Just look at that swingset smile.
On a "big-kid" swing.
Joy!
Showing posts with label Special Exposure Wednesday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Special Exposure Wednesday. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Special Exposure Wednesday
Just look at that swingset smile.
On a "big-kid" swing.
Joy!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Special Exposure Wednesday: Jump for Joy!
This is what happens when Joy pushes her button to ask for "Let's Jump!" (The taller the barista, the higher the flight!)
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Special Exposure Wednesday: Choices
Just lately, Joy's vocalizations are many but her words are very few.
In service of trying to get her to use SOME sort of signifier to communicate -- rather than just going to or grabbing whatever she wants -- we're making a new attempt to use photos for communication, eventually for use in making choices.
Back a couple of years ago, we did some preliminary work with PECS, which stands for Picture Exchange Communication System. It's a structured alternative to sign language in which a person communicates by selecting and handing over laminated pictures, often little line drawings like these:
Joy made some progress with initially learning just the act of handing over the pictures, but she seemed to be attaching words to objects almost as fast as we were providing the pictures, so we let it fall by the wayside.
Between then & now, alas, we've had these regressions.
After the first regression, the language did come back. This time it's not really happening the same way. It does seem to be time to give pictures another try, though this time we decided to use real photos instead of making Joy interpret the meanings of line drawings. So I went and took a bunch of shots of common items in Joy's world, and her senior therapist for the intensive autism therapy got them laminated for us.
Our first step will be using the photos in conjunction with the item or activity, eventually hoping to move to making choices. It's not a strict PECS protocol, more like just making available another avenue for communication.
Here are some of the photos. Do you suppose she'll want to play with the slide...
Or will she prefer the sandbox?
Maybe she'll want to drink some milk...
or possibly some juice instead?
Even without hearing much about these plans, Joy's older sister Rose has picked up on the idea. She's been very excited about decorating for Halloween, and is already making plans for how we'll carve the pumpkins (though we've yet to get to the pumpkin patch). At first she wanted to carve hers with the words "Happy Halloween!" but I do believe I've convinced her to go with "Boo!" instead.
Then she wondered what Joy would want on her pumpkin. And then she came up with a sisterly idea: she would draw a couple of options, and Joy could choose among the drawings! I did not prompt this in the slightest. Here is what Rose drew:
It's such a thoughtful big-sisterly thing. I hope that Joy will cooperate at least a little.
Meanwhile, I've already got the stencil picked out for my jack-o-lantern. Fair warning: it does relate to presidential politics, so don't click if you don't really wanna know... (At least I'm not planning on wearing a politically-themed costume, as I've done a time or two in the past!)
How I'm carving my pumpkin
Make your choice -- and do be sure to vote November 4, or earlier if your state allows!
In service of trying to get her to use SOME sort of signifier to communicate -- rather than just going to or grabbing whatever she wants -- we're making a new attempt to use photos for communication, eventually for use in making choices.
Back a couple of years ago, we did some preliminary work with PECS, which stands for Picture Exchange Communication System. It's a structured alternative to sign language in which a person communicates by selecting and handing over laminated pictures, often little line drawings like these:
Joy made some progress with initially learning just the act of handing over the pictures, but she seemed to be attaching words to objects almost as fast as we were providing the pictures, so we let it fall by the wayside.
Between then & now, alas, we've had these regressions.
After the first regression, the language did come back. This time it's not really happening the same way. It does seem to be time to give pictures another try, though this time we decided to use real photos instead of making Joy interpret the meanings of line drawings. So I went and took a bunch of shots of common items in Joy's world, and her senior therapist for the intensive autism therapy got them laminated for us.
Our first step will be using the photos in conjunction with the item or activity, eventually hoping to move to making choices. It's not a strict PECS protocol, more like just making available another avenue for communication.
Here are some of the photos. Do you suppose she'll want to play with the slide...
Even without hearing much about these plans, Joy's older sister Rose has picked up on the idea. She's been very excited about decorating for Halloween, and is already making plans for how we'll carve the pumpkins (though we've yet to get to the pumpkin patch). At first she wanted to carve hers with the words "Happy Halloween!" but I do believe I've convinced her to go with "Boo!" instead.
Then she wondered what Joy would want on her pumpkin. And then she came up with a sisterly idea: she would draw a couple of options, and Joy could choose among the drawings! I did not prompt this in the slightest. Here is what Rose drew:
It's such a thoughtful big-sisterly thing. I hope that Joy will cooperate at least a little.
