Thursday, February 08, 2007
The Communicating Mike
I think Mike's blog/LJ fits in with the general topic of things that are good or going well. We haven't worked up to him typing it himself yet, because I think it's better to focus on one aspect at a time. I'm thrilled at how much he's getting into it, though.
Where Mike is at, in general, is that he has a fairly good mental vocabulary, but he tends to stick with a rather basic and somewhat repetitive spoken one, probably because there is less risk of making mistakes, which he hates. If he dictates and I type, I can suggest topics or phrases for him to put in his own words. But even if he just more or less repeats back what I just said, he is practicing a new line of speech without realizing it. I can also casually correct word usage. He has several quirky phrases that I often don't notice in his everyday talk because I'm so used to the MikeSpeak. But when I am transcribing, my inner editor DOES notice. (Minds are funny, eh?) He usually wants me to read back his post three or four times, too, which is another subtle reinforcer for better speech patterns.
Mike's motivation for writing his blog and sending emails is still heavily based on it earning him 'stars' which he can trade for time with his 'playing games', Train Simulator and the various roller coaster ones. But he's also gotten into the idea that when he sends out his messages, there are people reading them who are interested in what he has to say, and who say things back. The basic 'back-and-forth' of human interaction is one of the things that's hard for him, but the low-pressure/high-interest of email and blogging seems to be a good fit for where he's at.
It's fun for me too, because sometimes when I am typing down what he says, he comes up with things that I didn't know he knew, or was worried about, or even that I didn't know had happened. Maybe it's a good learning experience for me too, getting me out of Lecturing Mom Mode!
Where Mike is at, in general, is that he has a fairly good mental vocabulary, but he tends to stick with a rather basic and somewhat repetitive spoken one, probably because there is less risk of making mistakes, which he hates. If he dictates and I type, I can suggest topics or phrases for him to put in his own words. But even if he just more or less repeats back what I just said, he is practicing a new line of speech without realizing it. I can also casually correct word usage. He has several quirky phrases that I often don't notice in his everyday talk because I'm so used to the MikeSpeak. But when I am transcribing, my inner editor DOES notice. (Minds are funny, eh?) He usually wants me to read back his post three or four times, too, which is another subtle reinforcer for better speech patterns.
Mike's motivation for writing his blog and sending emails is still heavily based on it earning him 'stars' which he can trade for time with his 'playing games', Train Simulator and the various roller coaster ones. But he's also gotten into the idea that when he sends out his messages, there are people reading them who are interested in what he has to say, and who say things back. The basic 'back-and-forth' of human interaction is one of the things that's hard for him, but the low-pressure/high-interest of email and blogging seems to be a good fit for where he's at.
It's fun for me too, because sometimes when I am typing down what he says, he comes up with things that I didn't know he knew, or was worried about, or even that I didn't know had happened. Maybe it's a good learning experience for me too, getting me out of Lecturing Mom Mode!
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