The Trip to New Orleans

Why am I up at 5:30 blogging? All these words are rolling around in my head. If I don't get it out of my system, I will not be able to fall back asleep! So, there!

We woke up at four in the morning yesterday. Pamela dressed, played on the computer, and watched television while we got ready to go. At about 5:15, we were gearing up to leave the house and I noticed Pamela was holding a little bag that she used for storing her tape cassettes for stimming. Rather than tell her imperatively to put it away, I looked at it with curiosity and said, “I wonder what’s in the bag.” I held out my hand and Pamela brought it to me. When I opened the bag, I was in awe! Pamela had backed all of her baby essentials in the baby’s own luggage! That right there almost made the trip worth it because it seemed like she was trading her stimming for people!

We drove an hour and a half to Charleston and checked our luggage in the dark, hoping to avoid the Nor'easter that had already plunged temperatures into the sixties. Pamela traveled light. She wore her purple backpack with its solitary spiral notebook and pencil. She carried her babies, Baby Alive and David, and their luggage. A couple of times, Steve asked her if she wanted to put them in her backpack for our convenience while going through security checkpoints. NO! Those were her babies and she was treating them like real people. She hung onto them for the entire trip. The man at the curb of the airport said, "Now, don't drop your baby!" She gave him a double-take and replied, "You're joking! Comedy!"

Pamela loves flying and riding buses, escalators, elevators, trains, and subways, so she finds navigating in and out of airports easy. We took an early flight to Houston and had about a ninety-minute layover before catching one to New Orleans. David and I giggled our way through the cheesy shopping catalog in the seat pocket. I could spend an entire post about the burp gun, marshmallow gun, and myriad of useless gadgets that would make Billy Mays weep. On one page is a sappy pillow with the words “Kiss me before you fall asleep” and on the other is a dog tag that says, “I like to kiss my dog.” EW!

David lucked out on the last leg of the trip. Since Steve has a platinum card with that airline, the computer upgraded him to first class. He wanted to sit next to Pamela, so he switched with David. Imagine being sixteen and flying first class! The second flight was the worst for me. The pressure on my eardrums was fearsome, but they withstood the landing. I felt like I had vertigo for the rest of the day and my left ear did not clear up until the next day!

We arrived in New Orleans hassle-free, rented our car, and headed to the French Quarter where our hotel is. Driving from the airport downtown was a shock. The landscape has completely changed right down to the sound barriers along I-10 and the massive pumping station adjacent to it. The old, rotating cow along I-10 that amused on my way home was gone. Familiar buildings are damaged, restored, or gone: so many complexes in sad condition or newly restored. Katrina happened three years ago and completely changed the face of New Orleans.

When we arrived at the hotel, we bumped into Pamela’s aunt and mother of the bride, Janet, and the bride, Alyson. Pamela had not seen Alyson in about five years because the few times we have visited family in Louisiana she was either attending college or working in Mississippi. At first, Pamela had no idea who this strange woman was and her face was completely blank. I said to her, “Pamela, Alyson is a grown up and ready to be married.” Suddenly, her eyes lit up and an enormous grin bloomed on her face when Pamela finally recognized her cousin.

After we checked-in, we collapsed in our room for two hours before getting ready for the next item on the agenda, the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

Head Cold Hiatus

Click here for previous installment of the Princess Dress Diaries.

I am sorry but I have to postpone the rest of the Association Method overview until next week thanks to one nasty head cold. David came down with it two weeks ago, and Pamela did the same last week. Is it already Thursday? I have lost track of time! I had a slight sore throat that did not worsen until I woke up on Sunday morning. From that day on, I have been one drippy, congested mess. Since the health food store is a half-hour drive, I had to make due with what I had on hand to slay this cold.



I felt so bad Tuesday night I was beginning to doubt I could fly to New Orleans on Friday for the debut of the Princess Dress. I sent out prayer requests to my email list friends and started steaming out my sinuses with hot water following up with saline nasal spray. After periodic steamings, I finally settled down at three in the morning and spent the rest of Wednesday sleeping off and on between steamings, except for a two-hour window in which I found out said princess dress was NOT ready (GRRRR), the kids got hair cuts, and we shopped for shoes and a rehearsal dinner outfit for Pamela. I went back on the steam cycle and lots of prayers and finally slept the entire night, starting at about ten. I woke up once or twice to sip on some juice and did not get up until six in the morning.

Today is Thursday (ALREADY?). I slept soundly all night and woke up with a fairly clear head (mild congestion), but I have air flowing through each nostril!!!! While it does not compare to the parting of the Red Sea, it qualifies as a miracle from God to me! Air flow! Semi-clear head! No headache! No fever! No muscle aches! Thank you, God!

