Tools to Support Communication with Your Child

Hey Tek-ninjas! This post goes out to parents specifically. Clinicians, if you are working with families using AAC with a Core Language approach, this content may be useful, even if they are using other products. 

Just because you're at home doesn’t mean you have to stop working on growing your child’s communication skills. Tobii Dynavox offers some terrific ideas of how you can use core vocabulary to support communication with your child.

As you likely know, Core words have application throughout your child’s day, and they are words they hear others use all day long. Core words can also help your child understand the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Follow this structure for introducing core words to your child at home. 

Find It

This means showing your child where the core word is on the device. 

Use It

Once you and your child know where to find the word, you can start using it throughout the day. 

Read It

Use these free Core First Learning Books that target one core word per book. 

Want more information on introducing core words, implementation help, and a helpful video? Click here! 

To find all Tobii Dynavox Coronavirus related resources, click here. Additionally, Tobii Dynavox is offering a lot of free live web events. And don’t forget to check out their Learning Hub for free on-demand courses that also provide ASHA CEUs.

And finally, for more “At home learning” resources, click here.

And remember: wash yer hands!!

Leveraging Chaos Into a Therapeutic Opportunity

Hey Tek-ninjas! So... I just got totally inspired. I was on a company call, and one of my colleagues shared a story which has really got me thinking about how "we" can do tele-therapy.

I reached out to Tobii Dynavox Solution Consultant Christina Carroll, to see if she would share her story with Tek-ninjas. Here it is:

"Before all of the Covid chaos began I had scheduled 3 back-to-back evaluations with a brand new SLP, who had never done an AAC evaluation. Once restrictions were put into place, we decided to do the evaluations remotely, and I sent her a device. 

We began the first evaluation via Facetime and about 5 minutes in my dogs started barking. I was embarrassed, because the child noticed and got distracted. I decided to try to use this and told the kiddo that it was my dog barking. 

I asked the SLP to navigate to the animal page and have the kiddo find dog. The child clicked dog and I told him that my dog barks loud and then explained that I have 2 dogs. We asked if he wanted to see my other dog and the slp modeled how to use the core page to say want dog and we asked him to do the same. He did and I brought my other dog on screen. 

Harley and Duke

I then asked if he could see what color my dogs are and the slp navigated to colors and he proceeded to say black and brown. I asked if he wanted to see my dogs run and asked him to tell us to go! He pushed go and I picked up my dog and ran. 

The SLP showed him stop and we began a game of stop and go. 

We then tried to work on some other things and noticed his interest was not there so the SLP asked if he wanted more dog on the device. He navigated on his own and said “more dog”. I asked him which dog he wanted to play with and he said “I want black dog” which was an 8 step navigation. 

We proceeded to do a stop and go dance party with my dog. This was such a hit, we did it for the next 2 evaluations."

Most of us newly working from home can completely relate to the awkwardness of being on a video conference call and having our animals or children enter into our work abruptly. I love how Christina took the spontaneous events happening around her and adroitly leveraged them into a therapeutic opportunity.  I'd love to hear anyone else's stories about tele-therapy gone right! 

Happy tele-therapy!!

Christina works in the great state of California serving the Orange County area and beyond. Folks who get to work with her are clearly very fortunate. If you live elsewhere and need to find your Solution Consultant, enter your zip-code here.