Z & E were pretty much non verbal as little as 2 years ago.
Now....I can't seem to keep them quiet!
Truly and honestly their Chatty
Kathiness is very much a blessing in our household.
BUT! Like I said they weren't always verbal.
And one can only take so much grunting right?
With the advice of their speech therapist I made charts, charts and more charts.
I started by researching "Free
Boardmaker" on Google.
Boardmaker is a wonderful tool to own if you have a non verbal child.
And if you can swing this pricey program more power to ya!
I opted for the frugal way and it worked just fine with us.
I purchased some inexpensive page protectors and started printing away.
At the end of this blog I will furnish you with the sites I used.
The purpose of these charts is so your child can point to what they want.
If they can't point, take their hand and point for them.
"Do you want this?" "Or that?"
By now you can probably read their facial expressions and know what they want.
If they can point, then keep them pointing to what they want.
Your next step is getting them to say the word.
EX: They point to raisins, next step is having them repeat "Raisins".
Tell them to use their words and slowly and surely they will come around.
Now some kids will never be verbal and they may have to point.
That's okay.
The kinds of charts I put up and where I put them up:
Kitchen: Snacks, meals the boys would ACTUALLY eat, Beverages.
You can also use charts showing dangers, like "hot".
Bathroom:
Hand washing, toilet flushing, bathing etc.
Bedroom: On the dresser I placed charts of clothes they had in their drawers, same thing for their closet.
Living area: Basically just picture charts of furniture and television.
These are some of the charts I used for the boys below.
Now this was more of a schedule.
I no longer have the boys "Big" schedule for I gave it to a friend who's son is still non-verbal.
Basically cut and laminate some pictures.
(You can laminate just by placing the picture between two big pieces of clear packing tape or you can find laminate sheets that are 4x6 at your local dollar store.)
Next take some sturdy cloth or cardboard to make your schedule it will look like this.
(Mine was just a cut up piece of paper towel roll.)
Take peel and stick Velcro put one on the cardboard one on your picture and there you have it!
I used this to plan the boys' days.
From the time they woke up to the time they went to bed.
They had their day planned.
This two piece schedule in the photo was one I found in my drawer.
This originally had a photo of a toilet and then hand washing.
Schedules are important because it helps our children have a voice.
If you little one is in a Special Education class and you go visit their room you will see charts and schedules just like these.
Sites I frequently visited.
Hope this helps.
