then immediately hand me the iPod and say, “Oh No! Where’s Bird?!?” When he does THAT, I’ll usually say, “Bird’s GONE. All done!” and NOT reinstall it right away. At that point, he’s wordless/birdless until I decide to go ahead and reinstall for him, which may not be until the next day or later, it just depends. Such is life. When he’s being THAT deliberate, there are consequences, and Mom not fixing it right away is certainly one very natural consequence!

At other times, Jman will just be stimming with the buttons on P2G. For example, he’ll have it say a single word over and over and over again just because he thinks it sounds hysterically funny. Sly thought he’d broken the iPod, but Jman just had it saying “our” about 75 times in a row, just to hear the funny sound. Jman will also push every button in a category just to hear the iPod say the words, sometimes several times in a row. Even funnier, Jman has of course memorized the sequences and will say them himself just for fun sometimes.

Now, I know what many folks out there must be thinking—“That’s SO bad! That’s so not constructive! You shouldn’t let him do that! He should be using this for functional communication, not for stimming! Stimming, after all, is BAD! You’ve even been talking about stopping bad stims in this very post! Why would you let him DO that?????”

Well, because he’s learning from it. Seriously. Yeah, he’s playing, and stimming, and not being ‘functional’ or ‘communicative’ when he does that. But on the other hand, show me the child learning language that doesn’t play around with sounds and words, stringing silly stuff together and driving those around him absolutely batty when they keep saying the same thing over and over again! Jman is doing something kind of like that. Yes, it’s annoying. Yes, sometimes I DO stop him, because I simply don’t want to hear it anymore. But, for the most part, he’s actually organizing some of these words in his head, and surprisingly enough they’ll pop up in real ‘functional’ communication later on. But that’s getting into the next post. I’m still talking about obstacles.

Another Jman P2G obstacle is when he edits the vocabulary installed on his iPod. He does this regularly. Sometimes it’s just playing, sometimes stimming, and sometimes it creates problems, like when he deletes categories and wants them fixed back again. It’s a minor obstacle. Usually I can restore to a previous backup on his iPod, but sometimes I have to hook up to the wifi and actually reinstall a ‘master’ backup of vocabulary for him. The main problems with that are 1) the general inconvenience, and 2) if I forget to have his iPod ‘forget’ the Key Code for the wifi, he then disappears with his iPod for extended periods and inhales YouTube videos until I find him and get him offline again. What a stinker!

Well, I expect I’ve bored you to tears with some of our iPod and ProLoQuo2Go obstacles. I could sit here and think of others, but these are the biggies, though there IS one more that must be shared: Jman broke the screen (glass) on his first iPod somehow (probably when he was frustrated at not having YouTube!). Fortunately, when we bought his iPod, we bought with it a 2 year replacement contract, including replacement due to accidental damage for whatever reason (such as autistic boys breaking the glass, for example). So, we sent it back for the full refund and then ordered him a new iPod. And yes, we bought the replacement contract for the new iPod as well! Hopefully, though, this 2nd iPod will last longer than his first!

Same but Different

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.

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!).

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.

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!)

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?????

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!).

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!

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!