I got up at my usual time (six in the morning) and Pamela came up to me while I was sitting at the computer. She said, "Tammy!" I turned to her and she said, "I'm so sorry." I asked, "About what?" She held my hands and said, "About your cold." Later today, at the mall, I grumbled about feeling bad, and she squeezed my arm and kissed it! She was very attentive to me in the car: when I needed my purse, she handed it to me. At one point, the strap got wrapped around the handle I grab to adjust the seat. I got so frustrated and leaned back to take a breather, so she leaned over and patiently undid it for me. WOW! That is what RDI is doing for our family in a nutshell!

The good news is that I think I can fly tomorrow! The bad news I faced a lengthy to-do list. I managed to do the items in red in less than five hours (including a one-hour round trip in the car):

• Take the dogs to the kennel.
• Beg Mom to hem Pamela's pants (she's a great quilter so it is easy for her).
• Pick up dry cleaning.
• Pick up the Princess Dress and bolero jacket.
  
• Buy shoes, hose, and bras for Pamela (I couldn't find any yesterday).
• Buy three outfits, hose, and bras for me!
• Pick up Nature's Way HAS which cured my last sinus infection.
• Pack our bags smartly.
• Finish the laundry.

David has been a great sport and asset to me. He narrated several books and typed others to get some homeschooling done. He took care of the dogs, did the dishes, wiped counters, made beds, and cooked for Pamela and himself. He carried around laundry baskets when I was too achy to do it myself. He even did disgusting things like put away people's clean underwear in their drawers (apparently this requires major handwashing--LOL). Poor David faced the worst injustice today. He sat in the back of our tiny Kia with our two dogs, Loa ("Driving Miss Daisy") and Arwen ("Driving Miss Daisy Crazy"). As a reward, I let him cut loose in the mall. When I was ready to shop for me, I asked him to sit with Pamela (who was sick of shopping at that point), who was holding her two babies (not dolls, babies). Any teenaged brother who will do that for his older autistic sister is a superhero in my book!

Here's our haul, in case you want to see it (except for the ladies unmentionables because this blog is rated-G):

Princess Dress and Bolero Jacket


Dress and Rehearsal Dinner Duds


Digs to Go with the Duds


Queen Mum Attire


What Keeps Queen Mum's Nose from Running


Click here for next installment of the Princess Dress Diaries.

What I Understand about the First Unit of Language

Yesterday, I gave an overview of the Association Method. Today, I will explain what I know about the first unit of language (which is not much since we skipped it)! I learned nearly everything I know in the teaching manual for the Association Method. You can attend multi-level courses at USM Dubard, which offers a certification program, but that did not seem feasible for a homeschooling mother of two!

The first unit of language is for children who cannot read and have very little language, if any. The goal is for them to learn to say, read, lip-read, listen, and write at least fifty nouns. In the first phase of the program, children learn the Northampton symbols shown to the left. As you can see (click the picture for a better view), the manual provides detailed information about each symbol and its associated sound. If you are familiar with The Writing Road to Reading or Orton-Gillingham-like methods, these symbols are based on the concept of phonemes. (Warning Label: We tried WRTR and, well, in our house, it was "The Writing Road to Crying"--Pamela and David fared much better with At Last! A Reading Method for Every Child for reading and Handwriting without Tears for writing.)

Phonemes
Children first focus on Northampton symbols, mastering one symbol-sound at a time. To do this, they undergo multi-sensory steps, which I have explained in a much earlier post. Going through all multi-sensory steps and incrementally progressing from phonemes to syllables to words are vital. Children with severe language disorders really do need this much focus and repetition in all sensory channels. What distinguishes the Association Method from how ABA therapists typically approach language is the incremental progression and emphasis on multi-sensory. Again, I do not believe all autistic children need to do this, but kids like Pamela need a more structured, multi-channel approach.

Once children have learned several symbols, they can play simple card games like Go Fish and Concentration with cards made from the symbols. Pro-Ed does offer materials that make preparing to teach this unit less time consuming, such as 282 4 x 6 phoneme manuscript cards. I know you might be thinking playing Concentration with phoneme cards is no big deal. If so, I dare you to watch Connor's Story and NOT CRY!

Two-Sound Syllables
The second phase, a transitional one, uses drop drills combining two phonemes into one syllable. They are started once children learn three Northampton vowels and three Northampton consonants and are taught in the seven steps described in another blog post. This exercise got its name for two reasons: the syllable drops down the page and the activity is dropped in the next phase. Notice how color-coding distinguishes between two sounds in these drills. Children learn to read simply consonant-vowel words after mastering only a few symbols! Pro-ed offers noun cards for the first unit of language: 193 4 x 6 small picture noun cards (also available as 8.5 x 11 cards).


