Oh, SNAP! We are doing this!
jumping head first into the world of spelling.
Am I really going to document our communication journey with Aidan as he learns Spelling? Like it’s a damn journal?
Uh, yeah. I want to keep track of what I am doing. I want to know where I am messing up at and I want to know where I succeed. Also, I am really want to know how my son is doing from day to day with this.
I am up for it being a journey. I know that it might be long and hard and rough. But I am confident in my son. And myself.
I have plans to share how it is going for us weekly, though I will be jotting things down daily. I don’t feel as though income should be a barrier to communication, so I will share these posts for free, however I do think I will share additional, “behind the scenes” thoughts and whatnot for paid subscribers.
I am working on a “getting started” post just in case a few of y’all want to try your hand at this.
I do want to share a little bit about why we are going this route.
There was this time that I mentioned on IG that I felt that AAC as it pertained to image based communication apps would be a ceiling for my son and that I think he’s fast approaching that ceiling. What I mean by that is that no matter how robust that system/app is, no matter how customizable it is, no matter its cost, etc. there’s only so much one can say with pictures. Trust me, I literally think in pictures and have to decipher every damn image that floats up there just to put out a damn paragraph. Or have a conversation.
Try it one day, if you don’t have an app such as Proloquo or TouchChat, try a low cost or free app that is similar. There are several out there. Now spend a considerable amount of time trying to say everything that you want to say, how you want to say it, only using pictures. And nothing else. Don’t touch the keyboard, don’t gesture, don’t point at objects around the room, or yourself, don’t create different emotions with your face to “clue” another to what you are saying. Just use the pictures to craft your sentences, your paragraphs, your whole and complete thoughts.
You will find that it is challenging to do so. Even for moments in time. You cannot encapsulate all that you want to convey with images only. But you can express a lot, which is why I am not dissing this method of communication (hell, I wrote a #1 NYT Bestseller about this particular way to communicate), only stating that I feel my son’s frustration with it has grown to a point that I need to introduce something else to him.
When I shared that post on IG some time back, I was met with pushback for doing so. Like, how dare I say that this has “a ceiling” and that I was encouraging parents to not seek out how to help their children with systems like Proloquo, TouchChat, and the rest. They were very reactionary to things I didn’t say nor intimate. It was to be expected, I was talking about trying something with my son that those in the field of Speech Therapy often state is not effective because it’s not evidenced based. I won’t get into all of that because I did share about this in a previous newsletter.
I took some time away from working with my son on spelling. Not because of their words, but for other reasons that sit firmly within the accessibility of spelling.
It really isn’t all that accessible. I am hoping with sharing how our journey is going that it will help others as well.
I am also going to share resources, such as books by Nonspeakers, lessons to help you with your child and spelling, as well as motor skills building exercises. There are many programs and organizations out there that are devoted to helping those like my son acquire spelling. I will share those as well.
Alright, I won’t keep y’all too long. But if you know anyone who is looking to introduce spelling to their loved one and wants to travel this journey alongside our family, send them my way!
This is amazing, Tiff! I have been wanting to introduce my kiddo, Aashten, to spelling as well. I feel that it is time to learn how to incorporate spelling into our communication, especially since he is going back to school tomorrow. However, it is hard to figure out what resources to use first. As of now, we are using the combination of PECs to identify the word and using individual alphabet letters (made from various fabrics) to spell the words out. I have also been meaning to teach him how to use our laptop's keyboard to spell as well, but I don't wanna overwhelm him with it all and would like to work on things one at a time until we've mastered a good amount of words. I would love to learn more info on introducing spelling to him. :)