WE 'DO CAN' COMMUNICATE   

`

REPORT OF 22 CASES REINFORCED BY PICTORIAL MATERIAL DURING 20 YEARS OF STUDIES

SUMMARY

In the last decade there has been a continual improvement of technology for non-verbal disabled persons. A variety of aids and technics has been developed and adapted to alternative communication. This, however,should not diminish the role of stimulating and training the senses for basic alternative communication or make us forget the human capacity for PRODUCING SOUNDS AND USING THEM in order to create a ' call code '.

Most of the non-verbal children with disability use crying to create contact, too emotional an expression for ordinary contact. We should make the students aware of facial language. Thus a smile means: 'yes, everything is OK' etc., but a serious facial expression means: 'no, I am not happy', 'I do not want...' etc. Such body resources could facilitate communication during daily activities, especially when technology can not be used e.g. out of doors, by night or for students unable to use technical aids.

Throughout the years non-verbal students with several disabilities have often been regarded as severely intellectually disabled as well. Letting them be active performers in arranged special situations- as the pictorial material of this study (1973-1993) will show , may however give a different picture of their capabilities.    

Although this meant ' later experiences in life ', a starting-point for my students at an age of five to sixteen was not too late to offer them a chance for development.

Adriane T. Palmgren

Specialist in Education of Children with Disability

I would like to start the study with the quotation:

"Iron would rust  if we did not use it.

Water which does not move loses its clearness and freezes in cold weather.

Likewise passivity undermines the power of the senses."

Leonardo Da Vinci

LOVE IS THE FIRST LANGUAGE

LOVE IS THE FIRST LANGUAGE

EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE AND DEVELOPMENT VIA PHYSICAL CONTACT

-I love it when Ane touches, caresses and lightly scraches or rubs my face. (here with a cotton wad)

-I love gym and having fun. Then I giggle and yell. We record all sounds. When I listen to the tape later on, I gradually learn to imitate and exercise babbling. Ane said I am so good at it, I can even babble prosodically.

-At the beginning when Ane started giving me a massage I used to giggle.

But while enjoying the procedure I learned

how to guffaw. Sometimes so much that Ane

was forced to change tempo and calm me

down. Can you believe that I can laugh

with tears?                                                                 

OUR FEELINGS MAKE US HUMAN

THE HUMAN AS A SOCIAL BEING

- What's life if we don't have each other....

-Hi,how nice to see you once a week, Ane told me.

-Yes, it is! I said.

-We also need  each other! Here am I sitting in Tina's  arms. We are chums.

-Do you think it's fun to be alone?     

BEFORE A CHILD LEARNS TO SPEAK IT MUST LEARN TO SUCK, LICK, CHEW, AND BLOW.

ORAL MANIPULATION THROUGH THE SENSES OF TASTE  AND SMELL

-Do pay attention  to what  I look like. Ane tries to wake me up with the help of taste sensation.

-You see what I mean? I learned to be active

when stimulus is offered. My whole being changes.

Do observe that lying like this I can easily get in

contact with my hands

.

"All kids love to knead with their hands. One learns a lot from it" Ane told us that grown-up people love to do this as well. They call it ceramics, baking...

-You are going to knead with your lips, tongue, nose, your whole face if  you like.

-That's how I smell and try to touch dried fruit with my lips and tongue.

-If  the fruit is hard, then we usually put small bits in a sterile piece of gauze. That way we are able to experience candies, nuts...well everything.This is how it looks when I try bubblegum:

MEALTIME IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE DAY

-Several times during a meal I can choose if I want to eat or drink. That is our right, Ane has taught us.    

-I love mealtimes! It's not only the food. It is being together with others, physical and emotional contact, communication through all the senses, having fun....

THE SENSE OF TOUCH IS THE FIRST TO DEVELOP IN THE NEWBORN CHILD AND THE LAST

TO VANISH WITH LIFE

THE TACTILE SENSE is vital for emotional stability, interaction with other humans , the first step in communication.

.

-Look how foam in a plastic glove (warmth) has made my spastic hand relax.

Taking a bath is not just an act of cleaning and relaxing. Thermal experiences stimulate blood circulation, the tactile sense, the perception of  body physiology and balance, different temperatures...

-The water became my friend . Here in a big tub 'Hubert-tank', where the water starts from zero.I am no longer afraid.

TALK SO I CAN HEAR YOU - WE USUALLY SAY.

TALK SO I CAN SEE YOU - SOCRATES USED TO SAY .

STIMULUS-RESPONSE-COMMUNICATION

-Lemon? No. I don't care for it.

                                    -Icecream? I hate it.

DEVELOPMENT OF SOUND PRODUCTION

Breathing exercises are of importance to:

*make muscles stronger

*facilitate better functioning of the lungs

*help remove mucus from larynx and air passages....

These exercises are carried out on chest, back and both sides

1.Press  both hands flat on the chest. Be careful, don't press too hard!

2.Using the sides of the hands, as above, tap gently!

