Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

[KPeveler]

For all who are looking for a feel good story, next week on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, there is a family with five (i think adopted) severly autistic children. They live in TX and were about to lose their house until EMHE stepped in. i can only imagine the strength these parents had. looks to be an amazing show!

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the heads up.
Just so people know, the date of the program is Feb 18
I have also heard that one of the children will be receiving a communication device from the Prentke Romich Company.
The one is he getting is either the Vantage or the Vanguard.

 

[KPeveler]

wow. Five kids, who are biological siblings with some form of Autism. and they say there is no genetic link to autism. heh

check this out:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/02/19/autism.study.reut/index.html

 

[Forevryoung]

He wound up receiving the Vanguard...

While I think it's great that they are trying to increase AAC awareness, they simply provided a device. What happens if the SLP who works with the child doesn't know squat about the vanguard? The parents are going to be just as clueless. There was NO mention of an SLP in the entire discussion, kind of scares me. (and it miraculously showed up PRE programmed!! imagine that )

It would have been a better situation for all if the device was fit to the child and not the other way around. I hope it works out for them. Parents of children with autism will now all want the Vanguard because thats what the kid on extreme makeover home edition got so it must be the best for kids with autism... sorry I feel skeptical sometimes.

All in all great awareness.

 

[KPeveler]

they said that it was the same device and pictures as the school had. and i am sure he is seeing an SLP, as well as other therapists/doctors. he is in a special program and several of his teachers came to help with the room.

 

[SueM in MN]

they said that it was the same device and pictures as the school had. and i am sure he is seeing an SLP, as well as other therapists/doctors. he is in a special program and several of his teachers came to help with the room.

I missed this episode because we had visitors last night, but I know they have worked with the teachers and therapists in previous shows when they made therapy rooms or got special devices.
I would not be surprised if they had worked with the teachers/therapists for a few months before the show actually came to film.

There was NO mention of an SLP in the entire discussion, kind of scares me. (and it miraculously showed up PRE programmed!! imagine that )

Actually, the Vangard doesn't really need much programming. My DD actually trialed the software that runs the Vangard for a month on her computer and then trialed a Vangard for a month.
We didn't do any programming of either - just opened it up and used it.

It would have been a better situation for all if the device was fit to the child and not the other way around. I hope it works out for them. Parents of children with autism will now all want the Vanguard because thats what the kid on extreme makeover home edition got so it must be the best for kids with autism... sorry I feel skeptical sometimes.

All in all great awareness.

I do think it's important for the person using it to choose the device that fits them.
My DD used a Dynavox from 1996 until just recently when it broke, but she never really liked the 'file folder' system of organization it uses. I know some people use the Dynavox and like it very much, but it was not the right device for her.
She did a trial of a version 4 Dynavox and a Vangard and liked the way that the Vangard was arranged/worked much better.

 

[Forevryoung]

they said that it was the same device and pictures as the school had. and i am sure he is seeing an SLP, as well as other therapists/doctors. he is in a special program and several of his teachers came to help with the room.

If it was the same DEVICE that the school had it should have gone HOME with him EVERY night and weekend (sorry it's a HUGE peeve of mine)- not something the Mother was seeing for the FIRST time


He used those pictures at school apparently

 

[SueM in MN]

If it was the same DEVICE that the school had it should have gone HOME with him EVERY night and weekend (sorry it's a HUGE peeve of mine)- not something the Mother was seeing for the FIRST time


He used those pictures at school apparently

I agree with that.
That was one of the reasons when we got DD her first device that we wanted to own it, not the school.

 

[Forevryoung]

I agree with that.
That was one of the reasons when we got DD her first device that we wanted to own it, not the school.

Actually, by law they HAVE to allow it to stay with the child at ALL times. They can not just cut off the child's communication ability when they leave the school environment.

Sue, I know your daughter is older so this law may not have been in effect yet. I know that my professor was instrumental in helping implement it.

Ohyea if anyone wants to know more about AAC go to the website www.AAC-RERC.org. There are webcasts and information put out there by the leading researchers in the field to inform parents and professionals (SLPs, OTs, PTs, Teachers...) about AAC for both kids and adults. There is one on AAC and litteracy and on on AAC and young kids (birth to three or four) as well as many more. Check it out!

