Summer Update

It has been a busy July here! Mary is continuing to use her DynaVox and is doing very well! Her speech therapist and assistive technology person from school are writing justifications for her to get her own, with a wheelchair mount and other accessories this fall. Mary is able to answer yes/no questions, simple comprehension questions, talk on the phone with her grandmother, play pretend with her pony, tell us how she is feeling and other things with this device! It is fantastic! Mary always tells her nurses what she wants to do during the week by using her DynaVox and making choices.

In other news, Mary attended Vacation Bible School at church and Love Love LOVED it! We wish VBS was all summer long! Here are some pictures of all the fun she had.

most fun bounce house ever!!!

Mary also has a couple of little girlfriends she has been playing with this summer.  Nikki and Julianna have had a few playdates with her and it has been fun.  She has enjoyed playing puppies with both of them.  Mary has a switch operated puppy and a remote control puppy, so it works well when there are two kids.  She enjoyed swinging on Nikki's swingset and I feel guilty that I haven't hung her swing yet.  Julianna got Mary into dolls a little.  Mary likes her Dora doll best, of course!  Just yesterday, Julianna and Mary put on a "bouncing show."  It was cute.  They were bouncing and stopping - that was the whole show!  Kids are funny - they loved it!

Talking to Nonnie on the Telephone

Mary talked to her grandmother on the phone tonight! She told Nonnie about getting a pony and how she plays with him. Then she used her photo pages to tell Nonnie about other things in her life! Nonnie asked some yes/no questions and Mary answered them. I need to add greetings and an "I love you" to a page so that Mary can answer more than 'yes' when Nonnie says those things.

Oh yeah, Mary also figured out how to close a page that she navigated to mistakenly. She waits to hear the cue 'close.' I am so impressed with her!

Mary got a pony

Well, not a real pony. It is a stuffed animal and she took to it immediately! The first thing she did was pet it's nose. Then we got her Dynavox out and I asked her some yes/no questions about it. I found out that this horse is a boy. The horse she rides each Monday is named Scotty, but she told me that she did not want to name this horse Scotty. I suggested Spotty and she said "yes." This is one way she plays with Spotty using her Dynavox.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Mary's favorite children's song is Itsy Bitsy Spider. I am grateful that DynaVox has that programmed on their "Young Child" pages! It is one thing that Mary is using to learn DynaVox with. Mary really loves the DynaVox, but has only had it a few days. She has made a couple of choices - books, songs and TV shows.
They way she uses it is by hitting the blue switch when the device scans -visually and auditorily- the desired item. The device then says the choice that Mary made.

What is Mary up to?

Where do I start with all the new things Mary is doing now? She is doing to a typical nursery school and has a lot of friends there. Mary loves to have stories read to her. Her favorites are the Froggy series and Arthur series. Mary also likes to play in the activity room where she can roll around on the mat and try to stay away from the kids on bikes!
She has started horseback riding and swimming and really loves them both! Mary is constantly pretending to ride her pony, Scotty! She is really into barn animals and goes around the house pretending to be a chicken, as well!
Mary loves her baby-sitter, Jamie, and they are planning a trip to the Strong Museum of Play this summer. I am sure it will be a hit and we will have to become members!