Yussuf’s Journey

I had the pleasure of meeting Yussuf 3 years ago when he was in LA from his home in Canada for an intensive burst of therapy. He was 7 years old and was currently communicating by smiling,  laughing, and unreliably hitting an outstretched hand with his own to signal "yes." His mom wasn't sure how much he understood as his responses were sporadic and not always reliable. During many sessions together over a 2 week period, Yussuf starting using a PODD book to share messages such as MORE or I LIKE THIS + GREAT using auditory scanning and a hand hit to indicate “yes”. As he became increasingly reliable with this method of access, his intelligence began to shine. He completed math problems that I needed a calculator to compute, shared his knowledge of geography and, most inspiring to his many in his community, shared that he had indeed memorized the Qu’ran and knew not only names of the chapters but the corresponding chapter numbers as well. Yussuf quickly grew out of his PODD book and graduated to a Word Power layout that he accessed via partner assisted auditory scanning.  During his most recent visit from Canada, we had the following exchange after not having seen each other for several months: 

Ali: Hi, it’s so good to see you!! 

Yussuf: Salamualaykum (a phrase used to greet), You look great. 

Ali: Thanks! You do, too! I love your haircut. 

Yussuf: Jazak allah hair (a phrase to indicate gratitude). 

Although Yussuf’s communication system contains phrases in both English and Arabic, he always pushes me to expand my own learning of cultures and languages. Yussuf's ability to transition to using a switch (or two) to access a high tech device has always been a goal but has been difficult due to his challenges with reliable and predictable motor movements. During his most recent visit, he expressed a strong interest in making this transition and spent many hours working hard on this goal. By the time he left, he was able to fully navigate his communication book on GoTalkNow in addition to using the integrated iOS switch scanning features to navigate his iPad and watch videos, listen to music/podcasts, take pictures and most favored, listen to the Qu'ran. It has been such a pleasure working alongside Yussuf and his mom on his journey to being an independent communicator.