Augmented Communication.......Reluctantly!

Yesterday was just one of THOSE days. …..

Buster, my 4 year-old son,  had a long noisy tantrum in the school supply shop. For some reason, it seems all Canberra schools have opted to have their book packs supplied by one small store, which was packed to overflowing. The cue was snaking out the door…There wasn’t even enough room in the isles for two people top pass each other. …and there was Buster, on the floor, screaming , sobbing, shouting, because He wasn’t getting the same school supplies as the girls (although his book-pack was waiting at the counter).

………Not being one to give up easily, I then went off to the shoe shop for tantrum number 2! It wasn’t just an ordinary shoe shop though, I was buying the girls shoes for upcoming athletics competitions…he tried some plain runners on, but they didn’t have a pair of shoes in the shop that fit buster. He even refused to give back the shop’s socks! The young athletic staff and clientele of the sports footwear establishment, couldn’t get us out of there fast enough!

Because I had promised Buster I would buy him a pair of shoes at a different shoe shop, off  we went, But I didn’t buy him shoes. No, I bought him an iPod touch!

This is where we get to the real reason behind my difficult day. You see at speech pathology on Tuesday, Buster attempted to relate the story of his racing debut to his therapist, complete with a determined theatrical re-enactment!......

……….She couldn’t understand a single word and promptly decided that Buster required augmented communication.

She disappeared into her office and brought back a flip book with big exaggerated stick-figure-like pictures for Buster. All I could think of was that little kid in the movie ‘Witness’, mutely pointing to pictures of his mum and dad. I just didn’t want that for my son. I didn’t want him to be that kid with the flip book tired around his neck at preschool, pointing to me.

The speech therapist also recommended an iPad or an iPod touch and a program called Tap-2-talk.

I am intensely worried about augmented communication. I don’t want him to become reliant on it at the expense of his own communication. And I don’t want him signaled out as the different kid on his first day at preschool.

However, I also don’t want buster to get frustrated with his inability to communicate (or the inability of strangers to understand him). I don’t want him spiraling off into a tantrum like he did at the shops out of frustration. I don’t want him to shut down and stop trying,  just giving up.

I desperately want him to remain the enthusiastic, charming, funny, loving little boy that his family knows…

After talking to a parent of a child who has autism and a teacher, both recommended purchasing an iPod.

So there I was, reluctantly buying my son an iPod touch. I wasn’t feeling reluctant because I was spending money we don’t really have (an iPad at 3x price is way out of the question).

I wasn’t feeling reluctant because only days previously I firmly believed a 4 year old had no business owning such a piece of technology.  

I wasn’t feeling reluctant because he’d spent the morning having tantrums (well, maybe a little reluctant).

I was reluctant because I needed to admit to myself that my son has a big problem that, will not be fixed before he starts preschool next week. I had to admit that Buster required augmented communication.

So today, after accepting the obvious, I am going to focus on the things I am thankful for. I am thankful that buster is receiving therapy and is making slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

I am thankful I was able to buy buster an iPod touch (or alt least the credit card could). I know that many family’s couldn’t. He is already learning to use tap-2-talk with the help of his enthusiastic big sister. I hope the iPod touch will give him confidence and the ability to communicate at preschool if he needs it.

Finally I am thankful for my little man. His bubbly personality, his enthusiasm, his unrelenting desire to be a big kid, his excitement at getting his own iPod touch. His relationship with his sisters and his family, his look to me for approval, the way he says mummeee….I truly wouldn’t swap him for the world!

For Thankful Thursday, I am linking up with the wonderful Kate at Kate says stuff . Come and see what other inspirational bloggers are thankful for!