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!
Here’s Abbey asking for the same thing over and over….she’s got a one-track mind today!
It’s been a rough week of not enough sleep for either of us. We’re doing much better now so I’m counting my blessings as she repeats herself over and over, so thankful that it’s in such a nice sentence!:)
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!
We used to use a visual schedule for mornings and it worked great, first on her Dynavox, then on her iPad with Proloquo2Go. We haven’t had to use it in years, though, because she knows the routine and will even willingly do things out of order.
Some mornings are a bit hard to get her out of bed, she’ll pull the covers up over her head…but not usually for more than a few minutes, then she’s up. Some mornings, she wakes up at 4 or 5, leaving mom wanting to pull the covers up over her head! But, 99% of the time, she’s happy to get ready, knows just what to do (although still requires my help to do some of it) and is happy to go to school! Long gone are the days that I thought we’d never get out the door…and some mornings, we didn’t!
Click below to see US talking about it, ok, well, I’m doing all the talking, but Abbey obviously is agreeing with me!:)
It so exciting when you find something that motivates your kiddos to communicate!! It doesn’t come easy, but I think, gets easier as they start learning and start realizing how it works for them. Some days, she’s a communicating machine and other days, it’s like pulling teeth. It all depends on her mood and what she wants, how motivating it is for her and how motivated she needs to be that day. Some days she needs some prompting and other days, she just goes and goes…those days make me so happy!
So, this was a pretty good day! She was happy and very motivated by candy! This video shows the progression from the beginning, starting with me showing her what to do, to her figuring it out and going with it! Candy is extremely motivating, as you will see! So cute! I used one of the ‘expressions’ on Proloquo2Go for ‘thank you’, so that’s super cute too…
Click the video below to see her treat or treating, in action!
I love how creative the specialist that works with Abbey is. Abbey was having an off day, tired, not motivated, kind of day when she came over yesterday. I pulled out the moon sand like stuff, thinking she needed something sensory to do. So, the specialist, knowing Abbey loves to squish up things made out of moon sand, tried to find a way to work on using her iPad with playing moon sand….and this was the result.:) She’s using the keyboard in Proloquo2Go. I worked on it for a bit after she left, trying to get the most I could out of it!
Click on the video below to see how she did it!
So, have you used the cool new features of Expressions, Sounds and Macros?? If not, you’re totally missing out, so cool!! Here’s how to set them up and how we use them with Abbey! Wait til you hear your kiddo say “please” with expression, talk about tugging at your heart strings!
Click on the video below to see how to use Expressions and Sounds!
Click on the video below to see how to use Macros!
So, I remember, oh so well, how hard it was to first get started! If we had first started out with Proloquo2Go, and oh, how I wish it was around when we were starting out, we would have had to simplify it, to start out with.
Here is THE TRICK TO GET STARTED: JUST DO IT! Yep, there’s no super secret absolute right way! Each child is different and each family is different. So, it’s kind of one of those things that you research the best you can, get therapists’ help and support, if possible, and then just have to learn as you go. You can’t learn as you go until you get started though!
So, I encourage you, to just get started and learn as you go. Start out with what you think will work and go from there, editing on the spot. This is what has worked for us, for Abbey.
Communication is key. Our kids deserve it! They deserve to be able to tell us what they want and what they don’t. And, it will, eventually make their lives more rich and yours much easier, lessening behaviors and understanding more about your child.
So, here is how to show less buttons, to get you started and how to add buttons and folders…quick, easy and to the point! Just click on the videos below…and look at our other posts with tips and how we started with Abbey, how we’ve customized it for Abbey…maybe you’ll get some good ideas that will help.
Hope these help you GET STARTED!
Proloquo2Go has an amazing feature called “List View.” It’s a way of putting the buttons in a vertical list instead of a grid. This helps Abbey figure out that it’s sequential, I think. It’s helped her most with directions, especially with how to cook boxed rice, like the video I posted on here in January.
Oh, and I also included how to “Hide” a button, and why, how we use that, very handy and easy!
So, here is a video of all the ways we use this feature, to help Abbey. Click on the video below to watch!:)
abbeysvoice 