made some communication pages for WDW

[SueM in MN]

My youngest DD uses a Prentke Romich Vantage communication device, which we just got a few months ago. One of the things I really wanted to do was make a page for each park for her device.

I posted pictures of the different pages to the DIS Photos page. I tried to link one here, but could not get it to work. If you want to see them, you can do a search on that page for keywords disABILITIES communication or for my album and they will show up.
UPDATE: I GOT THE PICTURES TO SHOW UP STARTING ON POST #15 OF THIS THREAD>

About the main page: the bottom 4 rows of buttons are on the screen most of the time and have 'core language', the words used most often. The top row of buttons are called the 'activity row' and change based on which buttons on the bottom part of the screen are pushed. The Disney park buttons come up in the activity row when the 'go' button (the one with the frog and the house) is pushed. The individual park page comes up when the button for that park is pushed.
The button labeled "Minspeak" on the top right side of the park pages go back to the main page.

 

[Shorty82]

Those look neat. They look like they would be helpful.

Searching in the page and using the search box for "disABILITIES communication" doesn't find anything. I found the pictures only because they are at the top of the page as they are the most recent uploaded.

 

[SueM in MN]

Rats!

they came up for me, but that might be because they were my pages.
I guess I need some technical assistance. I have no problem posting pictures from other sites, but could not get the picture to post here.

un til I can figure it out, they should come up if people search by username for me. I don't have anything else loaded, so they will be my only files.

 

[vonpluto]

Rats!

they came up for me, but that might be because they were my pages.
I guess I need some technical assistance. I have no problem posting pictures from other sites, but could not get the picture to post here.

un til I can figure it out, they should come up if people search by username for me. I don't have anything else loaded, so they will be my only files.

Keyword search worked for me. Don't forget the comma after disABILITIES!

I just keyworded my pic of the Jungle Cruise HC boat, however I used all lower case for disabilities, and no comma.

 

[SueM in MN]

Keyword search worked for me. Don't forget the comma after disABILITIES!

I just keyworded my pic of the Jungle Cruise HC boat, however I used all lower case for disabilities, and no comma.

If the search is that picky, I think we need to come up with some 'standard' ways of putting the keywords in. I can add it to the disABILITIES FAQs thread for now.

 

[vonpluto]

If the search is that picky, I think we need to come up with some 'standard' ways of putting the keywords in. I can add it to the disABILITIES FAQs thread for now.

I just tried it again, all lower case, no comma, and all of your communications pix came up, along with my JC boat pic.

 

[Forevryoung]

Glad you got them up there Sue!

And to put it out there again, if anyone needs anything regarding communication pages, devices, high technology, low technology... I've been living and breathing it for 1.5 years. I have access to directions for PRC and dynovox products written by first time users (not the companies so they are actually useful) as well as the unique ability to program boardmaker in my sleep.

 

[MarieS]

Sue,
Thanks for sharing your pages! Alexander attended an AAC camp this summer and did fabulous with a trial on a dynavox with auditory scan. He has a lower tech device now with very limited capability but we are hoping to upgrade in the next year. For our upcoming trip we are staying low tech with some help from Forevryoung.

 

[SueM in MN]

I thought I should post an update of our experience with DD's communication device at WDW.
The device she uses is a Prentke Romich Vantage Plus and she has a Profiler mount from CJT for her wheelchair (the ones on the website are more 'complex' than her's is). The mount is a quick release mount; one piece stays on the wheelchair and the rest can be removed by pulling a pushpin. You can also leave the black tube at the bottom on the wheelchair and just remove the top aluminum part. The removable pieces are small enough to put in a backpack (one of my criteria for a good wheelchair mount).

For the plane trip, we left the mount on her wheelchair while she went thru TSA screening. I had checked the TSA site and found that her device could be left on her wheelchair and be screened by hand with the wheelchair - they do recognize that someone using a communication device may need to use it during the screening process. DD is a joker and we could not count on her not to say something that could be misinterpreted by the TSA screeners, so we elected not to leave it on her wheelchair. The device was treated exactly like a computer - take it out of the case and send it thru the xray machine in one of the plastic bins.
When getting ready to get onto the plane, I took the mount off the wheelchair and took it onboard with the pieces I removed from her wheelchair. We had a case for the device; rather than buy the device case from the company, I bought a portable DVD player case from Target for under $20. Much less expensive and we could choose a more stylish case that would still protect the device. That came on as a carryon and was put in the overhead bin with the wheelchair parts. The 'skeleton' of the wheelchair was gate checked.

The one thing we had not counted on was torrential rains. Communication devices are basically very specialized computers - so getting most of them wet is a definite 'no- no'. We took a plastic bag along in case we had to quickly cover it. We also had the case and used a strap with a click closure to attach the case to the back of her wheelchair. Several days, it never came out of the case because it was so rainy and we left it back at the resort one day when the chance of rain was > 80%.
When we went thru Security at the parks, we opened the case. Several of the security CMs kind of looked at it weird, but I explained it was her communication computer and they all got an "Ohhhh" look on their faces.

