A Lesson On Texture

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An Afternoon in Our Room

Whatever It Takes

Years ago at a workshop an educational speaker said to the group, "Parents are sending you the best kids they have. They aren't keeping the good ones at home and holding back on you. These are the best kids they have."

I have repeated this statement, in one form or another, countless times over the years in workshops I have taught or when mentoring new teachers, but there is something more to that statement for me than the obvious. That statement is not only a reminder to let parents off the hook a little bit and remember you are in the same boat, but also a reminder that to truly change the life of a child you sometimes need to commit to helping to change the life of a family.

Heavens knows that is NOT our job as teachers (or OT/PT/Speech therapists or school nurses or whatever); we are not social workers, case managers or family counselors - but sometimes we are all that families of students with significant disabilities have. We are it. The only other person who may care about their child. The only other person who knows that child in good times and bad. The only other person who cares for and respects that child as more than a diagnosis. The only other person who looks at the child and sees strength and possibility.

When that happens I feel a human responsibility to reach out to that family however I can. I, as a human being, have to try to be the change I wish to see in the world* and go that extra mile. I have to do whatever it takes to make a difference to that child and that family.

P.S. Obviously there is a story behind this story, a story about a child and a family. I promise you it is a story that, for one child and one family, is starting to have a happy ending.

*"Be the change you wish to see in the world." -Gandhi

Image above by http://www.wordle.net/

McDonald's

Today during community based education one of my students decided not to get off the bus at McDonald's. This was likely due to a lack of explanation on my part as McDonald's is a favorite place. We typically make only two stops in the community and McDonald's was a third, surprise stop because we had a little extra time (although only enough extra time for take out). This student needs to know the schedule and routine to be able to cope well. Thus when my question, "Do you want to go into McDonald's?" was met with a firm, "No!" I let it go, "That's fine. We can wait on the bus."

So we waited. About ten minutes passed (apparently there was a line) and the student began saying, "Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!..."

I again asked, "Hi. Do you want to go into McDonald's?" This time the non-verbal "yes" was apparent from the sheer joy and excitement on the her face.

We headed inside and while in line practiced ordering on the Dynavox. The student was literally jumping up and down by the time we were asked, "May I take your order?"

Click - "I would like a chicken sandwich please?"
"Really?" I asked, raising my eyebrows, since a chicken sandwich has never come up in practicing.
Click - "I want a hamburger please."
Click - "I want chicken nuggets."
Click - "Could I please have a cheeseburger?"
"Hold on," I said, "pick one thing."
Click - "I want a hamburger please."
"You sure?" I asked.
Click - "I want a hamburger please."
The clerk looked at me and I nodded. "Do you want anything else?"
Click - "I would like onion rings instead of fries."
"Sorry, buddy, you can't get onion rings here," I said.
Click - "May I have a small order of fries?"
The clerk glanced at me again and I nodded slightly.
Click - "I want milk instead of soda."
"Sorry, buddy, we have plenty of milk at school for you."
Click - "I want a medium diet coke."
I laughed. "And you have three half full diet cokes in the fridge in the classroom!"
The clerk smiles and asks if we just want a hamburger and small fries. I nod and assist my student in handing over some cash. My student jumps up and down a few times and grins.

Then the clerk says, "I have never seen anything like that before. That is how she talks?"
"Yes." I answer.
"She can hear, but she can't talk?" the clerk asks handing her the food and change.
"Yes, she uses that to talk, but just like you and me she doesn't always know what she wants to say." I reply.
Click - "going to hello and goodbye page"
Click - "See you later."

Sometimes McDonald's food is more important than disability awareness at McDonald's.

Possibility

Today one of my students, who has been in my class for about ten weeks, starting using an AMDI Tech/Speak, not only that but the student started using it well, very well. This kiddo is a shining example that the right classroom, with the right supports and the right behavioral intervention can lead to unbelievable possibility.

