Evie the Extraordinary and Her Mommy: The Journey As We Go

I used to think that the best way to spend $10 was to buy cider donuts fresh from the farm. But today, something else gave cider donuts a run for the money. Evie's NOVA Chat, or augmentative communication device, decided to go kaput today. The sound worked, but the screen was dead.  I called Technical Support, but it was confirmed that the device would have to be sent to Texas to be repaired.  Insert crying emoji. I didn't realize how big of a deal this was until Evie sat at the dinner table and started looking around for her NOVA Chat.  She wanted to tell me something, and couldn't. I tried to guess. This amounted to further frustration, which culminated in lots of yelling from Evie.  I told her to use her inside voice, but I was just as frustrated as she was when I couldn't understand what she needed.  Dinner took a very long time. She didn't even want a hug. I went on the Saltillo website and printed the "low tech"version, which are PDF's of c...

At Evie's graduation ceremony from her pre-K class today (she's going to the older pre-K class in the fall), she covered her eyes.  BUT she then got up and walked over to the teacher when her name was called, and then snuck a peek to see where I was, and then walked to me with her head down and threw herself in my arms.  She WALKED to me and knew what she was supposed to do!  I call that a victory!  3 months ago, she may not have done either of those things.  Evie was prepped by her teachers that this was the last day of school. She was not a happy girl when we pulled out of the parking lot and waved goodbye to the school building.  We are so thankful that she loves school that much.  Why does she love school so much?  Because she gets to do things like play dress up!  I am now scrambling to collect dress up necklaces, dresses, scarves, gloves, etc to accommodate her love for girly accessories!  We went to IKEA this weekend and bo...

For those of you who don't already know, Evie has an augmentative communication device called a NOVA Chat.  While Evie's oral motor skills are getting stronger, she still is not able to express herself verbally, and needs a way to communicate, especially in the school setting with people who do not know her sign language motions. When we were first presented with our options at Boston Children's Hospital in the augmentative communication clinic, we had to decide between the iPad and the NOVA Chat.  We chose the NOVA chat because Evie is already way too attached to the iPad and we want her to see the NOVA Chat as a communication device and not a potential Youtube playing device.  But the iPad is a perfectly good choice for other kids! Evie's preschool team has fully embraced the NOVA Chat.  We attended a half day training with a Saltillo rep, which was helpful, but the training was oriented more towards the therapist than the parents. The NOVA Chat has a home pa...