I can...go on a road trip!

We can hardly believe it's June already!  Summer is a great time to take a road trip and enjoy all that Ontario has to offer.  When you are planning your trip, be sure to take along your child's speech generating device and/or low tech display to allow them to communicate.  It's a great opportunity to reinforce both core and topic specific vocabulary, also known as fringe. 


Here are some ideas that you can incorporate on your upcoming trips:

Off to the Beach....
Print out the pages of your child's SGD if they don't already have a low tech display.  This also provides an opportunity to include some fringe vocabulary such as "sandcastle", "seagull" and "shovel".  Laminated paper displays hold up much better to sand and water!



Here are some activities to introduce beach vocabulary:

Boardmaker Share is a great place to find ready-made topic specific boards.  Type in your topic in the search window and browse through all of the amazing resources.  If you own Boardmaker, then you can print them off for your use.

A trip to the Zoo...
This is a fantastic place to model both fringe and core vocabulary.  There is nothing like seeing a lion in person, to reinforce concepts such as big, hungry and eat!

Check out this amazing video of a lion and toddler at the zoo and think of all the words you would use to describe this event!

Away at Summer Camp... 

Your child will be meeting many new people at camp.  This is a great opportunity to create a Communication Passport detailing your child's communication skills and needs. Include a page at the end of your child's communication passport for autographs and / or pictures,  so your child can tell others about their adventures at camp!






In the car...

Print out an "I spy" communication board for your child to play with a sibling.  

Encourage siblings to be communication "buddies".  Provide a low tech display with vocabulary such as: "Are we there yet?" "I need to go the bathroom", " "Let's listen to music".  Encourage siblings to speak the messages as they are chosen.

Restaurants
Take along communication displays for restaurants you're likely to frequent.  Check out some of these ready made ones:
Wendy's 
McDonald's
Starbucks

No Tech Ideas  - Take along a small photo album and collect brochures, menus, tickets as mementos of your vacation. This is a quick and easy way for your child to share information about their vacation with others.

Low Tech Ideas - Send your child's simple speech generating device along with them to camp so that they can actively participate in camp songs.

Make a list of songs with repeated lines that your child could use a one message device to participate. For example, you could record "And the green grass grew all around, and the green grass grew all around!" to have your child participate in the Green Grass song. Check out this website for a list of common camp songs: Ultimate Camp Resource 


High Tech Ideas -  If your child has an idevice, take photos of your family vacation so that they can share their experiences with their friends at school.  Download a talking photo album app such as Talking Album by Sumoto to record message with your photos.

I Can...be a Star!

We invite parents to send us a great photo/video and a story about how their child is using augmentative communication this summer to get out there and have some fun.  We'll highlight a few kids in our September issue.  What a great way to celebrate your child's success!

Resources
Carly's Voice - An inspiring new book about a young teen named Carly who has Autism and learned to type on a computer to express her "inner voice".