To Speak or Not to Speak, that is the question?

When our daughter Trinity was a baby, we were so excited listening to her early babbling and playing with word sounds!

Her emerging first words, were so exciting and yet comical to hear. Words like ‘bapple,’ for ‘apple’ and ‘see-ee-aw, ‘ for ‘cereal.’

Words will never express the burning heartache we as parents went through, when at the age of 15 months Trinity’s words disappeared one by one, never to be uttered again!

Even more importantly our little Trinity’s growing frustration at not being able to express her wants and needs!

Our inability to understand her left us in a constant guessing game, often getting it wrong and leading to heightened frustration and subsequent meltdowns; or unwanted behaviours, scratching, biting or pinching.

It wasn’t until a few years later and a lot of educating ourselves through both the Speech and Language service providers and my workplace training that we began to understand the alternative ways to teach Trinity and ourselves to communicate in a way, using both verbal and non-verbal methods!

I quite like the term ‘Verbal Behaviour’ as it encompasses both vocalisations, gestures, sign and visual/pictorial methods of communication. In a nutshell, all forms of communication are often termed by Speech and Language Pathologists as, ‘Total Communication.’

The reason I like the term ‘verbal behaviour’, is that it recognises and celebrates the many and diverse ways that we all communicate!

To learn in greater depth about what we mean by verbal behaviour see the book below:

The Verbal Behavior Approach: How to Teach Children with Autism and Related DisordersMary Lynch Barbera and 1 more4.7 out of 5 stars (452)ReviewsISBN-13: 978-1843108528

This step-by-step guide provides an abundance of information about how to help children develop better language and speaking skills, and also explains how to teach non-vocal children to use sign language. An entire chapter focuses on ways to reduce problem behaviour, and there is also useful information on teaching toileting and other important self-help skills, that would benefit any child. (Description and book cover as seen on Kindle)

I will explain a little bit about some of the specific AAC that we have used with Trinity, and that I have used with other children that I have supported.

Before I go into different types of AAC, it would be a good idea to explain what AAC is!

Accordingto Politano P. (2016) AAC is,

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), form of communication used in place of or in addition to speech. Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) includes the use of communication aids, such as alphabet boards and electronic communication devices that speak, as well as unaided communication methods, such as sign language and gestures. People who are unable to speak, or to speak clearly, rely on AAC to exchange information, express needs, maintain relationships, and participate in the activities of their community. 

CONTRIBUTOR:
Patricia A. Politano
TITLE
Augmentative and alternative communication
PUBLISHER
Encyclopædia Britannica
DATE PUBLISHED
May 26, 2016
URL
https://www.britannica.com/topic/augmentative-and-alternative-communication
ACCESS DATE
December 13, 2020

Sign Along is a type of universal sign language which is more accessible for anyone of any age or ability. It is a great way to support auditory processing by presenting parts of the spoken word in a less abstract more concrete way, giving the listener a sort of visual representation of the speech.

I have found this to be of benefit for children who have Auditory Processing Disorder not specifically associated with a diagnosis of ASD.

I have also noticed some benefit in gaining attention (within an educational setting) from children who have suffered from social and or emotional trauma.

Trinity has found it very challenging to learn signs as her shared attention and eye contact with others is very limited. It has improved and Trinity  is now beginning to learn more signs.

Regardless of Trinity’s ability to sign herself, I still find that Trinity seems to understand much more successfully, when we have used sign to assist our speech, whilst giving her basic commands and instructions. It also seems to help her  understand what’s about to happen. This then alleviates some anxiety for her.

For Trinity, the use of Sign Along alone would leave her incredibly frustrated, because of this Trinity has been using the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECs). PECs was created by Lori Frost, M. S., CCC-SLP and Andy Bondy, Ph. D. There company is known as Pyramid Educational Consultants.

You can find everything you need to provide PECs resources for your own children/grandchildren or students within an educational setting at the following website:

http://www.pecs.com

You can see Trinity with her PECs book in the photograph featured above. In this picture we have tried to create as many different communication/requesting opportunities as possible. Trinity has to ask for crisps, choose which colour crisps then request a bowl and choose which colour bowl.

Then I would deliberately not open the crisps straight away so as to create an opportunity to teach Trinity how to ask for either, ‘help’ or ‘open’.

Although snack time is an easy and convenient time to teach Trinity to make requests using PECs, it is possible and should be encouraged to be used across all aspects of her day either at home, school or out in the community!

The more tools we give Trinity to communicate, and then if and when these are used consistently, we do see a reduction in unwanted behaviours.

This is not to say that Trinity’s communicating will eliminate all unwanted behaviours, but it certainly makes a significant difference to her quality of life!

Trinity is gradually becoming more inclined to use her PECs book going to get it herself and using her sentence strip to communicate short phrases.

Her use of Sign Along is increasing, we started using sign when Trinity was 2 years old, now she is 6 years old, so you can see that perseverance is fundamentally important when teaching children to access AAC’s.

It is still sad to not be able to hear Trinity’s little voice.

To wonder if we will ever be able to sit and talk about our favourite things together!

One thing is for certain we will do everything in our power to help Trinity to have a voice, it doesn’t matter if that voice is in pictures (PECs), gestures, or Sign Along. Ultimately her quality of life will always be what keeps us motivated, sometimes through tears, but we will get through each day together!

So in answer to my own question, ‘To speak or not to speak… ‘,

we can only speak from the heart in saying that, of course we would love to hear Trinity talk, but it is crucial to understand that the spoken word is not the only way we can effectively communicate!

Some of my most cherished moments with Trinity have been the unique way she expresses her freedom to jump, spin and enjoy music, and the loving hugs and kisses she gives speak more than a ten thousand words could ever express!