 

[SueM in MN]

Actually, by law they HAVE to allow it to stay with the child at ALL times. They can not just cut off the child's communication ability when they leave the school environment.

Sue, I know your daughter is older so this law may not have been in effect yet. I know that my professor was instrumental in helping implement it.

Ohyea if anyone wants to know more about AAC go to the website www.AAC-RERC.org. There are webcasts and information put out there by the leading researchers in the field to inform parents and professionals (SLPs, OTs, PTs, Teachers...) about AAC for both kids and adults. There is one on AAC and litteracy and on on AAC and young kids (birth to three or four) as well as many more. Check it out!

We never had a problem with our school districts anyway, but I know from some communication forums that I am on, that law or no law, some districts give people a hard time with bringing it home. And, if the child is not in ESY (Extended School Year) some don't have it for the summer.

I also remember a person on one forum whose child owned his device, but she didn't want to send it to school (afraid they would break it) and I know some parents who want nothing to do with the device.
I was the 'chief device caretaker' when DD was in school, did a lot of programming, took care of it when it was not running right. We had good support (very good) once she got to High School level, but the Jr. High Speech Therapist was not at all supportive (if it was up to her, DD's Dynavox would have had 2 buttons per page, when she was using low tech methods with 30 choices). A supportive school and therrapy staff are vitally important unless someone in the family has the time, energy, knowledge and wants to take over.

 

[Forevryoung]

We never had a problem with our school districts anyway, but I know from some communication forums that I am on, that law or no law, some districts give people a hard time with bringing it home. And, if the child is not in ESY (Extended School Year) some don't have it for the summer.

I also remember a person on one forum whose child owned his device, but she didn't want to send it to school (afraid they would break it) and I know some parents who want nothing to do with the device.
I was the 'chief device caretaker' when DD was in school, did a lot of programming, took care of it when it was not running right. We had good support (very good) once she got to High School level, but the Jr. High Speech Therapist was not at all supportive (if it was up to her, DD's Dynavox would have had 2 buttons per page, when she was using low tech methods with 30 choices). A supportive school and therrapy staff are vitally important unless someone in the family has the time, energy, knowledge and wants to take over.

How sad, and that's why I'm specializing in it...

PS Sue, I saw the DV5 today and played around with it (for those of you that don't know, it's been out for about 3 weeks). It runs off of windows xp like the mercury/minimerc so you can technically use any program off it. It's $150 out of pocket to make it an undedicated device (internet access...).

AND Dynovox merged with Mayer Johnson so now Dynavox can use boardmaker pictures and speaking dynamically pro too!

 

[SueM in MN]

How sad, and that's why I'm specializing in it...

PS Sue, I saw the DV5 today and played around with it (for those of you that don't know, it's been out for about 3 weeks). It runs off of windows xp like the mercury/minimerc so you can technically use any program off it. It's $150 out of pocket to make it an undedicated device (internet access...).

AND Dynovox merged with Mayer Johnson so now Dynavox can use boardmaker pictures and speaking dynamically pro too!

If you go on the Dynavox website and read the fine print, it's interesting to see how it compares with the Mercury.
The new Dynavox has a much slower processor 600Mhz (which is pretty slow these days), only has 256 MB of RAM (can expand to 512 possible), is quite a bit heavier and doesn't have a built in CD/DVD drive like the Mercury has.
I have a feeling that people who are buying it because it is also a computer will be unpleasantly surprised.

 

[Forevryoung]

If you go on the Dynavox website and read the fine print, it's interesting to see how it compares with the Mercury.
The new Dynavox has a much slower processor 600Mhz (which is pretty slow these days), only has 256 MB of RAM (can expand to 512 possible), is quite a bit heavier and doesn't have a built in CD/DVD drive like the Mercury has.
I have a feeling that people who are buying it because it is also a computer will be unpleasantly surprised.

Oh I agree- one of my clients has the minimerc and is doing well with it (adult after a stroke). We use the mercury (and gemini which is the older mac version) in the lab the most.

People are buying they dynavox because SLP's usually only "know" one system and provide a "one machine fits all" approach frequently.

Interestingly enough, the new dynavox comes preprogramed with some great pages/setups. I can go into more details if anyone needs me to.