Talking and hearing. Two things most of us, including myself, can do without any props or devices. Which means I’m fairly portable – I can dash out the door and trust that if I need to communicate with someone about something, I can. I think about this a lot in respect to [...]
Filed under: communication - general, equipment on March 2nd, 2008 | No Comments »
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 [...]
Filed under: equipment, seating, switch use, wheelchair on February 17th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
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 [...]
Filed under: equipment, switch use on February 12th, 2008 | No Comments »
Owen had his communications assessment meeting yesterday, at Bloorview Kids Rehab, and it was fascinating. It will likely take several posts to distill it all – but I’ll start with the most compelling stuff.
I have been assuming all this time that independence should be the final communication goal for Owen. To be able [...]
Filed under: communication - general, equipment on January 30th, 2008 | No Comments »
Here’s the website for the wheelchair described in the previous post, in case fetching the youtube video is too slow for your connection:
http://www.kidsupco.com
Filed under: equipment, seating, wheelchair on January 24th, 2008 | No Comments »
It seems Owen’s increased tone was in fact due to the clonazepam withdrawal. He’s back on his previous dose (after consultation with his physician) and almost instantly, he returned to his old self. What a relief! I feel much more confident about the quality of his communication assessment next week – [...]
Filed under: equipment, medical, seating, wheelchair on January 24th, 2008 | 1 Comment »