PECS for Archer to help with Speech
Donation protected
My son Archer is 3yrs of age, the happiest little man (most of the time) and just a joy to be around. He is also Austistic, has severe language delays, a language disorder and a sleeping disorder which means he has trouble with concentration and verbal communication.
He was diagnosed with Autism back in 2015, the week before he turned 2 by his paediatrician however was only recently seen by a team of ten professionals at Monash Children's Hospital (MCH). He is considered to have low functioning autism with an intellectual impairment and is more or less non verbal. By non verbal I mean he very rarely has functional speech. He jibber jabbers to you all day long but you can rarely understand a thing he says and when he does come out with something English that you clearly understand - you rarely hear it again. Archer's current way of communicating with anyone is to drag them around and point to things that he wants. As you can imagine this is extremely difficult for the both of us on a daily basis.
I'm hoping to raise $1800 in order to be able to purchase Archer a PECS (Picture Exhange Communication System). which was recommended for him by the Head of the Speech Pathology Department at the MCH who specialises in working with children with disabilities. If we can raise enough funds the set will be photocopied and laminated so kinder has a copy as well as family members he spends lots of time with. Everything around the house will be labelled using these picture cards.
The reason for needing to purchase a Picture Exchange Communication System for Archer is to provide with a meaningful way of communicating since he is non verbal 99% of the time and struggles with his emotions when he is unable to communicate which usually results in him head banging the floor in frustration. Saying words to Archer isn't enough, he needs the visual to understand exactly what you mean.
Whilst there are cheaper options out there, Archer is a very visual learner; these pictures are very realistic and cover everything you could think of in life! This very extensive set which would last Archer years to come!
This set also includes visual schedule boards, this would help him visually see what is to happen next in his day which would help with transition - another area Archer struggles in and help eliminate meltdowns. It includes time cards to help with scheduling and telling of time and also includes blank cards so we can make up 50 of our own cards as well.
I am enrolling in an Autism Behavioural Analysis Therapy Training Course to further assist him with all areas of communication, this is going to cost me $655 however it will just facilitate the use of this system even better and also teach me loads of other techniques to help teach him! I am unfortunately unable to use any of his resource funding to make this purchase as we don't have enough and what we do have left needs to last Archer until he is 7yrs old.
Any donation no matter how big or small will help to towards this purchase and would be truly appreciated from the bottom of my heart. Communication and Speech is such an important aspect of life and I need my little man to grasp this concept now while he is only 3 as it's just going to get harder for him as he gets older. I'm sure you can imagine as a parent all you want is for your child to be able to communicate with the world, not just yourself. You want to hear what they are thinking, their likes and dislikes and the silly things children come out with!
We are in the process of teaching Archer 'Makaton' sign language however him having the ability to use him words means he would obviously be understood by a lot more people. I'm positive with time and the right resources such as PECS and training we will get this from my adorable little man (and I have done a LOT of research!
Thank you all for your ongoing support and encouragement.
With Love,
Ashlee
He was diagnosed with Autism back in 2015, the week before he turned 2 by his paediatrician however was only recently seen by a team of ten professionals at Monash Children's Hospital (MCH). He is considered to have low functioning autism with an intellectual impairment and is more or less non verbal. By non verbal I mean he very rarely has functional speech. He jibber jabbers to you all day long but you can rarely understand a thing he says and when he does come out with something English that you clearly understand - you rarely hear it again. Archer's current way of communicating with anyone is to drag them around and point to things that he wants. As you can imagine this is extremely difficult for the both of us on a daily basis.
I'm hoping to raise $1800 in order to be able to purchase Archer a PECS (Picture Exhange Communication System). which was recommended for him by the Head of the Speech Pathology Department at the MCH who specialises in working with children with disabilities. If we can raise enough funds the set will be photocopied and laminated so kinder has a copy as well as family members he spends lots of time with. Everything around the house will be labelled using these picture cards.
The reason for needing to purchase a Picture Exchange Communication System for Archer is to provide with a meaningful way of communicating since he is non verbal 99% of the time and struggles with his emotions when he is unable to communicate which usually results in him head banging the floor in frustration. Saying words to Archer isn't enough, he needs the visual to understand exactly what you mean.
Whilst there are cheaper options out there, Archer is a very visual learner; these pictures are very realistic and cover everything you could think of in life! This very extensive set which would last Archer years to come!
This set also includes visual schedule boards, this would help him visually see what is to happen next in his day which would help with transition - another area Archer struggles in and help eliminate meltdowns. It includes time cards to help with scheduling and telling of time and also includes blank cards so we can make up 50 of our own cards as well.
I am enrolling in an Autism Behavioural Analysis Therapy Training Course to further assist him with all areas of communication, this is going to cost me $655 however it will just facilitate the use of this system even better and also teach me loads of other techniques to help teach him! I am unfortunately unable to use any of his resource funding to make this purchase as we don't have enough and what we do have left needs to last Archer until he is 7yrs old.
Any donation no matter how big or small will help to towards this purchase and would be truly appreciated from the bottom of my heart. Communication and Speech is such an important aspect of life and I need my little man to grasp this concept now while he is only 3 as it's just going to get harder for him as he gets older. I'm sure you can imagine as a parent all you want is for your child to be able to communicate with the world, not just yourself. You want to hear what they are thinking, their likes and dislikes and the silly things children come out with!
We are in the process of teaching Archer 'Makaton' sign language however him having the ability to use him words means he would obviously be understood by a lot more people. I'm positive with time and the right resources such as PECS and training we will get this from my adorable little man (and I have done a LOT of research!
Thank you all for your ongoing support and encouragement.
With Love,
Ashlee
Organizer
Ashlee Gardner
Organizer
Benneydale, NZ