First Quarter Progress Report on Mark Hartmann
1993-94 School Year

 

Mark is currently being served by the speech/language program, receiving five hours per week of speech/language services. He is served by half-hour sessions and we work on improving his communication. Through facilitated communication and the use of the Canon Communicator and a communication board. Mark is demonstrating various levels of competence in the setting of the speech/language room.

Mark has a communication board that he uses in the speech room and one that is very similar to use in the classroom. His art teacher uses one and more have been developed for the other "specials" he is going to throughout the week. The music and PE teachers, as well as the librarian and guidance counselor have given input as to how Mark is functioning in each class. Mark's attendant, Karen Leader, ( "Suz" ), is with Mark in each environment and is assisting him in his activities and communication attempts. Each communication board has phrases and words that are applicable to a particular environment. They are on a ring that Mark can carry to each class. It will be important during the next quarter to document the use of these boards and how they are affecting Mark's interaction in each class.

On the ladder of communication levels, Mark is able to "point to whole word" choices and "copy" words to answer questions. He is also able
to point to "yes" or "no" accurately. He often uses the Canon to spell "yes/no" responses. He is less consistent, although working at the level of "fill in the blank/predictable." When the word that makes the sentence complete is very familiar to Mark, he can work at this level with great consistency. It is much more difficult when he has to come up with a word on his own. After reading a story, Mark can often complete a fill-in-the blank when the answer has been provided in the reading. He seems to enjoy this activity and does very well answering questions in this setting. At times, it seems that Mark's willingness to communicate an answer depends on his motivation for communicating that thought. For example, when given the choice of three things to do during a break, he will usually answer with correct or approximate spelling of one of the choices given. When the questions are only conversational, such as did you have math, spelling or PE before coming to speech, he often pushes the Canon away or slides under the table. My usual response is to follow Mark under the table and bring the Canon with me. He seems to like working on the floor and with some prodding will work well for me.

Mark's interim IEP calls for working on increased response length and using sentences to answer questions. Mark has typed in approximately seven sentences for me over the course of these nine weeks. These are spontaneous answers, such as "I want a rest" to the question, "What do you need Mark?" There are many times that Mark begins screeching in a very unpleasant or unhappy tone during speech. I have come to respond by showing him the communication board, asking him to show me what he needs, and facilitating his response. This has worked well, as often he points to "I'm hungry" or "I need to go to the bathroom." I feel that it is important for Mark to go to the board on his own when a need arises, instead of, (or in addition to) screeching and kicking. These skills of "initiating," "joint attention" (getting someone's attention), and "making (various) requests" are very important in Mark's ability to function well in the school environment. Also, he needs a way to regulate others' behavior, (tell someone to "stop" what he doesn't like. etc.,). This would help him when others are touching him and he wants them to stop. We have been spending a lot of time on getting Mark to communicate various "intents" using his communication board. This has been very difficult unless we can tell what he wants and set up the situation so that he has to "ask" to get it.

Mark has been a joy to work with. He has responded favorably to using communication boards and my hope is that he will continue this practice in all environments throughout his day. I am also working toward getting Mark to respond to different question types using the Canon. We will be concentrating on this during the next nine weeks.

Mrs. Hartmann has been a great resource a support as we all learn more about Mark. 1 truly appreciate everything you've shared with me and the staff. It has made my work with Mark much more focused and efficient.

 

Carolyn F. Clement, CCC-SLP
Speech/Language Pathologist

 

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