Nicky's Story

          My name is Nicky. I am in Grade 2 at Spring Valley Public School  in Brighton, Ontario.  I have three brothers and we were all born on the same day! This is a story about how I use augmentative communication every day at school.

          I like to be the teacher for Daily Physical Activity (DPA).  I use my Tech Talk 8 to tell the class what to do. If I push the picture of my teacher, the kids have to march their feet and raise their hand up in the air.  When I push the recess button, they have to run on the spot. I like to push the field trip button, the kids have to move up and down and sing "The People on the Bus Go Up And Down" song.  The kids like it when I push the library picture, because they have to sit quietly and pretend to read a book. It's like a break for them! I laugh and we all have a lot of fun. I even did the DPA for the school assembly.  I did it for the Kindergarten to Grade 3 classes.   Then I led the older classes too.  They thought it was a lot of work and lots of fun!  My Dad came to the assembly also. He liked the  DPA. It was lots of fun!

          I also use my Tech Talk 8 for spelling. I help my friends with spelling.

          It's great that I can use my Tech Talk 8 to fill in the rhyming word when the students are doing the "Making Connections Chant"! It is nice to be a part of the activity!

          During music, I use my blue switch to turn the music on and off. My friends like it when I turn the music off because they get to "freeze". 

          During story time, I use my Daisy Player to read the story to the class.

          During math and language I use Classroom Suite and Writing with Symbols on my computer.  Most of the time, I use my joystick and my yellow switch.  Sometimes, I use my Intellikeys Board to use my computer.

          At recess I like to play Go Fish and UNO card games with my friends. I also like to play basketball.  I hold the ball on my tray and move my wheelchair to the end of the gym.  My friend Tyler shoots the ball in to the basket for me.  We have a lot of fun!  I also play soccer. I like to be the goalie.

          I like to use all of my devices at school.  It makes the work easier and it makes the activities - especially being the teacher - a lot of fun!