November/December Talker Update

30 words

We love to read with the Talker

amplifier and kickstand

Talker has a strap so that it is more accessible to Kevin

Check out our Talker: we have a case to protect the iPad with a screen keyguard, an amplifier on the back that acts as a kick stand, and a shoulder strap so that Kevin can transport his own Talker. All of these accessories were paid for through a Fund offered through the hospital. We are very appreciative for the financial support and to our therapist for letting us know about it and completing the paperwork.

Kevin now has 30 words available to use on his Talker. We added: 

sad; sleep; play; see; you; me; gift; Christmas; Thanksgiving

One of Kevin’s favorite activities to use the Talker with is reading books. I found some books that repeat words that are on Kevin’s Talker. Kevin’s favorite is: Bear Wants More which is repeated many times throughout the book. I read “But the Bear WANTS…and then I pause and wait for Kevin to finish the sentence by pressing the word MORE. I love it! I love reading together with Kevin. He will sit for long periods of time during a reading session. In fact if there is a stack of books we have to read them all - and sometimes he even gets up to get more books - or one of his favorites that I didn’t bring over. He also loves reading with Grandma and our Tuesday helper. 

Here are some of the other books we read over and over again with the Talker because they have words to use with his Talker: 

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes - LIKE, TURN, RED, BLUE

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? - YOU, HEAR

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? - YOU, SEE

Go Dog Go - HELLO, GOOD BYE, LIKE, NOT, GO, STOP, RED, BLUE, GREEN, PLAY, SLEEP

Of course we can use other words on the Talker that aren’t in the book. For example: TURN for turn the page or your TURN to say the word; Colors, Feelings, LIKE, WANT, MORE, ALL DONE, HELP, NOT, STOP, GO

Here are a few of my favorite WOW moments with the Talker.

I made Kevin’s favorite squash soup. After he finished eating a bowl of it I thought he might tell me he wanted MORE but instead he used the Talker to tell me HAPPY - which made this mama very happy!!!

Another favorite moment was when we went to the Holiday Tree Festival with Grandma. This was our first outing with the Talker using the new case and strap. If you’ve ever been with me when we leave the house with Kevin - you know that we do not travel light. As I was gathering all my bags and stuff to go to the car - I happily realized that Kevin could wear the Talker (one less thing for me to carry) and so I strapped it on to him. I love how having the strap on the Talker makes it so much more accessible to him in the car and when he is riding in the stroller. So back to my WOW moment…As we walked in to the Tree Festival a school orchestra was playing Christmas music. After we listened to a couple songs I thought Kevin might say that he wanted to GO and see the Christmas trees but instead he said LIKE - so we stayed to listen to some more beautiful violin and cello music that Kevin liked. 

One significant improvement Kevin has made is when he hits the Firework button on the first screen it takes him to a second screen that includes 4 words to choose from: Thank You; Goodbye; Hello; and All Done. When he first started with this screen - he automatically chose the word Goodbye because it was top and center on the screen. So when I asked him to say Hello to greet a friend he would automatically press GOODBYE instead. Then he started to scan the screen to find the word HELLO at the bottom center of the screen to use. Now he knows automatically where to find it. In fact, this is currently his “go to” word. So we are encouraging him to only use it when appropriate so that he uses all the other words available to him. I am especially proud of him when he uses the word THANK YOU which is found to the left of the screen or ALL DONE found on the right side of the screen.

I'm still doing a lot of modeling on the Talker for Kevin. It's a slow process but his therapists, who we see weekly, are happy with his progress. AAC device users follow typical speech development - using single words for his wants and needs first. So that is why it is so encouraging to see him use HAPPY and LIKE. 

It’s funny now that we have a Talker, I feel like I’m seeing and hearing about more augmentative alternative communication devices. I’m seeing various Facebook posts and videos about friend's own kids or kids in the news. 

I recently read the book, Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper. It’s a young adult fiction novel - about an 11 year old girl who is non verbal and gets a communication device for the first time. 

Another book that I bought but haven’t read yet - Josiah’s Fire by Tahni Cullen. From the Publisher: "Josiah’s Fire is an amazing true story of family, hope, and hearing God’s voice through a speechless boy."

And the new ABC sitcom Speechless. A family of five that includes a high school boy that uses a wheelchair and communication device. The actor has cerebral palsy in real life. 

These are all good ways to expose the world to people who have disabilities and who need to use a communication device.