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

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.