Learning new things & saying new things

I'm back from the ISAAC conference. My head is swimming with ideas and my notepad is full of things to transcribe.  More than just specific ideas, I feel like my way of thinking about AAC has sharpened . . . instead of feeling like "just a mom" floundering as I try to incorporate AAC into our lives, I now have more focus, have absorbed some concrete concepts about how to be increasingly deliberate in how I support Maya's use of her device, and - as a bonus- I got some validation, too. (For a novice, I seem to actually be on the right track.)  After I have the time (ha ha) to compile and process my notes I'll definitely be putting up a post (or several) about my main take-aways.  On a selfish note, I also got to listen to a bunch of the really big people in the field, and to meet a lot of people that I "know" from online.  Even though I may have scared some people with my hacking cough, it was a win-win-win for me.

Today was my first day back at home (I arrived back in the city late last night) and I was able to happily soak up a bunch of time with my family.  Maya's school notebook said that she was very talkative today at school, and sure enough she was chatty at home as well.  She took us all by surprise when she was using the talker to talk about days of the week (which she loves to talk about) and suddenly turned to us and said (with her mouth), "Monday."  Monday!  She's a big fan of Monday because it's the day after the weekend when she gets to ride the school bus and play with her friends at school, and tends to say it often with the talker.  But as far as a spoken word goes, the closest approximation that she's had to "Monday" prior to today was just "Mah." 

Suddenly, today . . . "Monday."

:)