Today we went to the Children’s Home with the intent to review last week’s lesson with Ernie and AJ and take pictures for the communication system. As a teacher, I’ve learned that the best laid plans often need adjustments due to glitches; today, the key to the cupboard was missing (it had objects that needed photographing), children needed tending and there was mud (we were grateful for the mud = lots of refreshing rain).
We took several photos of basic objects and locations with ProxTalker, but then our time was nearly up. Our ‘review’ time was brief, but encouraging. Isabel asked AJ if he wanted to be put in a wheelchair, then if he wanted another shirt–he definitively answered using the hand/eye gaze process we had taught him last week. I still don’t know the language and when I showed Ernie the picture (on the iPhone) of the wheelchair and held up my hands for ‘yes’ and ‘no’, he just smiled and giggled. I showed him the picture again and held up my hands–he definitvely gazed at ‘yes’…I repeated the process and there was a definite ‘yes’ again. I’m giddy with the progress.
We’ve organized the communication system into phases, and tomorrow will teach Phase 1 to Kyrgyz-speaking volunteers who will be able to instruct the children. Several more children have been identified who might quickly catch on, so the more teachers the better.