Cooking with Augmentative and Alternative Confusion

I just found myself whisking up a cheese sauce (for macaroni with courgettes and carrots to be cooked in oven  disguised with said cheese sauce to look vegetable free) with an energy and fury which I have to say my cooking doesn't usually possess. And I forgot about the macaroni, wandered off while it was boiling and discovered it some 20mins later looking rather soggy. At least the pan wasn't destroyed this time. I'm becoming very absent minded.


What was I talking about?


Ah yes. The energy and fury. My son is non-verbal. That is, he does not speak. He has trouble communicating. He doesn't/can't sign. His receptive language in better than expressive. He has trouble expressing himself.. 


We started using Pecs with Dimitri many years ago, and it was helpful, to a point. The possibilities of PECS and other such laminated icons for communication, are limited for Dimitri. You can only get so far before getting annoyed if you also have problems with movement and co-ordination. And it's slow. And not as portable as one would like. And lamented icons only survive so many dunkings into the bath/sink/toilet. And you end up with pictures velcro-ed to yourself or the carpet. And retrieving them from under the cushions/sofa/bed is not good for my back. And I keep forgetting where I've put the spare pictures.


So obviously all this new fangled technology starts to look good. Opening the horizons and all that. Maybe Dimitri would have much more to say given the right device? Maybe it would just help him with the few things he would like to say? I'm not necessarily looking for the "key" to Dimitri which "will unlock his world" or anything like that. I'm looking for something that is functional for Dimitri. He can say what he wants (or not) after that, but he needs the vehicle to do so.


The iPod and iPad, with the new apps that are coming along really do look great. I mean, about $200 dollars for and iPod and $190 for the Proloquo2go is a super advance in AAC if you think about it. I have seen great dedicated devices, and they do have advantages, but you know, lovely as the dedicated device Jive is, I don't have $5,900 sitting around the house and I don't think our insurance company will be to willing to fund it.


But either way, iPod or Jive, do these things work in Greek. Ha! Answer me that!!


Proloquo2go, the new wonder device  offers an extensive communication program, much more than one word requests but,  it is only available in English at this point. Bum. There are a few apps for the iPod which you can add voice recording, so language is not a problem, although sound quality might be. I've found myself saying "what did that say" to something that I have recorded. And these apps are, unfortunately, very basic, you can't make sentences, just individual words, or "I want" before request. It's hardly encouraging communication in all it's forms. 


These apps have been helpful, I'm not saying they are not, but if we should always be building on what Dimitri has achieved, reaching for the next step, where do we go from here? Dimitri, it seems to me, has been raised for the last 10years believing communication is, for the most part, all about requesting. Well that can't be right.


I spent quite some time this morning searching for apps for the iPod which use voice recording, it gave me a headache, and the macaroni got overcooked. 


Tomorrow, if I remember I will try to put up a list AAC products and apps that can be used in Greek or other languages. If I remember.


Any knowledge or suggestions are welcome.