It is the Augmentative and Alternative Communication.
The AAC journey began for my son and me in 2022. My son is a minimally speaking autistic. He has Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS).
This diagnosis came only when he turned 12. Up until then, no speech therapist ever pointed out this to us. He would speak with prompts only. No matter how hard we tried, he struggled to say words without prompts.
Apraxia makes the motor planning of words difficult. It needs therapies to help and improve the motor planning. His Speech therapist suggested the use of AAC for communication. I was very skeptical as I thought he has speech, why should he have to depend on any device to communicate.
But I chose to believe in my therapist as a leap of faith.
She is trained in Avaz Communication.
The struggle
It was a struggle for me to initiate the device partly because of I myself feeling awkward moving around with the device to model words on it to my son. For the initial few months, my son never even touched the device.
The Breakthrough
But during one of his severe colic episodes in the night, when he was having a shutdown, I tried using the device to assure him that he's going to be ok. And that I love him so much. That moment, he just looked at me. I knew I had found a way to reach him .
Consistency is the key
The AAC requires consistent efforts from the parents through modelling. We also need to presume competence in our child.
I also realised the device helped in self advocacy skills for my son. He started sharing his desires and the things he likes. He is a stage 4 gestalt language processor (GLP), so his communication mostly comes in chunks of words trying to communicate his thoughts. He is slowly learning to meaningfully communicate through sentences too.
I am so happy to hear him speak about all the different foods he wants to eat and the places he loves to go to.
The biggest win was when he started verbalising the words so quickly. He would learn the words through the device and would come to us to tell what he is thinking. It was pure music to my ears to hear his expressive speech.
The Joy
Only a mother who yearns to hear the child's voice for so many years would be able to understand the amount of joy I felt and am still feeling it even today.
Non speaking does not mean Non thinking
It is a myth that people who can't speak don't think.
I have a request to all the parents who are struggling to help their children facing difficulty in speech, to consider providing their children with an alternative mode of communication.
Communication is a basic right. Neurodivergent people have every right to express what they feel. They need ways to express it.
It is our duty as parents to provide them with opportunities to communicate with whatever means is suited to them.
Even a low-tech mode of communication such as a letter board can be really helpful. Hi-tech version being an exclusive device to communicate through apps that facilitate communication would be even better.
Purpose of sharing my experience
I am sharing my experience as a way to tell parents who are facing similar situations- to let go of their apprehensions and provide any mode of communication to their children, if there is a need.
Consult a SLP (Speech Language Pathologist) trained in different modes of communication.
Life becomes less frustrating and happier for the autistic population when there is an access to communication.
Here's to happier times!
Signing off
Notsospecialmommy:)
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