Grace told me about her school day!

I picked up Grace after school at our regular pick-up spot. Her para (assistant) told me some bits and pieces about Grace's day. I love these bits of info because usually Grace can't tell me anything about her day. Then, I gathered up her equipment and saw her PODD communication book was missing. So the para went to get it while Grace and I waited.

I asked Grace, "How was your school day. Did you enjoy it?"
I kid you, not, but Grace touched her nose (her sign for "no")
I said, "Oh, you said, 'no,' you didn't enjoy your day?"
Grace touched her nose, again, then touched her ears.
I said, "Oh, it was too loud today?"
Grace signed, "Yes," by touching her chest.
To recap: Grace told me that she didn't enjoy her day because it was too loud.

Just after our exchange, a different para of Grace's came up and asked if the first para had told me about Grace's morning, the time when this para was with Grace. She hadn't seen/ heard our conversation but went head and told me this little story about Grace's morning:

It turns out there was a surprise fire alarm at the school, today, meaning unplanned by everyone except another curious student. This para was with Grace and realized that this was the "real" thing and had to get Grace out of the building. During planned fire drills, Grace along with a handful of other students are taken outside before the alarms go off because they are so loud. The para tried to cover Grace's ears as much as possible but was also focused on getting Grace out of the building as fast and safely as she could. It sounds like she did the right thing.

So- back to the afternoon pick up: Grace told me something about her school day!
How incredible and exciting is that!

Of course, I would never have known about the fire alarm loud noises if the para hadn't mentioned it but I was able to understand from Grace that she had had a loud day because Grace had communicated that to me. AWESOME.

PODD Frustration Galore

I figured out why I get so frustrated with PODD sometimes. The frustration comes when I try to use PODD to say what Grace needs/wants to say. What I mean is I will use PODD and try to say what Grace looks like she needs to say to me at that moment. Then it's frustrating because she doesn't seem happy about what I choose for her to say to me. But, that is the wrong way to use PODD.
When I stop and look at the situation and remember all the rules and how-to's of PODD use, I remember that I am to use the communication book to "say what I want to say" in that moment. Right now, I am modeling what I want to say to Grace- not what "I think" Grace wants to say. I can not possibly know what Grace wants to say. I can guess what Grace needs or wants but I can not know what she wants to say in any given moment. It's much more relaxing when I recognize this.

Posting about PODD in summer

Summer vacation came and chances to post flew out my window. We are working with PODD all the time. I am still trying to make Grace's personalized book. I have found that I am not doing all the pages in high contrast symbols as that is not needed at this time. The main pages that she uses all the time are being switched. The book is heavy to carry around all day,every day. But, we're getting used to that and it's s worth it, for Grace's sake. The personalized book will be a little more compact and I think a little less heavy as it won't have a ton of page protectors. We'll see.

Enjoying the Rain

Personalizing PODD

Personalizing PODD is awesome. Yeah, it’s a lot of work but oh, so worth it! Originally I printed out the generic 12 per page PODD book. I put it all together by putting the generic pages in page protectors, taping on the page numbers and threading all the pages onto 3 split key rings. I’ve added a binder back to use as an easel. I started right off using the generic book. After my first two weeks of using the first 2 pages (Quick Words, only), I ventured onto page 2a via [more to say]. I worked with this generic version for a few days and quickly figured out that I needed to make this page more personal to Grace.

Page 2a- generic version

Moved columns around

First I moved the columns around. Then quite quickly I decided to go ahead and start adding the high contrast symbols that I think Grace could see/use better. I also moved some of the icons around as you can see below. It’s incredible how easy I flow through the book when it’s personalized for Grace.

Page 2a personalized for Grace

The activities page, our page 11a, is the best example of personalization so far. I changed the generic page to Grace’s preferred & regular activities. You can see the difference here:

Page 11a- generic version

Page 11a- personalized for Grace

Personalizing this page has made communicating with PODD flow so quickly for Grace's regular activities. For example: As the weather has become nicer we go outside all of the time. I can zip through Grace’s communication book so quickly to communicate that we are going to do water play outside.

“Grace, I have something to say”

Starting on page 1- [more to say]

turn to page 2a- [I want...do an activity]  

go to section 11a [outside activities]

go to page 11e [water play]

Repeat in English Word Order: “ Grace, we are going outside to play with water.”

And I get big smiles and usually a happy “yes or please” signed by Grace.

Note that this page does continue with a touch of [turn the page] to offer additional regular activities on 11b. I see from the picture above that I have already personalized the page again. Since that picture I moved the [watch TV] to 11b because that is not a regular activity for Grace. I put [squeezes & pushes] in its place. And as I review the page while writing tonight, I think I need to put in an icon for [activities at school] so we can get quickly to regular activities done at school. This icon will have a number in the top right corner to get it to the school section- section 25, I think.

Personalizing Grace’s communication book is like magic. Once I modify a page to suit Grace’s needs, it’s amazing how communication flows while using the book. And I can tell Grace knows there is magic in her communication book. She gets time to process what I am saying as using the communication book slows down my speech. She sees my hand movement around the book and knows that she gets something from my using this book to talk to her. I feel Grace really listens when I use the communication book to talk with her. And, she’s still reaching for her communication book from time to time, like she has something to say. It’s happening, I believe.

Side note: As I proofread this post, I realized how cool it is to say, "...with the nice weather we are always going outside.". Just a few years ago, when we moved into the house we live in, now, I remember having such a hard time getting Grace to be happy outside. We didn't spend much time outside. Now, we have a hard time getting her to stay inside. This make me happy.

Maybe- just maybe, I believe

We were on the porch the other day. I was busy cleaning the turtles' tank and Martin was playing water with Grace. Grace started fussing a bit with him and then started hitting her Communication Book. I stepped in to help with the navigation of the communication book. While touching keywords on her communication book,  I said to Grace, "Grace, I have something to say. It [looks] like you want to change [more to say] your [activity]. "I see you want to do a different activity. [outside activity] [not] [water play]... You don't want water play anymore..." Then Grace reached out and hit the book. Her index finger was closest to [ball]. And I swear Grace looked over to the side where a white ball was laying on the ground next to her wheelchair. "You want to play ball with Martin.” Grace then patted her chest, which means "yes or please." I picked up the ball and gave it to her and Martin joined her play. She was happy. And I was thrilled. I believe Grace knows her communication book is meaningful and gets her what she wants, when she wants it, where she wants it.
BTW: The words in brackets are the keywords I touched as I navigated Grace's Communication Book. I found, this is an easy way to indicate words in her Communication Book when writing

Into The School

Yesterday, I took PODD into Grace’s school. I did training with Grace’s Special Ed teacher and speech therapist. I taught the “How” to use PODD language with Grace’s Communication Book in the school setting. Wahoo! Instead of just having her Communication Book at home, it now will be with her at school, also. Now, Grace will have her Communication Book with her, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. What a giant step in this journey. The way I presented PODD to the school was I focused on the Smart Partners. In a way, I almost took Grace out of the picture at this point. I did this because I really wanted the people who are going to help Grace navigate through the Communication Book to understand that learning PODD is not just about the icons. Traditionally, introducing icons was really about the icons symbolizing something. In Grace’s past, the icons often represented 1 single object. However, becoming a Smart Partner involves so much more than seeing & knowing a symbol. (Another post will have to be written about this concept.) A smart partner will read the environment, Grace’s temperament, body language, and gestures along with using the Communication Book. The beauty of PODD is the Smart Partner’s role and abilities. In addition, I want the Smart Partner to understand that right now they are the ones learning how to use the book. They are going to carry the book and use the book to communicate to Grace, to say what they, themselves, are wanting to say to Grace- not what they think Grace might want to say. We do not have a clue what Grace might want to say, we do not know what anyone else wants to say. I created a general time frame of “Phases.” The first phase will be all about Establishing Habits. The Smart Partner will learn to have the book with Grace and preferably within her reach at all times. The Smart Partner will use only the first 2 pages of Grace’s Communication Book, which have the “Quick Words.” And the Smart Partner will learn to use [ooops!] when they make mistakes. We all do and we all will make a ton of mistakes when we are learning to use PODD. As we are learning to use the book in these early phases, we are already modeling the use of Grace’s Communication Book to her. The key to Grace learning to use PODD, herself is the repetition, modeling, immersion, and seeing others communicate in a way that Grace will learn to communicate. The best example, Linda Burkhart gave at the workshop was that in the first year of a newborn baby’s life, we talk to the child for a whole year before expecting the child to speak back to us. That is why it is so great that Grace’s school is willing to take this on. Grace will now be immersed in the PODD language all day long, everyday. I am thankful to her school team who is eager and excited of the potential of helping Grace learn this language, just as I am.