A new favourite in my clinic

My speech therapist friend told me about these recordable communication buttons and they have been a revelation! The ones I bought are actually called puppy training buttons but they are the same as the communication ones, just cheaper!

I've made a little demo video that you can watch on YouTube by clicking here. Basically, you hold a little button down on the bottom of the button and record your message. You then press the button to listen to it. I've been amazed by the multitude of uses for them in my sensory clinic. They have been great for encouraging interaction, for example the mum of a 3 year old non speaking child recorded "ready, steady, go" on a button and every time her child went down the slide he pressed the button and looked at her all excited - it was such a lovely interaction. An older child enjoyed engaging in verbal stimming (making lots of interesting loud noises with his voice). With his voice he could only usually make one of his sounds at a time but with the buttons he was able to record 6 of his sounds and play them all at the same time - a bit too noisy for my liking ha ha but he loved it! Another child who came for assessment and struggled with demand avoidance due to anxiety, recorded "yes", "no" and "maybe later" on the buttons and when I suggested certain games to him he used the buttons. It seemed to help him feel more in control and it took away the demand of speaking to me. I've also used the buttons scattered around the room as part of an obstacle course with challenges recorded on them. South West Yorkshire NHS speech therapists have put together this ideas sheet for using the buttons which are also known as Big Macks. You can access the sheet here but I don't know about calling them a Big Mack...I know one of my sons would be very disappointed if he asked for a Big Mac and got this! Do be warned though, whilst children love these buttons, they can be super annoying for parents!

Hanna