We have been using a communication book with Abby where I printed small iPad icon-sized pictures of various toys she has and put them in little pockets. If Abby wants to play with a toy, she has to tell us first by pointing to the picture. She's doing a great job at this, although she sometimes gets frustrated when she can see the real toy and we make her point to the picture!
All of this is getting her ready to use an iPad communication app where she will touch a picture and the iPad will speak for her. She's been working with one during speech sessions, and if she touches the picture of the blocks, it will say, "I want to play with blocks." It's pretty cool!
The only problem we've hit is that it's sometimes hard to find the toy that she points to once she's told us she wants it...her toys were pretty much just thrown into 6 or 7 different baskets. There was no rhyme or reason to it, so I often would only give her picture choices of the toys I could find quickly!
I decided that this method wasn't the best for long-term communication skills, so I reorganized her toys. Almost all of the baskets have been taken out, except for the two that hold her stuffed toys. The rest of the toys are organized in...you guessed it...Lock and Lock containers! :)
All of this is getting her ready to use an iPad communication app where she will touch a picture and the iPad will speak for her. She's been working with one during speech sessions, and if she touches the picture of the blocks, it will say, "I want to play with blocks." It's pretty cool!
The only problem we've hit is that it's sometimes hard to find the toy that she points to once she's told us she wants it...her toys were pretty much just thrown into 6 or 7 different baskets. There was no rhyme or reason to it, so I often would only give her picture choices of the toys I could find quickly!
I decided that this method wasn't the best for long-term communication skills, so I reorganized her toys. Almost all of the baskets have been taken out, except for the two that hold her stuffed toys. The rest of the toys are organized in...you guessed it...Lock and Lock containers! :)
The bottom one holds links and teethers (I know that picture of a cow doesn't look like either one of those, but it's actually a stroller book that attaches to the stroller/car seat and Abby chews on it like a teether.) :)
The top one is a few miscellaneous toys I couldn't find another place for.
The big box is one of my favorites. It holds a TON of stuff! I could fit all of Abby's blocks and balls in here, and she has a lot. There's still room to spare!
The top orange box holds all of the shaker toys. It's actually called a lunch box and has a handle at the top. Once in a while, L&L has great deals on the lunch sets (a lunch box, a couple of small round/rectangulars, and sometimes a water bottle--they have different sets) so I try to grab them when I can. They make great gifts and the lunch box size is really nice.
Actually, the bottom one that holds Abby's tea set is also a lunch box. I use them a lot!
I can't seem to find the exact set I have, so I'm guessing it is discontinued. A set like this is a good one though. Bonus: it's on clearance for $9.99! :)
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