Nouns
Once they can read, repeat from lip-reading or hearing, and write ten syllables from cross drills, children transition to cross drills in the final phase of the first unit, which trains the eye in left to right, top to bottom reading. I Can Talk's page on the Association Method shows a boy doing a cross drill at the dry erase board and another boy reading from his personal story book, where all drills and stories are stored. Simple nouns are drawn from each set of cross drills, formed into seven groups of sound patterns. Each group increases the complexity of the word with V representing by phonemes having a vowel sound and C representing those with a consonant sound:

Group 1 - CV or VC
Groups 2 and 3 - CVC
Group 4 - CVC or CVV
Group 5 - CVC or VCC or CCV or CVV
Group 6 - CVCC or CCVC
Group 7 - CVCV or CVCVCV and beyond



Appendices
The appendices of the manual are quite extensive and necessary to implement the pogram. Appendix A covers phonetics and the Northampton symbols. Appendix B has over 140 pages of sample content from a typical child's book for all three units of language. Appendix C provides a standard vocabulary list of nouns taught in the first unit of language, while Appendix D provides more detail on sample stories used in the second and third units. Appendix E outlines a typical program showing the progression from first phonemes to first syllables to words for a chlid with dyslexia. That's not bad for $52 plus shipping!

You can read about the second unit of language here.

Overview of the Association Method

I haven't blogged about our work with the Association Method in a long time and I would like to give a quick overview today. About five years ago, my in-laws told us about a segment on Good Morning America about this method of teaching nonverbal, autistic children to speak. At fourteen years old, Pamela could speak: she had a HUGE vocabulary of nouns and stock phrases. But, she had no idea of how to put words together so as to make sense. We could understand her, but her confusing syntax made it hard for others to understand her. We were living in the Shumagin Islands at the time. Their library offered a great interlibrary loan program so I ordered a copy of the manual for the association method from a library in Oregon. After reading it about fifty times (LOL), I concluded that Pamela had had full-blown aphasia as a child and still had syntactic aphasia as a teen. I purchased a copy because it seemed like it might be the miracle we needed to get Pamela over the language hurdle.

Not all autistic children need the association method! If your child is developing language, late but in a similar pattern as other verbal autistic children, you can probably adopt a wait-and-see attitude. However, children who seem to struggle with learning language at the same rate as their autistic peers might benefit from this slowed-down, exaggerated, highly spotlighted way of learning language.

Here's a brief history lesson! Mildred McGinnis, a speech therapist for the deaf, in the early 19th century worked with aphasic soldiers after World War I. In time, she began to notice similarities between these men and a subgroup of deaf children who struggled to pick up language at the same rate as their deaf peers. She spent the rest of her career devising a method to teach children who showed signs of aphasia, whether they were deaf or hearing, how to understand and use language.

The association method is based on a model outlined in the manual, Teaching Language Deficient Children by Etoile DuBard and Maureen K. Martin. The model assumes that children with severe language disorders are extremely poor guessers at language and require the learning of language to fall into tiny, systematic chunks. Mildred McGinnis designed her approach on information theory to reduce a language-disordered child's chances of making errors in decoding, organizing, associating, storing and retrieving sounds, then words, and eventually sentences. She broke down down the learning of language into three units.

First Unit of Language - This unit concentrates on learning phonemes expressed as Northampton symbols through drop drills and learning nouns through cross drills with the goal of the child being able to say, read, lip-read, listen, and write at least fifty nouns. If your child has major fine motor delays, you might consider typing or using magnetic letters or flashcards to scaffold the writing step until writing is not a problem. If your child has a working vocabulary of at least fifty nouns (both receptive and expressive) and can read, then you can skip the learning of Northampton symbols and move right into the second unit, which is what we did!

Second Unit of Language - This unit concentrates on learning six highly versatile, but limited sentences and corresponding with syntax that can be gradually expanded one element at time, through stories. These stories serve very specific purposes: animal (yes/no questions, numbers, plurals, "can", adjectives), inanimate object ("it" and color), personal (personal pronouns, "am"/"are", preposition round-up (prepositions), descriptive (being able to describe a place), and present progressive round-up (present progressive tense) stories.

Third Unit of Language - This unit expands tense and ability to narration through stories: experience stories (past and future tenses) and imagination stories (sequence language).

