Vicky wrote:
I had decided several months ago to let Abra play with the Light Writer device that I had previously used for facilitated communication. She initially wrote complete nonsense but would sit with me and spell appropriately when dictated to her; from this progression she moved to self education by sitting with her flash cards and painstakingly copied each word over and over. Once she had learned the cards she began to sit and type from memory.
The really exciting progress began a few weeks ago when she began to point to things in the house, want the name and spelling and would then type them and from there began to put together actions (she would jump and then indicate to the Light Writer to have me give her the spelling of "jump") and feelings, it was a real "Helen Keller" moment.
Just last week she has begun to type simple sentences and this weekend has typed "Car Ride Go" and "Go for a walk" and "want water"
Sunday I took Abra and her sister Hayley to Ano Nuevo to drop Hayley off at a Kid Quest adventure and I took a thirteen year old boy "Calvin"who was also attending Kid Quest. During the whole ride there, Calvin wrote back and forth with Abra; with Abra wanting to share the device, it was TOO CUTE for words, they both had a great time in the back of my car.
This is just wonderful, to have a child not be able to meaningfully communicate for TWELVE years and then to take baby steps into very real communication is beyond description. Abra is also trying much harder to use her actual voice as I believe that the Light Writer is building a bridge for her to do this -- however she is so severely apraxic I don't know if she can overcome this disability to have her voice understood, but her light writer has voice output so her conversations have begun
04/17/05
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