The student has never had a consistent communicative intervention, various low and moderate technology interventions have been tried and abandoned. Prestigious communication clinics contradict themselves twice a year on what to do next. The last recommendation was for a key chain based picture card system, yet this student needs the least possible movement in technology she uses. She needs for it to stay still no matter how often attempts are made to move it or throw it. The ability to move something is so distracting for the student that a pull off Velcro symbol system, a communication book system or a key chain system would be a set up for failure. This student loves movement from cars to bikes to a gait trainer. This student loves to be in movement by walking, throwing, grabbing, and just wiggling. Appropriate positive behavior supports, use of teaching technique like seductive removal and movement could be a reward and not a distraction. In short, we make it so things don't move, so that when she moves if is a positive thing, not a negative thing.

Thus we started with a static display communication board mounted permanently on the tray of the wheelchair and the table. Minimal teaching, with use of the prompt hierarchy and plenty of positive reinforcement lead to success. Then I decided to spend several hours restoring an old, abandoned Tech/Speak that has a tendency to play messages even if no one was touching it. The Tech/Speak was long out of warranty and required hours of re-soldering wires and careful cleaning of the inside and outside of the device. Thankfully it worked and the device was restored to full usefulness. Overlays were created based on the student's static display boards (the Tech/Speak in the picture is from a link to Monroe Public Schools, not my classroom) and previous successful icon training. The Tech/Speak was mounted to the wheelchair tray to make it unmoveable (using straps and my all-time favorite assistive technology hardward store clamps).

Finally, today, the student was able to access the Tech/Speak effectively, essentially the first time it was presented. Greetings, comments, responses, refusals, inquires - all no problem for this student with the "new" Tech/Speak.

That's what happens when a TEAM of people, from teacher to paraprofessional to SLP see the possibility in students instead of the problems.

No Faking

Today we instituted a new classroom rule: No Faking!

We had a class meeting and discussed what faking is, including pretending to sleep, saying you have to go to the bathroom when you really just want to leave the room for a break, acting like you are crying to get your own way.

No faking!

Over the course of the day it became both a mantra and a joke. One young lady found it very amusing when she repeatedly requested the restroom minutes after she returned and instead of telling her that she just went we held up our "No Faking!" sign and said, "Ut-oh, a faker!" Another was not so amused when she pitched a fit because she didn't want to do her work and she was handed the "No Faking!" sign while we ignored the behavior (90 seconds later she was asking for more work, tantrums are pointless without an audience).

During afternoon discussion we talked about our day off on Tuesday for the election and one of the paraprofessionals shared that she had received an e-mail claiming all kinds of lies about one of the candidates. We decided that the world would be much nicer if everyone, especially politicians, lived by our, "No Faking!" rule.

Tomorrow's new rule? Save the drama for your Mama.

Today

Every once in a while you have one of those days that is indescribable. Here are some of the things that happened in our room today:

• A student who's Dynavox V Max Wheelchair mount has had a part on back order almost had the V Max smash to the floor when the clamp-on Deassy mount started to rip the molding off the classroom table, at that time I decided to borrow a spare part from another student and get teh V Max properly mounted. Not as easy as it looks so I enlisted the PT. She struggled with the set up for an hour, since Deassy never sends directions with their parts we ended up downloading some (no internet at our school so I had to use my network card), but they weren't very helpful, finally we spoke to a wonderful man in customer service at Dynavox (thanks Eric) and got everything up and running (nearly 90 minutes later), just in time for the student to need to get out of his wheelchair, get freshened up and have a position change (bummer)
  
• Next one of my students was having some, um, distress in the gastrointestinal area, this same student loves cars. When questioned if he needed to go to the restroom to help out his gastrointestinal issues he answered, "Car!" In one of my sillier moments I responded, "You want to poop in car?! Ewww! That is gross, just gross!" My student lost it, pointed to "yucky" on his lap tray communication board and then he laughed for ten minutes. All it took the rest of the day for him to start laughing again was for me to say, "Gross, just gross!"
• At lunch time one of my students who does not eat by mouth gets to choose if he goes to "look at girls" in the cafe or if he will stay in the classroom with me and play switch games or listen to music or books on tape. Today he chose to stay in the room and to use a switch to flip through the tracks on Windows Media Player (put the mouse over the next track button and set the switch interface to "click") he very much enjoyed changing the song anytime I smiled or sang along (especially if I sang along) and letting it play if I told him I hated it, however, to my surprise he listened to the entirity of the Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have a Dream" speech. Perhaps he just loves great oratory? I am considering downloading other great speeches.
  
