One of my favourite moments with Noodle and her AAC (and there have been many, you’ll hear about them all eventually) was when she made her promise as a Rainbow Guide. We set up the iPad so that when she hit anywhere on the screen it said the whole promise. She practiced saying her promise along with all the other girls and they made their promise together. It was really moving to see her join in and be part of the promise ceremony with all of the other girls. She now says her promise every week along with everyone else. It’s a really simple thing but it keeps her included in all aspects of the meeting.
The practicalities: we used her iPad communication software (Grid for iPad) to create the promise page but simple single messages like this can be done on a Big Mack, Doo-zy or other simple switch.
2 Responses
As a mum of one of these Rainbows, I experienced the response of my daughter to this activity and it was really great. Having everyone included was so special and brought the group closer together especially as Noodle lead the way.
I was really nervous about Noodle having the iPad with her at Rainbows all the time. Wondered if it would be a distraction but it’s really added to her experience and the other Rainbows could give the adults of the world some lessons on including and supporting AAC users.