Using multi-sensory methods (the seven steps of learning syntax), they learn to read and articulate sounds, sounds combined into words, and words combined into sentence. The highlights of this method include:

• Teaches both receptive and expressive language.
• Provides structure, repetition, and sameness in language.
• Children say, read, lip-read, listen, and write new elements.
• Waits for complete recall without prompting.
• Associates auditory with visual symbols.
• Emphasizes precise articulation.
• Uses Northampton symbols for learning sounds.
• Teaches one small element at a time.
• Slows down the rate of speech to spotlight new elements.
• Uses cursive to distinguish words.
• Color-codes new elements for emphasis.
• Focuses attention on written material (eventually stories).
• Associates auditory with visual symbols.
• Builds gradually on previously mastered language.

Before closing, I would like to let you know how far Pamela has come with the association method. When we first started, she could not say a complete sentence with correct syntax and words in the right order. In her reading, writing, and speaking, she often dropped articles and prepositions. She had no idea about irregular verbs and would write or say "goed" and "wented". No matter what I did, she confused progressive and present tense, saying "it was run" or "it running" but never "it was running"! In 2004, we started off with the very first sentence in the second unit of language: "This is a ___________." It was a long, slow, but worthwhile process to get to where we are today.

Where are we in 2008?

Pamela reads and writes with very consistent syntax. Less of it shows up when she is speaking, but when I think about the pragmatics of speech, how many of us answer every question in complete sentences? "Are you hungry?" "Yep!" It sounds stilted to say, "Yes, I am hungry." Pamela has more time to retrieve words and reflect on syntax when she writes and you can see that she retains it. When we are having a conversation, I loosen up because we are also focusing on broadband communication (gestures, facial expressions, vocal intonation, and pacing as well as words). When we take our time in orally narrating a story, Pamela can use proper syntax as you will see when I blog the third unit of language.

Last year, we worked hard on simple and progressive, past and present tenses. This week, I formally introduced future tense with the word "will" in her first official experience story. In an experience story, you address what will happen, then you experience it, and you end with what happened. I wrote it about the flat tire we had last week. It just so happened I had a camera with me and I figured I could use my time wisely by snapping pictures.

You can enlarge the picture in this experience story by clicking it. Notice how I spotlight the words will and did with red. They both have similar syntax in comparison to is and was which I spotlighted with blue. When we first started the association method, I had to introduce sentence syntax separately from question syntax. Pamela is advanced enough to learn both at the same time.



Pamela also reads one story from her syntax-controlled readers (which I will blog in another post). Here is the question and answer sheet to review the new syntax:



This is a typical sheet Pamela does to practice the new syntax through copywork, written narration, and dictation.



We also practice the new syntax orally. Pamela filled out the practice sheets while we were waiting to get the car serviced on Wednesday. She picked up the new syntax right away. We decided to head to the health food store while we were in town. I thought it would make a great experience story, so, before we left, I asked her these questions and she told me the answers. I wrote them all down to reinforce our conversation visually.



When we arrived home, we did a follow up story to spotlight the difference between future tense and past tense. We also covered picking up lunch from Hardee's on the way home.



If this post has captured your attention and you are breathlessly waiting for my next post with more details and film footage of us working together, chew on this lengthy pdf file and this monograph. In the next couple of posts, I plan to cover each unit in greater detail and show you how we apply the association method in our homeschooling day. I will not give you enough to fly without the manual, but I think you will walk away with a better idea of whether or not to purchase it.

Click as follows to read about the rest of the association method:
The First Unit of Language
The Second Unit of Language: The First Sentence
The Second Unit of Language: An RDI Perspective
The Second Unit of Language: The Next Five Sentences

Wacky Week!

Click here for previous installment of the Princess Dress Diaries.

This week was one of those weeks in which I simply could not get any traction on the
homeschooling front:

• David is getting over a head cold, which means there were some fuzzy headed math days for him.
• Pamela is coming down with David's head cold, which means she is a drippy, miserable mess.
• I am taking Vitamin C, Zicam, and lots of soup and juice to fight a mild sore throat and two singing nights in a row (choir and praise band).
• I had the phone repaired on Tuesday on the phone company's dime: the phone shorted out every time it rained hard or Steve got crazy with the sprinklers. The ADT guy paid us a visit today because the radio transmitter stopped working.
• Switching to the third hard drive in the past three weeks put me behind in doing my year in review and plans for the new year, due to my third option homeschooling association this week. I spent all weekend plus Monday and Tuesday going through the kids' papers and pounding the keyboard, leaving my head pounding.
• David had soccer practice Tuesday and Thursday night. I had rehearsal for choir and band Wednesday and Thursday night.
• Yesterday, Pamela and I spent three hours at the dealership getting an oil change and typical service (fortunately, she does not mind doing schoolwork in the waiting room). Then, we hit the health food store.
• Steve left on an unexpected trip Tuesday and arrived home late, LATE, L-A-T-E last night.
• Today, we cleaned house, just in case someone might stop by after the block front porch party next door. We have spent the past two years renovating this 100-year-old house and, let's just say, people are curious. Steve and I went to the block party before I headed to rehearsal. (BTW, nobody stopped by . . .)
• My husband, zonked out on the couch, just asked me, "What did the state attorney general tell you to do with the fuel tanks?" Huh? I think he is watching too much politics! David wants to know if he is on the dark side of the moon . . .
• We will spend the weekend buying clothes for us my niece's wedding next week. In reality, we will probably only squeeze out three days of homeschooling next week since I will have to kennel the dogs on Thursday (and pack) and we leave for New Orleans on Friday.
• Speaking of which, here is a peek of the Princess Dress, which we ordered last July! The dress is in the shop getting the straps adjusted and a bolero jacket made with the same material.

