Colten is a grade 6 student in Burnaby, BC. In his grade 6/7 classroom, Colten is well liked and accepted by those around him. He is known for his great humour, empathetic heart, and curious nature. Colten loves being the centre of attention, and never gives up an opportunity to “gansta-pose” for the camera. Since receiving equipment from SET-BC in the Spring of 2012, Colten’s social world has opened up as his use of language has blossomed.
Not only is he able to functionally and socially approach peers and community workers, he is also able to model excellent use of the communication device so much so that he is the unofficial Assistive Technology Ambassador at his school and in his community.
Prior to receiving technology support from SET-BC, Colten had very limited communication. While understood by family, and Heather, his long-standing EA, his single-word utterances were reserved for responding to prompts, rather than initiating conversation.
Colten would use sentence strips, and frequent “pulling and pointing” to communicate his immediate needs and desires. When given the opportunity to use an iPad for the first time, Colten demonstrated not only an ability to navigate the touch interface, but he is now able to keep focused on tasks for sustained periods of time. Now, Colten is able to make requests from specific people for specific activities during the course of his day.
Colten will request that new people are added to his “people” page in TouchChat, and in doing so, has regular interactions with a wide variety of people within his school every day. He was even able to ask the school custodian to read to him one day! (And the request that was granted.)
What is exciting about Colten’s progress, is the development of his own “voice”. The varied vocabulary choice, and his ability to self-select, has opened a wide a doorway to a very social world for Colten. Not only is he able to gain some independence in his communication, but those around him are better able to understand the dynamic boy that he is. Earlier this year, when writing a structured “I am” poem, Colten used his TouchChat to create the following poem:
I AM COLTEN
I am Colten.
I wonder about home.
I hear, “What Does the Fox Say” I see the basement.
I want Julian (his nephew)
I am Colten.
I pretend to play hospital.
I feel tired.
I touch cats.
I worry about the bus.
I cry at the hospital.
I am Colten.
I understand about puppies.
I say I want a baby boy.
I dream about Azalia (his niece)
I try to drill (he has a tool set)
I am Colten.
Colten’s success using the iPad is not limited to his use of TouchChat. His EA, Heather, uses the iPad to record videos of other students’ activities for Colten to mimic, such as saying a word the correct way. Colten will intensely watch the video on the iPad and work to copy words and activities as a part of his learning. His increased ability to navigate the iPad has led to him being comfortable with using technology in the school library and volunteering his service. As Colten approaches his teen years, his support team is excited to see how he will navigate the many exciting opportunities, relationships, and even vocational possibilities ahead.
To learn more about the technology used in this SETstory, search for it by name in learningSET.