Meanwhile, I've already got the stencil picked out for my jack-o-lantern. Fair warning: it does relate to presidential politics, so don't click if you don't really wanna know... (At least I'm not planning on wearing a politically-themed costume, as I've done a time or two in the past!)
How I'm carving my pumpkin
Make your choice -- and do be sure to vote November 4, or earlier if your state allows!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Special Exposure Wednesday: Northwoods Getaway
It was a long ride for a short vacation -- seven hours in the car each way, leaving early Friday morning (3:30am!) and back home by Sunday afternoon. In between, there was a lot of work to do. This was the traditional "close the family cabins for the season" jaunt to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a brief sojourn at the wooded lakefront property that's been in JoyDad's family since 1950. We stayed in one cabin, JoyDad's father and brother stayed in the other.
It would have been hard to improve this visit, other than making it about a week longer and adding a few more JoyDad-family-members who weren't able to come.
First, the colors were spectacular.
Joy loved all the stuff on the ground to play with: the leaves, the pine needles, the plants and little trees. She even loved the big trees:
We were thrilled by how well she stayed in one area. Something of the dynamic that exists in our fenced back yard (whereby we no longer have to hover over Joy every second in fear of her dashing away) was operating up at the lake too. It extended indoors as well, where she stayed well away from the woodstoves and got into almost nothing she wasn't supposed to get into. She did unusually well at walking on the roads too, where earlier this year she kept making breaks into the woods:
It made walks so very pleasant!
We also got to take the pontoon boat for a spin or two, before hauling it out of the lake to put into storage.
It was so lovely not to be dealing with seizures. Last time we were at the lake, the day-by-day knock-down seizure count was 3, 2, 2, 4 -- each with its attendant recovery fuss. We've had seizures every time we've traveled in the past two years. Except for this weekend, where the counts were 0, 0, 0. Joy neither fussed nor bit herself, almost the entire time we were up there (the ride home didn't quite fit the bite-free pattern, but then who wants to have to leave the lake?)
Joy didn't spend as much time on the pier this visit, having too much fun stimming on shore, but Rose has always loved the pier and took advantage of every possible minute before we had to break it down for the winter. She's an awesome hula-hooper:
And I've saved the best photo for last. This is Rose at the end of the pier at sunrise. Doesn't it just look as if she's about to step into heaven?
Bonus points for anyone who can guess what late-seventies movie image this sunrise shot brought to mind for me, before you click & get the answer!
It would have been hard to improve this visit, other than making it about a week longer and adding a few more JoyDad-family-members who weren't able to come.
First, the colors were spectacular.
Joy loved all the stuff on the ground to play with: the leaves, the pine needles, the plants and little trees. She even loved the big trees:
We were thrilled by how well she stayed in one area. Something of the dynamic that exists in our fenced back yard (whereby we no longer have to hover over Joy every second in fear of her dashing away) was operating up at the lake too. It extended indoors as well, where she stayed well away from the woodstoves and got into almost nothing she wasn't supposed to get into. She did unusually well at walking on the roads too, where earlier this year she kept making breaks into the woods:
It made walks so very pleasant!
We also got to take the pontoon boat for a spin or two, before hauling it out of the lake to put into storage.
It was so lovely not to be dealing with seizures. Last time we were at the lake, the day-by-day knock-down seizure count was 3, 2, 2, 4 -- each with its attendant recovery fuss. We've had seizures every time we've traveled in the past two years. Except for this weekend, where the counts were 0, 0, 0. Joy neither fussed nor bit herself, almost the entire time we were up there (the ride home didn't quite fit the bite-free pattern, but then who wants to have to leave the lake?)
Joy didn't spend as much time on the pier this visit, having too much fun stimming on shore, but Rose has always loved the pier and took advantage of every possible minute before we had to break it down for the winter. She's an awesome hula-hooper:
And I've saved the best photo for last. This is Rose at the end of the pier at sunrise. Doesn't it just look as if she's about to step into heaven?
Bonus points for anyone who can guess what late-seventies movie image this sunrise shot brought to mind for me, before you click & get the answer!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Special Exposure Wednesday: The Best Thing About the Park
The best thing about the park is the gravel!
A manicurist's salute to Osh for inspiring that last shot!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Wordless / Special Exposure Wednesday: Sequins!
I do believe that the Elvis of the comeback years would approve of Joy's stim choices! (Thank you. Thank-you-very-much.)
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