Every time I see Abbi she reminds me why I became a Speech Pathologist. Abbi is a beautiful little girl with a sparkling personality. Abbi likes Minnie Mouse, Frozen, dressing up and dancing. Abbi has hearing loss caused by a condition called Large Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome. I’ve been invited into Abbi’s team to support her to learn sign language so that she can communicate with her family and friends.
I work with her mum Amy at home, to develop functional goals that will support Abbi to learn new signs, develop her language skills and communicate things that are important to her and her family.
We have worked on food signs, people signs, prepositions (e.g on, in, under) and learning to combine signs together to make sentences. We have just started teaching Abbi the sign for “when” so she can understand when mum will pick her up from preschool.
Abbi sees many other specialists and together as a team we ensure that we are delivering on the same goals and share what’s working or not working. Abbi’s support team and her mum Amy use Drop Box and a blog to keep in touch and stay up to date with what is happening in Abbi’s life.
Abbi has a very dedicated family. Her mother is studying for a Certificate II in Auslan and is about to start Certificate III. Abbi’s brother and grandmother have also just started the Sign Language 1 course at the Deaf Society. The family are amazing to work with and it truly feels like we are part of a big team working together to support Abbi’s signing.
Abbi is an absolute joy to work with and she loves signing. Both mother and daughter are constantly teaching me new things and it is an honour to be part of their story.
Source: NDIS Options