Picture this (PCS in action)

Here’s one way we got started on our journey to speech stimulation and development: PCS – picture communication system. I found the nearest education store and spent hours just looking at what was available. In another post we’ll talk about how not to go overboard with the spending. You know when you want to find stuff that will help and you pick up one of everything? Then you discover some of it just doesn’t work for you? Been there, done that. Will sell the tee-shirt soon.

Anyway, I found this delightful set of flash cards. The pictures are vibrant. Nice colors and you get simple introduction to the concepts. Naming words – hat, chair, spoon. Action words – run, jump, skip, walk. Remember, the child is a blank slate. Who decided that run was the word for moving the legs one way and walk was the word for moving the same legs differently? Doesn’t really matter who decided. The real issue is that my child, with a speech delay, needed to see these actions in pictures so that she could comprehend the distinction between the meaning of the WALK word and the RUN word. So, here are the pictures from my box of flash cards – brand name TREND.

The box came with a host of action words which I simply put all around the house. Kitchen still has - cook, bake, wash on the stove, oven, dishwasher respectively. Front door has the lock and bathroom has wash, brush (teeth). As you can see, it takes a little work but once you’ve done it once, they just stay there doing their thing. The flash cards posted here were used in the basement since we used the basement door to go outside. These are many of the things you could do outside. Inside and outside were equally challenging. What is ‘inside’? And who decided that outside was outside? With each new concept, I had to be creative and as another blogger (Woozle) says – patient. The biggest part of this journey for me has been developing patience and detective skills to determine what’s the missing piece of the puzzle for her.

And what about all of those things that we say, routinely, and assume that they have meaning. Good morning. Good night. It’s bedtime. Yup.  I created my own flashcards for these concepts. Look, the research and the educational product market is just catching up but the number of things we need, I certainly would go bankrupt if I bought everything that they made. Making some things for myself gave me a sense of involvement.  I’m doing this as my gift 2 my child. I could just as easily buy them but there’s a sense of joy, fulfillment, satisfaction – like baking bread or rebuilding a car – this is the work of my hands coming from my heart for the child of my heart.

I found a picture dictionary – there are lots of really good ones. Then I simply selected the pictures that I needed and copied them. Cut. Paste. And voila – my own flash card.  You can do the same.

Greetings came to life once I had the homemade flash cards. Four years after I created these, you can now find more photos created into flash cards. That’s what speech therapists have been using. Now they are available for purchase…I can’t afford to buy everything and there’s a lot to learn. This is just the beginning.  You’ll have to decide which things you will make (or even have friends and family make for you). Some things you buy, some things you make. Picture this – you need pictures to stimulate language development – some concepts are easier than others. Some take longer to grasp than others. My challenge was to make them as I needed – most times I didn’t figure out what I needed in advance but once I knew what I needed to make, the rest was easy.

Made it myself tip: Locate a good education store or office supplies store. Acquire some basic supplies: glue stick, markers, flash cards (pre-printed and blank), scissors, push pins, double-sided tape. With these basic supplies, you can make your own flash cards from pre-school up. I’m still making flash cards in 1st grade. They provide simple manipulatives that help her acquire, manipulate language and language concepts. Try it and see if it works for you.

Picture this – PCS (picture communication system) - either the official version or your own homemade version is a great way to introduce your child (with or without a speech delay) to language and language concepts. A picture really was worth a thousand words.  The pictures got us off to a helpful start and we are better off for having tried them.