Goin' Old School

You know how technology just keeps moving forward and all these electronic devices just keep getting better and better?

Well, things are just a little bit different at the Rush house these days.

 For the past year or so, Lily's behavioral therapists have been attempting to use an iTouch and the Proloquo2Go app as Lily's main means of assistive communication.  And while there have been vast improvements in her ability to "talk" with the device, the missing ingredient still seems to be plain and simple functional communication.

As in, grabbing the device spontaneously (with no directive from an adult) and using it to say something like, "Drink" or "Cookie" or "Potty".

She is a whiz at scrolling through and finding all kinds of stuff on the iTouch but hasn't seemed to yet grasp that when she needs or wants something, she should get the device and use it to tell us exactly what that is.

Or at least, she's not doing this at home.  

So we're going back to what we know works.  Or worked at one time, maybe I should say.

Before the iPad, Lily was using something called PECS, or a picture exchange communication system. 

In a nutshell, PECS is an alternative form of communication that uses pictures rather than words to help individuals "talk".  For example, when given a stack of pictures of food items, the person can flip through them, make a selection, and then be given the actual object in exchange.

We're using the door of our coat closet as "PECS Central".

Setting up PECS requires just a few supplies:

lots of sticky backed velcro,

a small laminator,

and all the pictures you can think of.

I haven't put labels at the top of the columns yet but I usually try to organize my cards into categories such as food, routines, and play.  The top half of the door displays all the cards:

The bottom half of the door has strips ready for arranging the cards for specific purposes, such as:

long strips to indicate steps in a routine,

a First Then card that allows Lily to see that when she first does a less desirable activity, then she gets to do a more preferred activity,

and a Choice Board containing a few Mom-approved activities that Lily can choose from.

We did a PECS system with Lily back when she was two and it actually worked well.  She caught right on to the idea that giving me a picture card meant that she would get the real object in exchange.

While this system has its drawbacks, I'm hoping that it enables us to get back to basics with Lily and reaffirm for her that pictures can help her get what she needs and wants.  Once I feel like she's really got a good handle on the meaning behind the pictures and is using them functionally and comfortably, we'll try transferring the concept digitally with apps such as First Then, My Choice Board, and other PECS-type assistive programs.

Simple and straight-forward.  That's the goal.

Anyone got other ideas for me?  Please share!