Technology

Don't we live in interesting times with regards to technology for kids with special needs?

Little BooBoo still struggles with speech. She knows what she wants, she knows how to say it, but the words just don't come out in a way that people can understand properly. This creates frustration and leads people to assume that she doesn't understand them. They then talk to me about her, and all of that frustrates her even more.

She goes to speech therapy twice a week, and the girl is working really hard. She's getting there with the "s" and "f" sounds. In fact, she going so well with her speech that the therapists are starting to think that maybe she has a physiological problem in terms of air flow management, and we have made a tentative booking with a specialist at the Cleft Palate clinic at the children's hospital - but that's another story.

We have been discussing that the time may have come to try some technology to help the BooBoo Girl along in her attempts to communicate with the world.

Meanwhile, I have been gratefully plugged in to the collective brains of the CPecialparents.

The things those parents know, you wouldn't believe it. And there are some serious experts on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices.

I had heard a bit about a great app for the iPod Touch called Proloquo2Go. Unlike many AACs, which can cost a few thousand collard, you can download it for just over $230. It's a deceptively simple program where you touch a series of pictures to make a sentence and then the computer speaks it. You get audio feedback when you touch the picture so even non-readers can use it.

There are a number of categories and there is quite a complex set of words, concepts and phrases in the program. Being digital, you can move things around, you can delete and add new words and categories, and you can add your own photographs. For example, you can take a picture of family members or a child's favorite toys and add them to the program.

As we had a small iPod Touch in the house, we decided to give it a try. And it worked a treat. BooBoo got the idea very quickly and very much liked to use it. She was even inspired to copy the computer voice and try out some new words. The only disadvantage was that the speaker in the iPod is not too great, so to really make it work, we bought a small external speaker, which was a bit fiddly to carry around and set up. And it has to be said, that the buttons on the iPod are a bit small. While she can manage, we knew it could be easier.

I was eyeing his new iPad. I soooo want one, it looks like such a wonderful thingy.

I know it's not quite a laptop, but in tandem with a desktop, it seems to me the perfect solution. Small, light and versatile. And I can confirm it's all that.

I am typing this on an iPad. Not mine, mind you, BooBoo's.

BooBoo's Opa Pieter loves technology, and of course he has an iPad. When we saw him on Sunday, the girl got to have a play with it, and Opa was most interested to see how quickly she was off and running with the thing. He mentioned that the Proloquo2Go would be so much easier for her to use on an iPad. I agreed wholeheartedly - but added that my finances simply did not stretch to one and the conversation moved on.

That evening, I'm doing some tidying up in the laundry (what is it with that place, I seem to do that regularly, and yet it always ends up in a mess).

And suddenly there stood Opa Pieter with an iPad in his hands!

You should have seen the sparks in that girl's eyes when he gave it to her!

School

I had a decision to make, and it wasn't easy.

Boo Boo is turning five next year which means she is eligible to go school next year. She doesn't quite have to - it's all to do with the NSW legal age at which you have to start and when her birthday falls, I won't bore you with it. And he question is, is she ready?

I really have the sense that she's a bright little button and another year of preschool might not challenge her enough, but I wasn't entirely sure that big school was the right thing either. So, what to do?

In NSW we have a parallel school system for kids with special needs. And the rules there are a bit different. Due to the special needs of kids with disabilities, they are allowed to start school a year earlier, in what is then called a transition year. Speical schools tend to be small, have smaller classes and have a high student- staff ratio.

BooBoo is currently enrolled at a preschool program at a special needs school for children with physical disabilities and medical conditions (which is fully set- up for a cheecky four year old power chair driver). It's a wonderful place and I am more than happy with it - in fact I can highly recommend it.

But now, what next?

Parenting is an interesting journey. You start with certain ideals and as you travel along the road you find yourself adjusting to your childrens personalities and needs.

So despite my strong belief in inclusion I found myself In the school office of fhe special needs school enrolling BooBoo. And now I am desperately hoping that she will get accepted.

Confused?

This is what I'm thinking.

Another year of preschool will not be stimulating enough for her. She's not ready for kindy at a mainstream school. So if all goes according to plan, she will go to kindy at the special school next year. Which means 5 days a week, in a class of about 6 kids and two teachers (and it's free, which is a nice bonus). And if she gets accepted, we may get the last school term at preschool free too as it would qualify as the special needs early transition to school thingy.

After her year of kindy at the special school, she will then re-do kindy at the mainstream school her brothers attend. She will then already have had a head-start on the academic side of things, and will be able to free up some brain space for the all important social interaction and getting used to being in a very different environment. And nowadays there is plenty of flexibility in the system. If we feel she would benefit from another year at the special school, then we can do that too (and go to Year One in the mainstream school).

Does this mean that I no longer believe in inclusion? No, not at all.

But it does mean that I have learned to leave my ideology at the door when it comes go doing what's best for my children. Inclusion is the ultimate aim. I want my daughter to get an education so that she can be fully included into society. What I have learned is that different kids have different needs, and as a parent I need to do what's right for her at any given time.

I admit, I walked out of the school office with tears in my eyes. I never thought that I would one day enroll my child at a special school. And not only that, actively hope she gets a place.

Parenting is an interesting journey!

Mad as Hell media

I have written before about our Australians Mad as Hell campaign for the introduction of a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

We're starting to get some positive responses - so far we have collected nearly 15,000 pledges from people who will only vote for a politician who supports an NDIS.

The newspapers have taken up the story of these "Mothers from Hell" with their kitchen table revolution. And so has television.

And if you follow the links below, you can see that we've started to attract some media attention.

First there was this one, on daytime TV on one of our commercial channels (Channel ():

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqDSMiwKEoo

And then this one (it' so long we've had to cut it in half to post on YouTube) on the national broadcaster (ABC):

First half) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gB83VP55HU

Second half) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS4Xa_YPHto