If we could have used it in the parks without fear of rain, it would have been nice. DH didn't think it would fit on some of the rides with her wheelchair, but it actually would have in most cases (if we had it on). It was a bit of a bother for rides where we had to transfer her. Even though it was securely fastened, I was worried it might get knocked off. For those attractions where we were transferring her a lot, we ended up putting the device away - yes, that did take her 'voice' away, but she can sign to us, so she could still communicate.

We did use it some nights after coming home to discuss what we had done during the day. And, now that we are home, I made some scrapbook pages for her (using iPhoto's book capability). We had those printed at Kinkos (about $20 for 35 pages). We bought stickers at WDW to decorate the scrapbook pages with. We also plan to use her communication device to have her 'write' some comments to be put in the scrapbook. If the device is connected to a computer, when she presses a button on the device, the text that is associated with that button gets sent to the computer and can go to Word so that she can write with it.
She has used her WDW pages to tell people her favorite attraction (Laugh Floor). All in all, it worked out well, although the rain was a problem.

 

[Forevryoung]

Sue, Thank you so much for the "update"

I'm glad your daughter likes the Vantage- How is she doing with Minspeak?

Maybe I should put a training together for Disney employees! Next project

My Mac (yes MAC) hard drive went poof last night- I have hard copies of some projects I put together (like instructions for how to create a low tech communication system...) but the first 7 pages of my research thesis are gone along with the electronic copies of the projects.

 

[MarieS]

Sue,

Thanks for the update. I appreciated hearing your opinion on the mount and case since we are working on this for next year.

 

[SueM in MN]

Sue, Thank you so much for the "update"

I'm glad your daughter likes the Vantage- How is she doing with Minspeak?

Maybe I should put a training together for Disney employees! Next project

My Mac (yes MAC) hard drive went poof last night- I have hard copies of some projects I put together (like instructions for how to create a low tech communication system...) but the first 7 pages of my research thesis are gone along with the electronic copies of the projects.

I read about your computer on another thread.
You have my sympathy. I've had the same thing happen on my computer at work (the hard drive just totally died) and we have had that happen on a computer at home. I thought mac.com looked like an expensive way to store stuff, but something like that makes mac.com look like good insurance.

DD is interesting with her device. Because she had some very bad initial experiences with AAC, she is veery afraid of making any mistakes or doing anything that looks like it might be a 'test'. It's obvious that she absorbs what she has been shown on Minspeak, even when she doesn't appear to be watching because she will later use something she was shown in a totally spontaneous and functional way.
I am thinking of getting the "Literacy Thru Unity" package from PRC and using it for her to teach staff how to use her device.

 

[SueM in MN]

Sue,

Thanks for the update. I appreciated hearing your opinion on the mount and case since we are working on this for next year.

Thanks.
I was just at the Vendor Exhibition for a conference calledClosing the Gap this weekend and had a chance to see lots of different things.

 

[Forevryoung]

Thanks.
I was just at the Vendor Exhibition for a conference calledClosing the Gap this weekend and had a chance to see lots of different things.

Lucky duck that you got to go!

As I've said before, I don't know as much about PRC products as I do about other companies. I don't know how that software would assist your daughter. She should definitely be able to advocate for herself though! (and literacy completely opens doors when it comes to communication)

 

[SueM in MN]

I have some other pages I made to add to this thread. They were made on my daughter's communication device, which is a Prentke Romich Vantage. If someone has a Vantage or Vanguard device and wants these pages, I can email you the actual page files so you can load them onto your device.

Otherwise, feel free to print out the jpg files as a paper communication board or use them as a guide for making pages for your own device.
Here's the MK page with icons from the Vantage:

This is the link to the actual jpg:
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/data/747/2590MK2.jpg

This is the MK page I made with actual Disney icons from the internet:

And a link to the actual jpg:
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/data/500/2590Vantage_MK_page.jpg

 

[SueM in MN]

page for the Studio using 'generic' icons:

link to jpg of that page:
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/data/747/2590Studio2.jpg

page for Studio using Disney icons from the internet:

link to jpg of that page:
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/data/500/2590vantage_Studio_page.jpg

 

[SueM in MN]

AK page using 'generic' icons:

link to to jpg of page:
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/data/747/2590Animal_kingdom_page2.JPG

AK page using Disney icons from the internet:

http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/data/500/2590Vantage_AK_page.jpg

 

[SueM in MN]

And finally, the Epcot page with 'generic' icons:

link to jpg of page:
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/data/747/2590Epcot_2_page.jpg

And the Epcot page with Disney icons:

link to jpg of page:
http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/data/500/2590vantage_epcot_page.jpg

 

[Forevryoung]

looks great!

 

[SueM in MN]

looks great!

thanks.

DD requested that "Scary" and "Funny" be added to her Disney pages and I decided if I was working on them, I may as well make a 'generic' version.