Click here for next installment of the Princess Dress Diaries.

Dead Black Swallowtail Butterfly

In early August, Steve found this beautifully formed dead butterfly in our yard. I thought it would make a great kick-off to our nature notebooks. Pamela made her entry at the beginning of the school year, but spilling coffee all over my laptop last month got in the way of editing the video clips. OOPS! My bad!

Natural Lighting:


Unnatural Indoor Lighting:


Pamela's Nature Notebook Entry:


What the Dobbins Taught Me:



Nature notebooks are a great way to work on dynamic intelligence because they are rich in opportunities for dialog and inter-subjectivity (the fancy word for one person relating to another). Not only that, nature study is good for the brain and, if you don't believe me, listen to what Dr. Carroll Smith has to say on the topic (one of my favorite talks at the 2007 Charlotte Mason Conference). I am grateful to people like Jeannette Tulis and Deborah and Holly Anne Dobbins who have guided me in learning more about how to paint with watercolors (check out their article on nature study).

I am going to share with you clips that show you step by step how I guided Pamela in painting her butterfly. We spent fifteen minutes on one day and fifteen minutes on another day doing this watercolor. I wanted to spotlight a couple of points:

• Cardstock paper works well: you can cut one sheet into four mini-paintings. That is the perfect size for beginners. The picture I painted of the lantana leaf was on a sheet of cardstock of that size!
• Most people recommend Prang watercolors. I think they are great!
• You need more variety of brushes: thick ones are for mixing colors and wide expanses, the thin ones are for details and outlining.
• Never use the green in the tray. Nature has a wide variety of green. If you use the prefabricated one in your tray, your paintings will get boring before long.
• Have a paper towel available to blot mistakes and dry your brush. Too much water will cause your paper to wrinkle.
• Outline in yellow before you start painting. If you mess up, it will be less obvious!
• Think of ways to scaffold your child: I help Pamela with mixing. She has a tendency to use the colors in the tray and not make her own.
• Here is a cheat for white. There is no way I can scaffold the idea of leaving white space, so I bought a set of thick watercolor paints that includes a tube of white!
• Talk about what you see before doing anything! Spend a couple of minutes observing and sharing perspectives.
• If you have never done this before, try making your own watercolor attempts first. It is hard to guide someone in something you have never done. It can be fun!
• Do not paint while your child is painting. It is hard to be a guide when you are trying to be the next Van Gogh!

Talking about the Nature Specimen


Outlining in Yellow


Painting the Black Base


Painting Orange Spots


Adding Brown to the Base


Adding White Spots


Adding Blue Spots


Finishing Up


One tip I got from the 2007 Charlotte Mason is to take advantage of technology. If that butterfly is flitting around too fast to draw, take a picture, transfer it to your computer, and zoom in for a closer look! Here are two memories Pamela and I made from pictures taken on a visit to Cypress Gardens.

Pamela's Cypress Gardens Entry


My Cypress Gardens Entry

The First Commandment of Chemistry Class

David, who just turned sixteen and is over six feet tall, is acting more mature and taking on more responsibility. He actively seeks chores to make a few bucks. He goes on all-day work days with the youth group and has done mission projects in which they repair houses. He is teaching himself the electric guitar (my poor ears). His abstract thinking skills have finally kicked in so Latin, logic, grammar, and math is finally clicking. Instead of waiting around for us to get a cell phone (I don't have one by choice, why should he?), he got a track phone and purchased minutes for it. He is very proud of the fact that he pays for his own cell phone. Maybe if I wait long enough, he'll buy his own car.

Just when I finally started sleeping at night . . . David violates the first rule of chemistry.

No, he did not start a fire with the alcohol burner.

I didn't even need to use the fire extinguisher that I had on standby.

He didn't even kill the parakeet with toxic fumes.

And, what is the first commandment?

Thou shalt not wield thy thermometer liketh a lightsaber!

