Breaking through...

Continuing Aidan's Communication Journey

This is a free post. If you would like to honor my work with a monetary contribution, that would be greatly appreciated, and your support would go towards funding Aidan’s communication journey. Thank you.

I wrote an instant #1 NYT bestselling picture book with A Day with No Words. It spoke to the incredible bond I share with my son, normalizes communication outside of speech, and is all about connection. It is incredible to read the responses to this story of ours. I am in awe with how well it’s been received. Aidan is fast becoming a household name outside of my growing community. So many are learning about AAC and Nonspeakers.

I am truly proud of what was accomplished with this book. And I cannot wait to write another.

This is a story about how my son communicates with no spoken language through an ipad and an AAC app. AAC stands for Alternative and Augmentative Communication. This can include low tech methods such as writing, drawing, printable picture boards and binders, etc. Or it can refer to high tech devices such as speech dedicated devices and ipads.

Aidan has been using AAC consistently for the last few years now. We had to teach him to use it on our own. This has been a journey. A long process that has had many up periods and many down ones as well. Learning to adjust during the down periods has been challenging. We aren’t trained in this. We didn’t go to school for Speech Therapy. We aren’t educated in the use of AAC apps. We are just parents who were constantly discouraged by the denials of care and teaching by therapists who claimed our son was “too severe” to grasp the use of an ipad coupled with an AAC app.

I read many books and posts about AAC. I followed many therapists who teach AAC. I did everything I could do to help my son communicate with us and the world around him. And we had great progress. But like I said we had many down periods as well. These are times when he doesn’t want to use the ipad. Those times when he doesn’t have the concentration, focus, and strength to point at different images on an app. This isn’t his fault, he tries so hard, it’s just his body won’t always allow him to do what he wants. I know this now. He is apraxic. It is challenging for him to get his brain in alignment with his body.

This is something that we are actively working with him on. During this time away from social media has given me renewed focus in the best ways I can help him to acquire a communication method that works best for him. We are working to get him more fluent with his AAC as well as Spelling. The down periods for him often come with a regression in skills acquired. So, we work to bring those back before we move on to something else. I honestly think this is just as frustrating for him as it is for us.

I am in this for the long haul though. And as long as I breathe, I will help him in the best way I know how. I know I stated in the past that I would document how we are going about doing this so others could follow along. This is something that I will be doing from now on. I will be sharing regular postings on what we are doing in regard to using Proloquo (Aidan’s AAC app on the ipad) and his progress with Spelling and what we are doing there. You can find a little more information about the app and Spelling in previous posts within the “Aidan’s Communication Journey” on here.

These will most likely be paid posts as I am going to be sharing a lot more and being a lot more vulnerable.

I hope that you stick around for what is sure to be one hell of a ride. I will update you all on this week’s progress soon!