3.With one hand laid out firmly flat,use the other to tap it gently.

-How nice it sounds when I play with my voice, I thought.

-How nice it would be to have the tub as a classroom, Ane was thinking.

-As you can see I am busy blowing small cotton balls from my nose. Wow! I am so good at that

!

-I have just blown out the  match!

-

-I wonder what Ane wants me to do?

-!Oh, I am learning how to whistle, what a surprise!

THE CHILD'S HEARING STARTS FUNCTIONING ALREADY PRENATALLY.

THE NEWLY BORN CHILD CAN IMMEDIATELY AFTER BIRTH DISTINGUISH MUM'S VOICE FROM

OTHER WOMEN ' S VOICES.

AUDITORY FUNCTION AND EXERCISES

It is not enough to observe: 'yes, the student hears...' The student must learn to perceive  audible information in order to appreciate it.

-I do recognize the voice of my aide singing that funny song!

-This is my reaction when I listen to my tape with voices of my family, especially my mum singing.

Once a week we used to call home to our mums. As you can see we are quite excited about it.

-Hi mum! I can't say it , but I can whistle, like blowing, so you can hardly hear me. This is how I usually act:

-I love to talk to mum. I can manage HI and  MAM, very seldon DAD. Sometimes I can babble for a whole minute, even two.  

-It is my turn to lie on the vibrator. I love to imitate the sounds. Now I am playing with my voice.

--There are days when I feel asleep. The first time it happened, Ane thought I was tired. But when it happened a second time she started the recorder with the tape with familiar voices . She told me later on , that in a few moments my snoring stopped and I started trying to open my eyes... until I was fully awake thanks to auditory perception.

-While playing I used to sit on the ' silent vibrator'. But suddenly Ane switched on the sound....I went on a discovery trip. Here is the radio.

-Everyone can play the piano using their hands. But I am not everyone, am I ? So, this is the way I play. Some of us can even play with their feet.

"THE EYE IS THE WIDE OPEN DOOR OF THE SOUL" Ibn Hazm

VISUAL DEVELOPMENT

- Even I, though with severe visual disability , was to learn not only to raise my head in order to touch the object, but to fix my gaze on it.

Development of the visual system in low vision persons is seldom automatic and spontaneous. That was the case with Gigi's eyesight. The specialist opinion in the late 1970's was undecided. Nevertheless
Gigi got a training program of exercises stimulating her visual potentiality. Soon was to be observed a
visual awakeness and later on visual contact with persons. Furthermore while looking at an object, she even started manipulating it with her hand. Her babble improved at the same time to a more prosodic one.

-This is my working bench. In order to facilitate my visual function, the objects I am working with, are surraunded by lights.

-Even the blocks reflects light.

Thus I perceive immediately when a lamp is turned on.




-From the beginning the aquarium was meant to train my strabism.

-I tried to take my tools through the glass. It was the first time to experience such a situation. It took me a few days to learn how to act.




-I knew glass was an obstacle.

-I even knew how to act in order to take what I want.

-.
I am learning what a mirror is for. But as soon Ane moved from it , I could see mum sitting behind me . So I turned around in order to have direct visual contact with her and all were amazed.

-

-I was not frightened at all by the mirror even though it was my first exercise. Some of my friends were.

"LOVE REFINES THE SPIRIT, THOUGHTS ENLIGHTEN THE MIND, ACTIONS CULTIVATE THE BODY"

DEVELOPMENT OF LOCOMOTION, SPATIAL CONCEPT , PERCEPTUAL AWARENESS AND
COGNITIVE ABILITIES.

-I was quite grown up when I met Ane. Before that I was always sitting in my wheelchair and I didn't know I could crawl. My first training session was arranged where I lived. Lying on the floor, my attention was focused on several of my favorite objects within my reach. The distance gradually increased until I learned to crawl. Here I am at school showing my relation to objects out of reach but visible. When I come as near as that I usually receive the drawer on the floor next to me, so I can get the objects I want.

-Locating visually the objects was not too hard, but moving my body in order to obtain the objects was very difficult, especially along the small passage. The motivation , though, was very strong.

-This is the first mobility aid Ane constructed for me. My first exploration started in my classroom where, every day about half an hour, I had the opportunity of obtaining the concept of space, discovering and getting familiar with various objects, sounds, persons...gradually exploring the rest of the surrounding environment, moving toward some goal. Now I am going to phone my mum.

-At last, here is the nearest telephone.

- My gait used to be very unstable. Each time Ane met me outside school with some object, she just put it on the floor activating me for a long time to get it...

FINE MOTOR DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITIES IN CONNECTION WITH DAILY LIFE AWARENESS

-I am learning how to manoeuvre batterypowered toys by simple movements like biting... That way I and my pals can operate radios, taperecorders...
A direct auditory feedback is the best promotor.

-This is a vibrator cushion. My hands used to relax on it. But I could sense the movements and react , as you can see!

-My hypotonic hands are in contact with different objects in my ' muff bag '.