At least, a brand-spanking new Celsius thermometer is fairly cheap with inexpensive shipping.

I assume the broken one contained alcohol, not mercury, as there was no warning label . . . I don't think I saw any quicksilver on my kitchen floor. . .

Working on Dynamic Thinking in Math

A fellow blogger recommended
Greg Tang's series of living math books that target dynamic thinking. I got a copy of Math Appeal: Mind-Stretching Math Riddles (for free at Paperbackswap--if you sign up, my email address is tammyglaser798 at earthlink dot net). Pamela blew me away today with how quickly she figured out that she could count the peas in groups of eleven! While she has an eye for patterns, she cannot count a box of toothpicks spilled onto the floor a la Rainman. I love how quickly her mind works as you can see in the video.


Pamela surprised me greatly today. She handed me this postcard mailed to us to generate donations for victims of Hurricane Gustav. She said to me in a meaningful way, "It's the Gulf Coast."

I was curious if she knew where the Gulf Coast was because it is not something I have explicitly taught her. I asked, "What states are on the Gulf Coast?"

She quickly answered, "Louisiana" (where many of our relatives live).

Why Teach Latin?

David and I are learning Latin together through the North American Cambridge Latin Course. We are half of the way through the first book, which focuses on a family who lived in Pompeii when Vesuvius blew its top. I prefer this program to others because it is about as close to a Charlotte Mason approach as you can get. They even offer an audio CD for those of us who do not know any Latin native speakers (wink, wink). From the very first lesson, you are reading stories and deducing the grammar and syntax before the book explains it. Of course, one great reason to teach Latin is to enrich one's vocabulary. Plus, the stories in this course are entertaining with the bonus of learning more about Roman culture. We look forward to reading about Britannia and Egypt (Unit 2), Britannia and Imperial Rome (Unit 3), and Emperor Domitian and an anthology of ancient prose and poetry (Unit 4).

That all sounds great, but here is the REAL reason to teach Latin. Whenever we expect upsetting news, we prefer not to share it with Pamela until it is a known fact. Steve just called from an airplane, in which he has sat on the ground for the past few hours, and told me he might come home. Ordinarily, that would thrill Pamela, except for the fact that he will have to leave tomorrow, which adds one more day to the trauma of him going on a business trip. You see, she loves her daddy and misses him terribly when he travels.

David overheard my conversation on the phone and asked me what happened. If I say too much, Pamela, who has bionic ears, might get upset over nothing, for the plane may very well leave tonight. So, I told David that something might happen because Steve is getting "Jet-Blued." Then, I added, "pater ad villam venit." Later, Steve called again to let me know where he was staying overnight (a change in plans which Pamela hates), so I told David, "pater in Atlantam dormit." And, he got it without "big ears" having an unscheduled meltdown!

That may not convince you to learn Latin, but it works for me!

Getting Ready for Hanna

One element of RDI is building episodic memory. Autistic children often excel at procedural memory (memorizing facts, learning verbal scripts, standard responses and phrasing, etc.). Procedural memory focuses on the predictable: factual details, procedures, scripts, and formulas. Episodic memory (recalling a vacation, describing a visit, sharing a funny story that happened at the store, etc.) focuses on the intangible: big picture, meaningful details, and narrative nature of what happened. Since we are in election fever right now, think of politician reading off the teleprompter and what happens when the teleprompter breaks. Some politicians hem and haw and fumble or even come to a screeching stop. The same thing happens when something unexpected throws off our children. Others politicians with the gift of gab fly by the seat of their pants, share the gist and emotion of the canned script, and throw in a couple of ad-libs and touching moments.

Tropical storms and hurricanes are a fact of life when you live in the Carolinas (like my family) or Louisiana (like Steve's family). We do not live in an area prone to flooding. The last devastating hurricane that tore this part of South Carolina was Hugo. I decided it might be a good idea to build memories on how to prepare for the severe weather we have the potential to face this time of the year.

On Friday, I checked out the weather forecast and, except for the tornado watch, I knew Hanna would be a pussycat in our county (the highest winds predicted were 22 mph). Why not show Pamela how we stow FOD--Foreign Object Damage--Navy for stuff that can blow away in strong wind--in preparation for tropical storm winds? Not only can she help us prepare, but she can store memories of a positive outcome so that she will stay calm for a major storm that heads our way.

What may interest you in this clip is how I handled Pamela's frustration once we transitioned to the front porch. There was too much uncertainty for her and, just as we discovered recently, Pamela used her meltdown alert cue "I don't think it's a good idea." You see, my consultant thought she scripted a lot on the "good idea" phrasing too much. I spent a day analyzing Pamela's phrasing when something goes wrong and she uses a wide variety of sentences, except when her anxiety levels begin to rise. When I hear her say the "good idea" line, then I know she is getting overwhelmed. So, I made a point to try to reassure her because I now recognize her automatic response when heading into fight or flight mode.

