Archive | February, 2008

outings and activities

by jennifer on 28. Feb, 2008 in social

In my desire to establish a measurable, goal-oriented communication plan, I get a little caught up in structure. In methodology. In creating a reproducible, consistent set of tools. I fall into my own trap of intellectualizing and go so deep I completely lose sight of how to bring it to Owen in any kind of [...]

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title slide – Owen

previously presented speech – ‘Emerging Communication’

by jennifer on 21. Feb, 2008 in communication - general, essays + speeches, social

Following is the speech/presentation I wrote and delivered for the Children’s Treatment Network – a new virtual therapy center for children with disabilities for York Region (the region north of Toronto). It is ‘virtual’ because there is no physical location – therapists are connected and referred by phone, email and web services. The audience was [...]

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position available

by jennifer on 20. Feb, 2008 in employment available

Role: Communication and Learning Facilitator Location: Downtown Toronto Salary: $15-18/hr Submit Resume to: jennifer@johannesen.ca Our family is seeking a Communication and Learning Facilitator for our 9-year-old son. You will be an active participant in contributing to and executing a structured Communication Program to assist him with developing expressive communication and reinforcing his receptive ASL skills. [...]

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old Connections photo – Owen and me

an old article I wrote

by jennifer on 20. Feb, 2008 in essays + speeches

This article appeared in the June 2004 edition of Connections (which is now called Bloom) – a publication of Bloorview Kids Rehab. I’m ‘reprinting’ it here with the aim of starting a collection of essays, speeches and thoughts – some previously recorded, some still to come. “My five-year-old son is the wisest person I know” [...]

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Owen in a Kids Rock wheelchair

new wheelchair!

by jennifer on 17. Feb, 2008 in equipment, seating, switch use, wheelchair

Several days ago, Owen was kitted out with a demo wheelchair – the same one I discussed earlier in this blog. It’s called a Kids Rock dynamic wheelchair, and has a special spring-like action that engages when Owen becomes spastic or reflexive. If he thrusts (straightens at the hips while sitting), the hinge between the [...]

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Switches

high tech. sort of.

by jennifer on 12. Feb, 2008 in equipment, switch use

As I continue to contemplate Owen’s capacity for choice-making (and his communication partners’ capacities for offering choices), I have not ruled out other options for communication. In a previous post I mentioned that he was very successful when using a switch-activated signal, which we used for ‘reading’ a book. (I would sign the part of [...]

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response to last post

by jennifer on 08. Feb, 2008 in communication - general, movies/books/media

Regarding my last post, a comment from my dad, SKJ: You are surely too hard on yourself. “Presentable” and “regular” are the loaded words, the dark suspicion that your quest for communication is some sort of misguided response to shame. It is not Owen’s humanity that is on the table, but yours, ours, all of [...]

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Movie: The Diving Bell + The Butterfly

by jennifer on 07. Feb, 2008 in movies/books/media

I won’t typically be posting movie reviews, but this one is so ‘on topic’ I want to share a bit about my experience seeing this movie. Brief description: Based on a true story. A French man with a vibrant, exciting life has a massive stroke and becomes completely locked in his body, unable to move [...]

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