"Developing body comprehension in severely visually impaired children" .- I am getting to know different parts of my body by using tactile experiences as well as sounds when I throw things like this ball.

-Sometimes I work with objects hanging from a rubber rope. Even when I think I have thrown them, they come back to me to play with again.

-To be able to train my hand/eye perception, my mealtimes always finished with mini pieces of crisp-hard bread.

-Just holding a ball was not stimulating enough for me. I was supposed to learn how to play with a racket as well.

" LANGUAGE IS THE CLOTHING OF THOUGHTS, BUT SO IS BEHAVIOUR "

ASSESSMENT OF THE INTELLECTUAL STATUS VIA FUNCTIONAL CONCEPT

-It is always fun to be motivated to discover the object I want by myself. I have the possibility to perceive spatial relations by distant contact and I always know what I am looking for.

-I am curious by myself. The objects I am supposed to work with are always hidden somehow.

-I can handle the difficulties conected with a hidden object. I never give up!

_THE SATISFACTION IS ALWAYS GREAT!

-"Visible displacement is not always easy" . But I did learn.

-You see what I mean! Now I can take my reward.

. -We must learn different motor skills which could come in handy in 'Daily Life Activities'. When you can visually perceive what is insight is OK. But to open this box only by the sound of the cookie, was not very easy.

-This is a goodis box with 3 different flavors. I must remember where my favorite one is. I must learn how to pull the drawers and look what is inside.

-Even rotating is not difficult when I am encouraged by an inside reward.

-All the objects I was fond of were on the chair. Well, the only way to get them was to shake the chair with my only functioning hand and to amaze everyone.

- " I am not going to let you learn to be helpless. Solving problems develops interest, curiosity, fantasy,, which is the elexir of life ", Ane used to explain. So, I got the plastic coffee cap I cared so much for, hanging on a ribbon.I was so angry I couldn't get it straight. But it took me no more than a few minutes to realise that being unable to use my right hand, if I bite the ribbon with my mouth, my left hand should be able to catch the cap. So I did!

- You know that one must say hello to each other. Don't forget to do that at school every morning. So we did!

What a group! Ane would have had school with the two of us,sitting on wheelchairs,but the rest
of us come as well. You are always welcome, we have been told.So,here we are all five of us.
Luckily there was a practicing aid.

A STUDENT´S INTEREST IS A TEACHER’S BEST GUIDE!

Only on such occasion could we study a whole book - looking, reading and listening all the time.

-Interaction should be free of demands. Demands should be replaced by awakening of curiosity - important to build motivation.

GIVING CHILDREN A PRESENT AND A FUTURE

Children with severe disabilities are a relatively small group, but they do exist. The Handicapped Children Trust, in operation since 1988, informs us that approximately

1 in 100 infants are disabled in some way

2 in 1000 – have Cerebral Palsy.

You may wonder who THESE CHILDREN are. They are humans like you and me, with

the same needs, feelings, expectations and dreams. Christy Brown, Joy Deacon and Christopher Nolan were ABLE TO TELL US about their inner life.

As a consequence of some defects contracted pre-, peri-, or postnatally, these children are unable to lead a full, ordinary life. That is the reason THEY are dependent on US to continue living a satisfying life.

In some countries THEY ARE CALLED ‘ children with Debility, Imbecility and Idiotcy’, in others ‘ Handicapped Children’ , ‘Idiots Savant’… Civilized people call them ‘Children with Disabilities´.

Giving children a present and a future is to CATCH THE MOMENT, as Horace said centuries ago. We can do that by offering the children:

.

The school programme should meet every pupil’s needs, develop each one’s resources, including those with learning difficulties. That is why " the right to special pedagogy is inviolable" wrote the chairman of the Teachers´ Union in Sweden already in 1992.

However, ‘ a society that honours efficiency is primarily hostile to its unproductive members, among others the DISABLED. This is the number one thesis according to A. Perheentupa.

PEDAGOGY AND POLITICS are therefor inseparable. 400 years ago COMENIUS advocated schooling for all children, boys and girls, rich and poor. This has still not been

implemented in most nations for economic, religious or ideological reasons.

The UN " Declaration on the Rights of the Child" states: "The child shall have full opportunity to development, play and recreation which should be directed to the same purpose as education. " Play affects all aspects of life., helps the child to handle the environment, to understand and cope with the world. Bad weather does not exist, only bad clothes.

CONCLUSION

A deeply felt THANK YOU to the parents of all my students for letting me use pictorial material for educational purpose. Most of the students are not any longer among us. This project is dedicated to them. I do not want their lives to have been in vain. The power of their awakened potentiality should stay for eternity.

I am grateful to my dad who was my role model for love, caring, compassion and giving.

‘ The educated man speaks, the sensible one listens, but THE WISE MAN ACTS’

BELIEVING IN SHARING JOY AS WELL AS THOUGHTS WITH OTHERS, I SIMPLY COULDN’T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY.

To contact me, write to adria@telia.com.

Number of visitors: