Thank you School Staff

TO all of you at Vale Elementary who give Grace all that they can.

 TO all those who give Grace an extra minute in the hallway to say hello.

To those of you who play little games with Grace as she wheels about the school.

TO all of you who give a bit of time to Grace during your busy days.

We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

All those little moments of interaction are helping Grace

to be the happy and engaged student she is.

It’s because of you that Grace loves being at school.

Have a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year! Enjoy your holiday break!

From The Perleberg Family

Grace loves the car wash at Horseback Riding

Spring therapeutic horseback riding has been great for Grace this year. With an inside arena, Grace has just loved every horseback riding session. Her favorite activity, other than playing in a bucket of water, is the "car wash." This spring, Grace's grandpa made an even stronger car wash pole/frame so Grace and the other kids can't pull it down as they had in the past. Grace giggles and laughs her whole way through the car wash on her horse, Blakken.

Grace is so lucky to start her school day this way!

Coming into class:

Flag salute & Good Morning:

Grace is here!
Teacher, later said, that she didn't think she'd ever have to tell G to stop talking! :)

 Getting the class started:

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