Here is the analysis of what happened that I sent to my consultant with the video clip:

Objective:
Pamela is the teller using imperative gestures. The activity is putting things away that might get wet or blown away in a tropical storm.

Overall impression:
Pamela is comfortable thinking through a new process, figuring out the right signs, and adding words when necessary. She notices when I am unsure and gives me more direction. Switching to directing David threw her off her game, but she recovered when we switched back to me.

What worked:
Pamela knows what needs to be put away in a situation we have never practiced. She figures out what to put away, where things should go, and when my arms are too full. She conveys instructions on what to pick up nonverbally--she has signals for "pick up," "pull," "open," and "close." She points me in the right direction and combines hand signals with head nods and shakes. When she used words only, I tried to do the wrong thing so she could come up with signs for me.

What did not work:
Pamela does not like getting wet and her anxiety increased when we felt sprinkles. I did not help matters because I felt rushed (David and I had more to put away that was beyond the scope of what I needed Pamela to do). I think she was unsure about the front porch which increased her anxiety. She understood we needed to move the ferns, but my lack of stature and the need to throw David into the equation frustrated her. He was not as responsive as I was. While she was at ease in the backyard, the transition to the front and all of the uncertainties rattled her enough to fall back into her "I don't think this is a very good idea" cue. The good thing is that, after we switched roles from David to me, Pamela got right back on track in directing me calmly and finished on a positive note. I always try to finish on a positive note.

Questions and comments:
How frustrating was this for her on a 1-10 scale? The back porch was a three, and the front porch was about an eight.


The neat thing is what happened the morning after Hanna whimpered. Pamela noticed the overcast skies and gentle rain and said to me, "Tropical storm freeze. Soft rain. No strong wind." (She uses the word "freeze" for "stop.") Pamela used declarative language to tell me what she observed. Then, I said to her, "I bet you are glad the storm wasn't bad." She agreed. Now she has a memory of a positive outcome from disaster preparedness upon which we can build.

Don't Worry! We'll Live!

Before explaining what we are doing in RDI land right now, I thought I would share a couple of neat declarative comments Pamela has made recently!

Since Hanna is heading our way, we have been making preparations for tropical storm force winds: stocking up on liquids and food requiring minimal cooking and storage, having back-up lighting, inspecting the yard for FOD (Foreign Object Damage)--i.e., Navy for stuff that will fly in a strong wind, etc. I explained to Pamela that tomorrow we may have some strong winds and we have to get ready. She told me she was going to watch Twister and The Wizard of Oz and spend the whole day in bed! We live inland and are not in any danger of floods. Tomorrow, we expect 20 mph winds and lots of much needed rain; however, we are in a tornado watch until five in the morning!

This morning, David was complaining about shows taking up too much space on the DVR. Steve and I have spent the past two weeks watching convention coverage. Pamela told him, "Don't worry! We'll live!" Not only can she self-regulate and co-regulate, she can other-regulate!

The other day, David and I were being pests in the car. We were listening to Tchaikovsky and gently grabbing her at certain predictable moments in the music. She blustered for a few seconds and finally poked me. When I turned to look at her, she said very deliberately, "Don't do that!" I loved how effectively she stopped me in my tracks.

Last week, Pamela made some neat comments to me. She did her written narration for the association method perfectly. She grabbed the paper and gleefully announced, "Finally! Zero mistakes! I DID IT!" Later, I asked her a question. Instead of guessing whatever just to make me happy, she told me, "I don't know." I spotlighted how happy I was to learn that she didn't know. We just started a new book, The Ark (an out-of-print book), which introduces the setting in the first chapter: 13 Parsley Street in an unnamed city in West Germany. Pamela thought for a moment and asked me, "What city?" All of these vignettes add up to two things for me: Pamela thinks and she cares!

Throughout the summer, we have worked very hard on one of the objectives for gestures that stumps some RDI families. My consultant broke it down in the following way: imperative gestures (at which Pamela excelled) and declarative gestures. We started off with spotlighting receptive declarative gestures in which Pamela lets me know she is receiving and understands (head nod or shake and pointing). Then, we worked on her ability to recognize when I am listening (or not listening) so that she can make sure her body language matches when she is listening.

Now, we are transitioning to the world of expressive nonverbal language, starting off with what comes naturally: imperative gestures. We are hoping to help Pamela develop a set of natural gestures she can use to emphasize her words. The framework is any activity in which Pamela can be the boss and show me what to do. To avoid the habit of purely pointing, I play stupid quite often so that she can learn to refine her gestures.

