Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Busy-ness, Crafty-ness, ____________ (I really wanted a 3rd -ness, but I've got nothing)

It's turning out to be another hectic week over here.  A few extra appointments/meetings, and the week is basically packed to overflowing.  Maya helped out by figuring out how to climb into her stroller:

 Yes, that's very helpful.

We're still in the beginning phases of teaching Maya how to use PECS (it's a picture card system that she can use to communicate).  I love the idea of it . . . although I can understand her signs, and Dave understands most of them, they still get garbled up.  So the cards would let her communicate with anyone!  I printed some up and laminated them, but they were too thin and difficult for her to pick up.   After 2 days of struggling I can up with this:


I glued them onto our old foam alphabet mats (you know, the kind everyone has) and then cut them with kitchen scissors (they were really easy to cut).  So now they're easy enough to pick up, and light, and easy to clean!  (When I mentioned this last night to some other moms of kids with special needs, one said "You're like the Martha Stewart of special needs!"  That's still making me laugh today :) )

Amsterdam International is continuing to make the rounds.  It's now up on 11 sites/blogs that I know of, with at least one more to come on Saturday morning.  I'm going to make a link list on the side at some point (maybe tonight?  don't hold your breath, but it's possible).  And 258 people have shared the link on Facebook----have you?  Why not just throw it up there for a little bit?  You never know who might be touched by it . . .

I realized that I posted a cute album of photos on the blog's Facebook page from my niece's birthday, but didn't add any here.  So I leave you with our most recent family pic (well, minus Parker):

9 comments:

Chelsa said...

I love your blog so much. I check it daily and love seeing how happy Maya is, you're such a fantastic mom :-)

grandma said...

what a great pic of you all. i wonder who took it ----oh, wait, it was me!! LOL and what a great idea with the foam rubber alphabet mat too

lisa said...

love the family picture! :)

glad to hear the pec system is working! and i am quite amused by maya getting into her stroller, she's a little adventurer. her big cousin would be quite happy to give her some climbing pointers!!!

Jennifer said...

I am totally new to your blog, but have you ever thought about a fancy communication device like a springboard or vantage that actually speak for her? My son got one when he was three and it was amazing to see him forming complete sentences while otherwise non-verbal. Then he started imitating it and now he talks up a storm.

Dana said...

Thanks Chelsa, Mom, & Lisa :)

Jennifer---thanks for the input! We actually had a therapy team meeting last night and different assitive tech stuff came up. I'm waiting to see how she catches on to the low tech stuff before we get fancy :)

Jaymi said...

What a great picture!
I love what you did with the pecs cards. We are in the middle of working on some type of communication system for Sammie and I love to see different ideas. We are doing an assitive technology consultation with the school in the next couple of weeks. I will mention this idea! Sammie is very tactile and would probably love these cards compared to the ones she is using.

Jan Bernstein Chargin said...

You guys are a RIDICULOUSLY beautiful family.

Dana said...

Jaymi: What came of your meeting? Anything good? I think we're going to move in the iPrompt direction (on the iTouch or iPad).

Jan: Thanks :)

Unknown said...

This is genius! My son's speech therapist, occupational therapist and I have been trying to think of a way to help him pick up the PECS and we have been at a loss. Thank you so much for posting this!