• Later I informed one of my students that we have set up for a representative from Empowering Access to come see her with a Tellus AAC device she became so excited that she literally could not move, she stood in her walker"saying", " Por Me? Por Me? I love you! Por Me? Me? Oh! I love you!" It was too adorable.
• At the end of the day the same student as the last story needed was asked if she wanted to walk to the bus or ride in her stroller. She has limited articulation skills and for the most part knows her limits, she did not want to use her walker (although she could say it) and she did want to go in the stroller (although she cannot say it) so instead she said, "Blue". I thought that was particularly ingenius. Nothing is more blue than a Convaid special needs stroller.
  

Through the Windshield?

Tonight, after a meeting, I was to deliver an AAC system and a very large rolling mount system to a student's home and show his mom how to set up the device, the Headmouse Extreme, and the rolling mount. Unfortunately I discovered that the rolling mount did not fit comfortably in my already full PT Cruiser and I had no tools to disassemble it. I tried the backseat, no dice. Then I tried the front seat, it pushed too far into the driver's seat. So I tried the front seat with the rolling mount upside down and I managed to crack my own windsheild. How exactly am I going to explain that to my insurance company?

P.S. So for the lack of posts this week, my internet has been down at home and I do not currently have internet at my school.

How You Know...

Back when I did the survey of what people wanted to see on this site lots of people said they wanted more stories about my classroom, so here you go.

I have a student who has highly unintelligible speech, is significantly hearing and visually impaired and is waiting for an AAC device trial, yet she manages to make her point much of the time. One of the ways I know that she LOVES something we have or do in school is that she will say something that sounds like the grown-ups in a Charlie Brown cartoon with the words "in" and "bookbag" very clear in her "sentence". She will then attempt to take whatever it is she adores, put it in the bag on her walker, bring it to her back pack and place it inside.

The punch line: today she attempted to take the computer monitor with the touch screen because she was enjoying the Classroom Suite activity she was doing so much!

(F.Y.I. The activity was Beauty Makeover, which is a brilliant user created activity available in the Classroom Suite Materials exchange. Other words we understood from her speech during her time using Beauty Makeover were, "wow", "ugly", "icky", "roho" (she is an ESOL student) and "brouja").

Our Room

These pictures show materials pertaining to everything from sensory, communication, positioning, life skills and functional academics. Perhaps 30% or more of the items in the photos came from grants from Donors Choose. All of the sensory materials came from Donors Choose donors. All of the oral motor items. Everything that is laminated and/or bound on the comb binder was made with our laminator and comb binding machine from a Donors Choose grant. The blue and white cart and the materials in it is from the generous folks who sponsored our grant at Donors Choose. Donors Choose philanthropists have made the difference in our room and we appreciate them every day.

Our last several grants have gone unfunded, however we have two grants that are partially funded. Please consider making a difference to use by donating:

• AAC Device Grant
• Hearing Impairment Grant

Two Switch Scanning

I am moving one of my students (who has a progressive condition) from direct select with a touch screen/key guard to two switch scanning. Two switch scanning is also called dual switch scanning or scan and select. It means using one switch to move the selection from one item to another and another switch to make a choice. In this case the left, red switch is used to move the arrow/cursor and the right, blue switch is used to enter the final choice.

For now the student is using only two different programs for learning this new skill, Stages Levels Five and Six and Boardmaker with Speaking Dynamically Pro with a customized set of boards. The learners speed and accuracy are improving gradually. Above is a picture of our set up, although the switch easel on the left has been replaced with another universal switch mount. This student is my first to use two switch scanning, although I have had dozens of single switch scanners. In this case I have chosen two switch scanning to reduce cognitive load and because the students physical limitations do not allow timing of switch hits. Below are resources I have found helpful in our transition to two switches.

• Why Use Two Switch Scanning? by CALL Centre
• Two Switches for Success by Linda Burkhart
  
• Animation of Two Switch Scanning
• Learning Two Switch Scanning Software by Judy Lynn (Free Trial)