The Art of Communication.

If you've read this blog for awhile, you know that I get a lot of inspiration from Pudge and Biggs.  First and foremost, I am giving a big shout-out to Courtney. 

A few things have been on my mind with regard to Ellie's development.

1) Ellie seems to be doing well learning the names of objects.  If you show her two familiar objects or pictures on flashcards, she is increasingly likely to select the correct card.  (For all you SPED folks out there, I'll call it 4 of 5 trials, 75 percent of the time.)

2) Ellie enjoys looking at photos and pictures.

3) Ellie signs but uses mostly vowels when "talking," no word approximations yet.

4) The school district in which we live uses PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) for many children with special needs.

5) Ellie likes "drawing," and would benefit from a slant board.

I took ALL of these facts into consideration and went a little crazy creating.... a wanna-be-PECS-board that doubles as a slant board.

First: I searched the internet for PECS style cards for Ellie's favorite things.  I kept them high interest.  I printed them and laminated them.

I then went to Target.  I bought velcro and a 3-ring binder and a clipboard.

Next, I put velcro on the binder and clipboard to create a slant board to help Ellie's positioning when she "draws."

(Sorry, these are all phone photos.)

(Let me know if you want a piece of Ellie artwork.)

Inside, I wrote a sentence on a piece of paper, stuck it in a sheet protector, and put a piece of velcro on the blank.  "I want to play with my ____ please."  On the opposite side, I put the high interest wanna-be PECS cards.

I can now give Ellie a choice between two (or more) playtime ideas.  She may have no clue what she's picking at this point, but we're working on object identification, so she might be fully aware!  After she picks an activity, I place the card on the velcro, completing the sentence.

Oh, and my budding artist?  She was playing with chalk with some friends today.  She made pretty purple lines AND ate the chalk.