Friday, June 16, 2006

Subject: no degree? we can help

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Subject: no degree? we can help

i need to get my nails manicured.
Toren came to me at age 32 months. He had 2 words: Ma Ma and Bye Bye. He could not focus, but ran around the room. His mother was convinced I was going to have him cured by his third birthday. I told her I was no miracle worker, but we'd do what we could during the next 4 months. Immediately we started structuring Toren's day. I went home and worked up a program called 'Toren's Nouns'. The first day I showed Toren the program, he looked at it for 10-15 seconds and then left the computer. The next day he stayed about 30 seconds. Each day he built up more time at the computer. By the second week, he would sit on my lap for 10 minutes pressing whichever word he wanted to hear. But he spoke no sounds, no words. Three weeks passed. I began berating myself. 'See, Jo, you thought this noun program was so great. Look at Toren, he's not learning anything.' The fourth week Toren walked over to the computer, picked up the overlay from the IntelliKeys keyboard, pointed to 10 different words and approximated each word. That day, I cried..

Thornton

We've created a better learning experience.

a poem a dada keeps the nebula away

2 Comments:

Blogger evandebacle said...

The Noun We Spoke Was No Great Word

By the focus on the minutes, the seconds
I could have thought anything.
I could have showed you myself.
I could have cured time.

But by degree I was pressing.
Left to hear berating.
Learning to better experience
Whichever manicured sounds we came to.

Immediately,
And over months,
I cried and started home.
I told you I was convinced
That what we'd created stayed built.
And it was no approximated miracle.

(Alzheimer's Association)

1:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Toren? Toren? Toren Thornton?

my mother was convinced that I had left.
each day, she walked around the room,
`You left.', she cried, `I had but 1350 weeks'

I began berating her: `Ma!'- pointing
to myself, worked up-
`Focus. you need to hear sounds. that's it.'

But no. What could I do? She could not
hear nouns. We could not have
her cured,
and time had not approximated a miracle.

(alzheimer's association)

8:54 PM  

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