SOMA - RPM/Rapid Prompting Method. (Emma's Hope Book)
Computers/Ipads
AAC by 18 months by Uncommon Sense
When people ask when we started using AAC with Maya, I'm as honest as I can be (because really, it's hard to remember). I know we were doing some picture card stuff (and signing) before we got an iPad. I know we got the iPad when she was 2.5 years old (only 5 or 6 months after its release, so we couldn't have moved much faster on that), and we started using a communication app immediately. Over the course of the following year (2.5-3.5 years old) we did a mish-mash of that app (which had turned out to be less than ideal), the Word Book, a trial of another device, and probably some things that I'm forgetting. Finally, at 3.5 years old, we found the Speak for Yourself app and ran (fast) with it. (This video shows our communication highlights from 2 yrs old to 5 years old. )
So, at 2.5 years old we were experimenting and practicing and encouraging and trying to figure out a system that could work . . . and at 3.5 years old we found the system that could work (and we literally couldn't have found it sooner---I think we downloaded the app only two weeks after it was put on the market).
We should have started sooner. READ MORE
AAC by 18 months by Uncommon Sense
When people ask when we started using AAC with Maya, I'm as honest as I can be (because really, it's hard to remember). I know we were doing some picture card stuff (and signing) before we got an iPad. I know we got the iPad when she was 2.5 years old (only 5 or 6 months after its release, so we couldn't have moved much faster on that), and we started using a communication app immediately. Over the course of the following year (2.5-3.5 years old) we did a mish-mash of that app (which had turned out to be less than ideal), the Word Book, a trial of another device, and probably some things that I'm forgetting. Finally, at 3.5 years old, we found the Speak for Yourself app and ran (fast) with it. (This video shows our communication highlights from 2 yrs old to 5 years old. )
So, at 2.5 years old we were experimenting and practicing and encouraging and trying to figure out a system that could work . . . and at 3.5 years old we found the system that could work (and we literally couldn't have found it sooner---I think we downloaded the app only two weeks after it was put on the market).
We should have started sooner. READ MORE
Building a Bridge With Echolalia
The key to understanding echolalia is to recognize that it's not meaningless, purposeless or mindless repetition. It's communication.
In part one of this post we looked at lots of possible functions for echolalia, now let's see how you can use it as a powerful tool for helping you to connect with your kids.
Echolalia is an interesting but commonly misunderstood behaviour. Most kids do it at some point, and autistic kids can continue with it for longer and even into adulthood. Many approaches seem to advocate finding ways to fix, control or eliminate the behaviour - but not only is this not in your kids' best interests, it's missing out on a wonderful opportunity to connect with them. Read more
The key to understanding echolalia is to recognize that it's not meaningless, purposeless or mindless repetition. It's communication.
In part one of this post we looked at lots of possible functions for echolalia, now let's see how you can use it as a powerful tool for helping you to connect with your kids.
Echolalia is an interesting but commonly misunderstood behaviour. Most kids do it at some point, and autistic kids can continue with it for longer and even into adulthood. Many approaches seem to advocate finding ways to fix, control or eliminate the behaviour - but not only is this not in your kids' best interests, it's missing out on a wonderful opportunity to connect with them. Read more
The following quote by Ellen Notbohm, a non-autistic professional, offers as an explanation of "challenging" stims that non-autistic people need to understand. Other related links in the STIMMING section are by autistic conributors:
"Stims (self-stimulating behavior) are common in children with autism, and they range from quietly quirky and relatively harmless to disturbing and potentially harmful to self and others. What we must first understand and acceptis that stimming is the child’s attempt to fill a need. Until that need is identified and addressed, the stimming will continue. We may succeed in squashing a stim, but another stim will almost surely arise in its place until the need is filled. Many stims fill sensory needs, some have emotional roots. When a child is nonverbal, vocal stimming is an attempt to communicate those needs in one of the few ways s/he is able. If the stimming increases, so has her need increased. Imagine her festering frustration as she keeps trying to express what’s wrong, and no one gets it. And the more she tries to communicate it, the more she gets shushed. The world in which she lives doesn’t recognize her language. She has no means of functional communication." READ MORE
"Stims (self-stimulating behavior) are common in children with autism, and they range from quietly quirky and relatively harmless to disturbing and potentially harmful to self and others. What we must first understand and acceptis that stimming is the child’s attempt to fill a need. Until that need is identified and addressed, the stimming will continue. We may succeed in squashing a stim, but another stim will almost surely arise in its place until the need is filled. Many stims fill sensory needs, some have emotional roots. When a child is nonverbal, vocal stimming is an attempt to communicate those needs in one of the few ways s/he is able. If the stimming increases, so has her need increased. Imagine her festering frustration as she keeps trying to express what’s wrong, and no one gets it. And the more she tries to communicate it, the more she gets shushed. The world in which she lives doesn’t recognize her language. She has no means of functional communication." READ MORE