Fortunately, Pamela is quite adept at thinking up signs on the fly. From what I understand, some autistic children find this difficult because they have to conceptualize the action they want taken and communicate a meaningful sign for it. At Walmart, Pamela told me to swipe the credit card by running her index finger down the credit card scanner and to sign the signature pad by wagging her finger like a pen along a horizontal line.

I have already practiced this objective with baking, so this time, we took apart the panda puzzle and started a new one: a dolphin puzzle with hidden images. The objective was for Pamela to be the teller by using gestures. You can see Pamela's wheels turning as she conveys instructions to me nonverbally. She also uses multiple parts of her body: head, hands, and fingers. She did quite well at repairing the situation when I made mistakes.


We did make a little bit of progress in getting this 750-pieced puzzle started. My consultant wanted to know how frustrating this was for her. So, I asked Pamela to rate the puzzle building out of five stars. She told me it was four stars. Then, I reviewed the entire session, which lasted for twenty-three minutes, and she showed me only very minor moments of frustration without any extreme emotion:

• Pamela made one minor grimace.
• When she tried to take a step, I said, "I'm the worker." She told me, "Change it," to which I replied, "Not today." Pamela asked, "Tomorrow?"
• After 19 minutes, Pamela said, "I want to stop." She did not get upset when I told her we would work a little longer.
• About 22 minutes into it, she told me, "Later! I said later."

Studied Dictation

Before I launch into the joys of studied dictation, I thought I'd share two pictures of Pamela during her break. Below, you see her watching television. And to the left are the babies (NOT DOLLS) watching television with her. She put them there!










Charlotte Mason's method for teaching language arts is based upon child development. Rather than forcing paper skills on children at younger and younger ages, desperately hoping to give them a head start, she believed in laying a foundation for writing through oral language. In her first book, Home Education, her recommendations for children under the age of six are vastly different from that of older children because she believed in the outdoor life for the little ones. She required NO formal lessons for preschool and kindergarten. Zero. Zip. NADA!

In those tender years, she focused on oral language. She believed children ought to sharpen their speaking abilities by telling what they see in their explorations outside. An educator broadens vocabulary by supplying unfamiliar names for and parts of objects found by children and improves listening skills by sharing what she sees and asks thoughtful (not gotcha) questions. To hone articulation, she encouraged reciting sing-songs in English and another language. Those of you with children who struggle with fine motor skills or visual discrimination take note! There are no worksheets and no required reading. Those of you with kids who treat carpet squares like trampolines, there are no prolonged periods of sedentary boredom!

Charlotte recognized that some children under the age of six have a keen interest in letters and reading. She did not see anything wrong with teaching letters and their sounds to kids who were ready as long as it seemed like play and stopped when the child tired of it. She outlined reading lessons combining both phonics and sight words for children once they turned six. Six was not a hard and fast rule for some children bloom later (the appendix of School Education includes a narration by a child of age 7 3/4 in the lowest level class in her school). She also worked on the written expression of six-year olds through penmanship and, once they knew all of their letters, copywork from living books that they read. Copywork focuses attention on spelling, grammar, and punctuation and builds the foundation for learning the mechanics of writing. Here is an example of Pamela's copywork right now:



And, now, finally, I reach the topic of today's post: studied dictation. Charlotte Mason scaffolded the teaching of composition by introducing studied dictation only after children had nailed down copywork. Most children started when they turned eight. Early in my blog, I described how to do studied dictation and a sample spelling lesson. I love studied dictation because it is a fast, efficient way to teach writing mechanics! The following three-minute shows you how quickly you can do studied dictation (which we try to do daily).


When Pamela requested doing Eric Carle books this year, I agreed because some contain quite challenging words. We started off with The Very Hungry Caterpillar two weeks ago. I decided to have an English notebook to store Pamela's copywork, poems for recitation, and studied dictation. Here is the sheet Pamela studies, which doubles as a record of how she fared.

You can see in the page on the left the first eight days of writing were perfect! She made several mistakes on the ninth day, which contained many challenging words. I wrote a lesson focused on three errors: changing y to i when adding a suffix, listening to vowels in the middle of a multi-syllabic word, and contrasting long e at the end of English words versus Italian words. I wrap up the lesson with application of what was covered in the form of a caterpillar story as you can see below.



Clearly, my lesson was effective for Pamela did not make those mistakes again in her second attempt at this sentence. The next lesson covered the mistakes made on the tenth day: capitalizing words derived from the names of countries, listening to the ending of words, and placing a space between adjectives and nouns.

As you can see, both lessons worked. Her third attempt was perfect!