We were on the way back from speech and I was headed to Dairy Queen and I asked Alyssa is she wanted to get something to eat , she smiled and signed yes . I asked her If she wanted Dairy Queen and she again signed yes and smiled . So I asked her what she wanted … she usually has a visual which helps her . I was just kind of talking to her not really expected her to answer . But she did she said chicky and French fries , I asked what she wanted to drink and she answered Sprite . I asked her what else and she couldn’t answer until I asked do you want ice cream and then she repeated me. The repetition is obviously helping but it is still so good !! So we get there and go through the drive through and I’m ordering and I asked her if she wants a hot fudge sundae and I point to the board , or do you want Oreo ? ( Oreo blizzard ) she says Oreo and points to the blizzards . It is so hard for her to deviate from the routine. This makes me so happy because she was able to make a choice for herself . I just want her to be able to make some of her own choices.
Later on I asked her how her day at school was . She said good and I asked her a few questions which she repeated me and nodded yes . I then said we went to speech and then where ? Where did we go ? Can you tell me what we got. It’s hard because a lot gets lost and it’s hard to know exactly what she understands verbally . I was mostly just trying to practice her recall . She turned grabbed her IPad , pulled up the app and hit Dairy Queen , chicken nuggets , French fries . Ketchup . Sprite and ice cream !! This is only the second time she has Independently used her IPad for communication ~ with no prompting… This is so huge !!! She understood she needed this to help her communicate with me and was willing to use it because she wanted to communicate with me ! This is such a great step in the right direction .. She is so stubborn and set in her way and she is starting to be more open with using the iPad for communication this is no small feat for her .
Autism adventures with Alyssa 