Assistive Technology Can Increase Speech (Video)

Sean and I started spelling on stencils, then a letter board, and we worked our way to a keyboard. Throughout that time he was always pretty quiet. I would hear sounds but rarely words. He can spell paragraphs of his thoughts on that keyboard.

Sean can talk. He does talk. But it isn't his go to way. He is also often quiet when he does talk. He often needs prompting to speak.

In our session I decided to try something new. I was teaching a lesson about King Midas and showed some pictures related to the lesson. Instead of asking him a question, I asked him to share anything about the photo. And right away, he responded with his voice. And he responded in a pretty big way!

People often fear that alternative forms of communication will inhibit speech. But I have seen the opposite. Giving our students a voice builds confidence. It creates momentum. It invites more communication, in many forms.

Watch Sean share some pretty impressive and sweet words, and even a sentence! He blew me away!

His mom wrote a blog about the experience as well!

Check out her post at Perspective Is Reality.