Some people think I don't have a lot to say.
I'd like to point out that isn't the case,
It just takes me a long time to say it.
Oh YES!Please just give me the time. I have an Auditory Scanning Book now too. It's based on this idea but geared more to me. Mine looks a bit like slides 25 on, but has my own lists and uses UK English. I really like it, and I'm using it to create a bit of anarchy in the classroom now, trying to insist on praise music instead of
I like to cause chaos at Brownies too, asking for music over and over again until they give in and sing to me. Now I'm very happy because on Tuesday, the Brownies recorded a song for me on my switch. So every time I kick my switch, I hear them all singing, and I won't let Mum change the message.
Bye for now!
Mog.
9 comments:
Hello Mog
It is lovely to see your beautiful smiling face. I am surprised by how much you have grown up.
Enjoy your singing and Im sure mom loves it as much as you do.
xxxxx
love that girl. glad she's making a ruckus and getting some good music that she loves.
Wow Mog, this is the best guest post I've seen for a long time - I love the photos too :)
Just one question - did your Mum get that clever scanning book for you, or was it something you got through school? I have a student at my school who I think could use that sort of thing and I'd love to know where it came from/how much it cost?
Hi Mog, it's Becca, I do scanning too only with a switch. Thanks for showing us how you communicate, I've already seen that it might help another kid from one of the other messages on here. Hopefully it will make people take the time to listen to what you have to say so that you can have more control over what you do.
Maybe next year you would like to go to the Communication Matters conference, meet loads and loads of other people who use communication aids and share some ideas. I went once and it was absolutely brilliant, I made some new friends and had fun, and had some really interesting conversations.
You tell them Mog, We know you have plenty t osay and we want to listen.
love and hugs a nda special hello from your friend Eve!
The cost for the scanning file ("Special question book" as our SLT calls it or "Talking book" as I prefer to call it) was the paper, the ink to print, and then the laminator sheets to stiffen it up.
Following the link on the main post to L Burkhart's site there are a set of suggested pages already laid out. In Mog's case, we took off the symbol at the top of the page as she's blind so they are meaningless to her (and I did not want people to start trying to get her to choose a page by looking at it, and I know that some people would). We then decided what pages Mog would need, and in what order those pages should be.
At the moment it's reasonably basic. "I have a question" "I have a problem" "I have some news" "I want something" "I like this" "I don't like this" are her main pages.
We read out the title of the page, Mog says yes if that is the page she wants, and either says no or just does not react if it isn't. Once we've found the page she wants, we read down the list until we get the thing she wants to say.
So for example Mog might choose "I have a problem" and we'd read it down - I am in pain, I am uncomfortable, I don't like this, I want to do something else, I need moving I need changing. I don't have the book in front of me so I can't remember the exact order or set of phrases., sorry.
But if Mog said yes to pain, we'd then turn to the pain page, where there are specific instructions on how to help Mog tell us where the pain is. Something that's second nature for me but isn't for those who don't know her - and we needed this to be as portable as possible. So then in the pain page it lists her body parts in descending order, and we put a hand on the part as we name it - Head? Neck? Shoulders? Arms? Chest? Tummy? Hips? Legs? Feet? Everywhere? And she will usually manage to tell us.
What's been particularly interesting to me is how Mog has combined the fairly limited vocabulary to ask more complex questions. For example we have a people page, which has two lists of people - one for her home people (family and friends) and one for school (classroom staff and pupils). The other day Little Fish was having a tantrum in the bathroom,. It's a fairly regular occurrence so we didn't think anything of it. But Mog wanted her book, and used it to ask "What's happening?" and then "Little Fish" - and I realised we hadn't told her LF was fine, just hacked off with life.
So there are sub-pages for pain, people, places, lists of her music and DVDs (home and school). Now it's much quicker for me to say "Do you want your music?", have her agree, and then just hit play on the CD player. This way takes longer - she has to ask for her book, then ask for "I want something" then choose music, and then decide on a CD. But it's her choice. And sometimes she chooses something I would not have automatically put on. And sometimes she tries to insist school play her home music, which is entertaining.
It is very basic, and it does rely on having someone able to read the book and read Mog in order to help her access the book. But she's loving it - and so are the people around her, especially people who aren't so familiar with disability, such as her Brownie Guiders and the girls in her Six.
Tia
That's great that Mog is getting her views across with her new friends and on so many topics.
Thanks for the extra information. It's fascinating. I've never seen anything like it - would love to see it in action if Mog wouldn't mind you videoing her using it. I can totally see how it's a brilliant way to show other children that while Mog can't communicate like they do, she does have her own very clear voice!
Will have to have a word with our SLT team to see if they would recommend using it with the student I have in mind. Thanks again :)
Hi
Don't know if "its not here/its something else is on each page as well as things she might want. It can be very useful
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