Here it is! Abbey’s Year video!! I don’t think I got around to doing one last year, but we have several older ones on our YouTube channel. It’s amazing to see how far she has come! She’s happier than ever, communicating more than ever and is really getting the hang of going new places and trying new things!
Celebrate with us as we look back and see how we have helped Abbey learn and grow!
Click here to watch Abbey’s Year 2014!
Abbey’s an artist, well, kind of. It all started with her caregiver coloring and Abbey tried to copy what she was coloring. Then…she was hooked. She is sitting coloring, and coloring, and coloring now! We’re going on Day 3 of lots and lots of coloring. She does repetitive patterns unless you color something on another piece of paper, then, she will try to copy what you have drawn, well, sometimes.:)
This is a new thing for her. Years ago, when she learned how to do an “A”, we had A’s all over the house, on books, walls and even her own legs. When she learned circles, we had circles all over everything. So, we’ve got progress, she’s mostly staying on paper, just going over the edges onto the table.:)
Click on the video below and see if you can catch her line pattern.:)
So, when the new pool arrived, we knew Abbey would be happy….but look at her go, wow! Let me add that the box weighs 130 pounds! Yes, she’s amazing!
Click on the video below to watch!
Here’s Abbey trying to tell me something! The video of her is a bit hard to hear, sorry, should have turned up the volume on her iPad. I think you should be able to make it out, though.
She’s been doing a lot of talking lately…with her device, which has been very exciting! She uses Proloquo2Go to talk to us. And, she’s bringing it to us, which I explain in the video, is huge!
Click below to see the video!
Yesterday turned out to be a fun day, well most of it! We went to a ‘trunk or treat’ event at our local autism center, The Responding to Autism Center. My oldest son with high functioning autism put on ‘his idea’ of a costume and went to help out with one of the games for the kids, but ended up hanging out with his friends, from social skills classes, that showed up, for most of the time….which was really neat to watch. My oldest kiddo, Maggie, almost 18 now also came and helped out with games. I was so impressed with all the teenagers there, how great they were with the kids. I saw lots of kiddos having a great time and a couple struggling…but a nice safe, understanding place to do it in!
So, Abbey participated in a new way this year, which was very exciting! I added a folder to her Proloquo2Go on her iPad with the buttons, ‘trick or treat’ and ‘thank you.’ She caught on VERY quickly, that she received candy when she did this and had a big smile on her face….stay tuned for a blog post about this, WITH a very cute video! And, yes, my Proloquo2Go peeps, I added the ‘thank you’ with expression, so super duper, extra cute!:)
Click below to see my video diary post for today and hear what I have to say about taking opportunities!!
Here’s day 5! I’m talking today about what an issue sleep has been with Abbey and what we’ve done to work on it. I’m also talking about that progression that we all have to be patient for, when we find something we just know is going to help our kids, how patience is key!
Click on the video below!
On Day 3, I’m a bit more rested and ready to talk about some of the stuff we’ve figured out over the years that’s really helped Abbey…here ya go!
Click on the video below!
Ok, first of all before you watch the video, be aware, there is a really loud squeal, so prepare yourself. No, it’s not from Abbey, it’s from me! Abbey has never, ever said the word “mom”, verbally before or on her iPad without prompting! Once again, had to do with food…but I so don’t care.:) Yes, hearing that was simply amazing, beyond words! I wish I could take credit for that one, but the school is where they have been working hard on her adding the person’s name that she’s talking to…I just love that! And, she’s not only figuring it out, her skill is transferring to home so well! I’m so proud of her! So, here it is, the short, but very sweet video…again, sorry if I hurt your ears.:)
Click on the very short, but very sweet video below, to watch the miracle!
I always get excited when a new app comes along that totally intrigues Abbey! This one, for the iPad, called Writing Wizard, did the trick!! It has so much to offer, things that kids love like fun interactions and things that us parents love, like amazing customization, detailed reports on how they are doing AND, it’s free today!!
It’s a really fun one..check it out!:) Here’s a video of us playing with it!
Abbey is doing it, she’s learning to use sentences! Here’s a video of her asking for waffles..
I’ve been talking to the gals working with Abbey about how to teach her to do this and we’ve been brain storming, then at our last school meeting, the school team and I came up with which words to add to start with, to start the process. It sure has been a long road to get here, but it’s so cool to see her catch on so well! It sure takes a village! Here’s a screen shot of Abbey’s ‘home page’ with the words we added.
Here’s the screen shot of her asking for waffles. In the video, you can see how easily she navigates to find what she wants, another long work in progress! Proloquo2Go is so amazingly easy to add whatever we want and however we need it on there!
So, we used to have just one button for ‘I want’, we started by separating that into two. The school had already really been working on having her add on ‘please’ to the end of her requesting sentences, to that part was easy for her. Then we added ‘to, a, and the’, which I think will take a bit longer for her to learn to use. So, what do you think?:)
Thank you so much for everyone’s help and support, including Abbey’s ‘team’ and the folks at Proloquo2Go!
Don’t forget to check out Abbey’s other videos, there’s a link to them on the home page!
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