11/10/11 - OH HELLYEAH!

Last night we took the boys out to dinner. We had Tyler's IPAD and Dynavox with us. I asked Tyler what his name was. He pushed a button on his Dynavox that said "My name is Tyler" (and looked at me as it talked for him). I asked him how old he was, he said "I am 5 years old". I asked him what his brothers name is. He said (pushed a button), "My brother's name is Ben", I asked him his favorite color and he said "dark"... hee hee, gonna have to work on the colors. Maybe I should suggest a dark color to him next time.

Although I had once asked him a question about what he did thta day that he liked and answered, I wasn't sure if he was answering me or just playing. Sometimes he'll count for me and show me certain things, but last night I had a conversation with my non-verbal 5 year old son for the first time. AWESOME!

What's even cooler is that he's starting to learn that if he knows how to spell a word, he can say anything with the Dynavox. The teacher was asking him a question about the calendar. He started to type and she went to correct him as he was not on the "months" page of the Dynavox so she was going to redirect him. Then she noticed he had typed a "N" so she paused. Tyler typed out the word November and then pushed the it so that it would speak "NOVEMBER"... we knew he can read many words but it may be word recogniztion vs being able to spell them correctly. So once he learns how to spell a core vocabulary, Tyler will be able to type, i.e. say, whatever he wants. YIPPEEEE... CANNOT WAIT to have more conversations with TYLER!

Also, I gotta say that I am so proud of Ben. He and Tyler have been somewhat fighting over the IPAD lately. We are considering getting an ITOUCH for Tyler ot use for potty training reinforcement that is only played with after potty which also could be used by Ben and therefore no fighting over IPAD. Anyway, it's a hard concept for Ben to understand why Tyler is still in a diaper and can have free reign with the IPAD and he has to earn the usage by not having any accidents all day. Ben typically wakes up early to play on the IPAD while we are getting ready for work and Ty is still sleeping. This morning I come downstairs, Steve is in the kitchen with the boys and Tyler had hopped up to play with the ipad when Ben stepped away for a minute but it was sitll Ben's turn. Usually Ben would start screaming and pulling at him or getting upset. Today, he was so patient and loving and just telling Ty it was still his turn and that Tyler could watch him if he liked, etc.