Last night I was talking to my friend Melissa.  She and I used to work together when I was an itinerant SLP in Early Intervention.   Melissa was telling me about a student’s mother she had recently spoken to.  The student’s mother expressed some disappointment with her child’s school experience.  As Melissa began to inquire as to why, the mom began to explain that she didn’t even know what her child did during the day.  She proceeded to tell Melissa how her oldest daughter would come home from school and tell her all about her day.   However, because her son was nonverbal, she did not feel like she was able to share in that same experience.  In fact, the mom stated that she felt “disappointed and frustrated.”  As Melissa and I talked, we commented on the fact that this is unfortunately not an uncommon experience for a lot of families and caregivers.

One strategy I found to be successful in helping with this issue is to incorporate a way for the student to share news.  This can allow the student to take ownership of sharing information and empower him as a communication partner.  Examples of this are the “News for Home” and “News for School” pages contained in the DynaVox V, VMax, and Xpress devices (as shown below).  These pages allow the student to speak the entire page or choose which sentences to share (by selecting sentences one at a time).  Selecting the buttons allows the student to complete the sentences with his/her choices.  Symbols can be easily changed or added.  Using the “News for Home” page allows the student to share what they did at school with family members and caregivers.  The student can then use the “News for School” page to participate in daily news activities, circle time, conversations with peers at school, etc.  It also provides a way for parents and caregivers to help the child share information with school.

“News for Home” page from the DynaVox Xpress

“News for School” page from the DynaVox Xpress