“I remember that day vividly. I was in the kitchen, serving dinner to my 10 year old daughter, Allara, at the kitchen table. Her friend, who was visiting, sat across the room in a bean bag watching TV – facing away from me.
Suddenly, my daughter held her iPad up frantically towards my face, scanning her AAC device and searching for words.
She navigated (found the words in her communication tool on her iPad) to say:
“I want to tell you something”
then
“something’s wrong”
and then
“sick.”
At first, I thought she might be feeling unwell. But then she pointed urgently toward her friend. It took me a moment to follow her gaze. And there, her friend was having a tonic clonic seizure. Allara had seen it from her viewpoint, which I hadn’t.
In that split moment, I realised my daughter’s device didn’t have the words she needed to communicate what she needed. No “seizure” or “friend”, or her friend’s name even!
It struck me that her ability to fully communicate was limited by the device’s vocabulary.
I acted quickly with first aid, and her friend was okay. But what stayed with me was firstly, how clever Allara was to find an way to communicate in an emergency situation using what few tools she had available; and secondly, was the importance of broad language programming in her communication tool.
It was a wake-up call. Since then, I’ve made it a mission to expand and enrich her AAC device with more words, ensuring she has the vocabulary to express herself fully in any situation. That day taught me the crucial significance of providing wide-ranging language in AAC devices for better, more comprehensive communication.”
*****
* Allara is now 23-years-old. The moment was so impactful that it sticks with her mum, Leticia (DDWA’s Advocacy Manager) for more than 10 years…and forever..
Thank you, Leticia and Allara, for sharing your story.
#MyStoryWithAAC #AACAwareness #InclusiveCommunication #AAC
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