So after 11 months of being on a wait list Aubrey finally started the Scottish Rite Augmentative Communication Preschool program held at the Munroe-Myer Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She started last week - and two weeks into it we are so encouraged!
Here she is working with one of the instructors during their interactive book reading section.
Here she is working with one of the instructors during their interactive book reading section.
The sessions are each Friday morning from 9:00 - 10:30 am. They are structured as a mini-preschool.
They....
* Review the schedule for the day
* Have a Short Lesson
* Have a Short Lesson
* Have Song Time
* Interactive Book Reading
* Snack Time
* Goodbye Song
There are up to 5 students at a time with 3 therapists. The therapists are very engaging and use ALL forms of communication to work with the children. For instance, they'll be talking energetically while doing corresponding sign language. At the same time - they will be presenting picture choices to the children and for Aubrey - they even have a voice output device for her to hit. She's really new at this - and so it'll take time for her to get the cause and effect of it - but I'm so glad that we're starting this basic form of communication now while she's still so young!
One of my favorite parts they did was the Interactive Book Reading.
It was really neat to see. For the past 2 weeks they have been reading a "Making Vegetable Soup" book.
It's so neat how they put it together. They talk through the picture book and then each page - they bring out a more life-like toy for the children to do an activity with that corresponds to the story.
1st page: Planting and Tending the garden
So they bring out a watering can with actually water a toy plant. They also use toy gardening tools during this section.
2nd page:Picking the garden
They search for the plastic vegetables in a bucket of toy dirt
3rd page: Preparing the Vegetables
Clean the vegetables with a scrubber and "cut" them with a toy knife
Clean the vegetables with a scrubber and "cut" them with a toy knife
4th page: Making the Soup
They then put the cut up vegetables in a big pot and take turns stirring with a big spoon.
I'm probably not explaining it very well - but it's really neat to see them at work. It's the first book Aubrey's ever been engaged in!
The other thing that has been so encouraging is that we've made some great connections with the other parents and kids already.
As I mentioned earlier - there are 5 kids in the classroom including Aubrey. The other 4 all have Down Syndrome. They are all awesome and very motivating! They are all walking, and some are speaking a few words already. All of them are pointing, clapping, and have some sign language. At the moment - Aubrey cannot do any of these things - but with practice and encouragement we are hoping she'll progress on her own time. Due to the Angelman Syndrome diagnosis - we know that she will likely never talk - but just to see those kiddos "understand" and respond is SO NEAT!
Another neat thing (I've used NEAT alot in this post!!) is that 2 of the kids have parents that work at Union Pacific like Chris and I! Also - there are two of the families that live in the same neighborhood that we just moved into! One just 5 houses down, the other maybe 4 blocks away!
How crazy is that - what a small world!
Well - that's all for now - can't wait to give more updates on the progress she's making!
4 comments:
Good job getting Aubrey to another therapy! I wished I could be closer to help you. She looks likes she is having fun and making new friends! Love, Mom
This is so cool! She'll probably do very well with this, she seems to excel at every given opportunity!
That is awesome!!! Sounds like a fun time will be had and a lot of learning will happen!! She is cute as a button!!!
That is brilliant with how they are making the book so real and interactive. Please keep sharing since these are ideas I will take back to Maggie's school and do here at home. My toddler loves How to Make Vegetable Soup but Maggie has never noticed it.
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