_ By David Kay, M.Ed., OTR, Regional Consultant, PRC_
“True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
In the world of AAC we work with individuals who are building their ability to communicate. But what about the ability to do?
The model of human occupation, a foundation in the field of occupational therapy (OT), focuses literally on what human beings do, the tasks we undertake. Consider your morning routine. If we break down the component tasks of that routine we find a surprising number of tiny skills required from moment to moment. The same thing occurs with our leisure activities, our household tasks and our tasks at work. From these tasks we hopefully derive satisfaction. Satisfaction in creating and completing these tasks. If we are mindful, we also derive satisfaction from moment to moment as we engage in our tasks.
Many of the same individuals who are not able to speak, are also not able to ‘do’ things. At what cost? If we step back and evaluate the typical day of a child who spends her day in her wheelchair, or for many children with developmental disabilities such as autism, we see how many typical tasks are completed for these children, with or without their focused attention.
Acknowledging the profound benefit of a ‘job well done’ - what action can we take? Today I’m writing to encourage you to find a creative way to help the individuals who you are working with to, as Walt Disney said, “…quit talking and begin doing.” Yes, I’m inviting us to stop talking – ironic in the field of AAC. I’m inviting us to take a break from working on communication long enough to find a task that can be completed by the child or adult with the abilities that he or she has. We might find out about his or her interests and develop a task that he or she can do, without talking, or feeling the need to talk.
Not sure where to start? Let’s look at our own tasks. There is certainly satisfaction to be derived from work. These are often wonderful tasks for children. Cleaning, organizing, and fixing things are a few examples. Beyond work we can look at what we do in our leisure time. Sometimes we like to sit and watch TV. However, we can only sit and watch for so long before our innate human desire to do something kicks in. We derive more pleasure, satisfaction, and often profound relaxation from doing something.
- We paint
- We fix
- We craft
- We scrub
- We create
- We sew
- We play
- We cook
- We doodle and color and draw
- We organize
- We plant and harvest
- We walk and hike
- We write
- We give
Virtually any task that we create can be adapted for children who are learning to use AAC. A simple search online for ‘Adapted ____ for special needs’ will almost always result in various ideas from Pinterest or a creative parent’s or teacher’s blog. Whether it’s gardening, painting, sewing, baking, or building, there is a way to adapt the task for the AAC learner. And encouraging the AAC learner to do the task quietly can help keep focus on the doing instead of the talking.
As human beings we benefit from quiet time each day to engage in tasks of our own choosing. Further, when we have taken this time of focused, quite attention, we are often more open to communication and socialization. Many children who are learning to use AAC are continuously provided with instruction, facilitation, and stimulation both at school and at home. Dedicating some quiet, focused time engaged with a task can offer children a welcome break from their typical routine. We may even find it opens the door for more communication.
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