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note: The above list is from six years ago. Michael has much more to say than this now, and did then. Also we didn't know the word types very well so some of the colour-coding is wrong.

We interpret Michael's signs and gestures and use these interpretations to select vocabulary for him to learn on his talker, as well as purposely focusing on the 500 everyday core words. We would love students at Michael's school to tell us about his day, share current buzz words with us etc.

We've got video of Michael using his Pathfinder, see the Me on my Pathfinder page in the My Talker section of this site. Most of it is out of date, in that Michael exceeded the ability level displayed in the footage before his mother got it edited an online.

Why all the evidence of language and Pathfinder ability? Well basically I has been described as a cabbage and unteachable and placed under threat of having my Pathfinder replaced with a much simpler device, or at least threatened that most of the icons would be removed from my machine to leave me with just a small voabulary, by the professionals on whom we called for assistance in persuading school to honour their contract with BECTa and draw up a Action Plan to implement use of Pathfinder in school, monitor progress, and allow some training for staff.

In May 2004, the County Advisory Teacher for SEN (who was my CAP Assessor and whose job it is to monitor progress in using the Pathfinder at school) visited school to see how I was getting on with my Pathfinder and laptop. When she found my Pathfinder was only getting used in one lesson she advised that this should be increased to 50% of lessons.

In October 2004 a 'core team' meeting was held at school to discuss use of Pathfinder in school. Mum asked for this meeting as she was concerned that I couldn't talk at school as no one at school was telling us what words we needed to say in their lessons or showing me where any words were stored on my Pathfinder, even though Mum had made my teachers lots of picture guides to make my talker easy for them.

The meeting was attended by my class tutor, English tutor, LSA, school head, and a new speech therapist. The speech therapist suggested that my Pathfinder be used in just 2 more lessons, overturning the better recommendation of my CAP Assessor, and when Mum mentioned 'core vocabulary', the SLT asked 'can we just start with nouns and adjectives'.

Another meeting was planned for January and it was decided to invite the Regional AAC experts, Communicate, as our last letter from them says that I remain on review with them, and in the hopes that they would know that access to core vocabulary is absolutely essential for communication to take place, and that they could help Mum to persuade school that this is true.

My CAP Coordinator from ACE Oldham was also invited, as he too is responsible for overseeing that the contract between school and DfES/BECTa to use CAP equipment is kept, and Mum also hoped that our coordinator would be an AAC and language whizz, as there are only two ACE centres to cover the whole country.

No one at school or speech therapy knows much about my Pathfinder or any communication aids, and neither does the Advisory teacher who assessed me on behalf of CAP, and Mum felt was very strange that she was chosen to assess me because of this. We found this year that neither does our CAP Coordinator, but then he is probably more of an administrator than anything else.

At the meeting with Communicate, ACE Oldham, and County SEN Advisor in January 2005, school reported that they felt the Pathfinder was too complex for me.

Communicate asked Mum how many words I was accessing, but Mum just didn't have the skills to give a reliable answer. It was mentioned that I got 67 words right in an English test the previous May (2004), but not how many words this was out of, and they wrote into their report that I only access 67 words on my Pathfinder!

(The database we made says that I accessed nearly 500 different words in the first 9 days, 40 of which were uttered at school. Mum hasn't had time to add the rest of the data yet).

They suggested that I should try a much simpler communication aid with fewer words on it, and the new speech therapist (who just wanted to use nouns and adjectives with me in October) said 'yippee, can we use PCS symbols', without any regard to me or where I was really at with my language and vocabulary and Pathfinder.

The next school year, my returned-to-work-from-another-maternity-leave SLT, who served us in year 7 and year 9, 'observed Michael indirectly by speaking with his English teacher and class tutor' in October 2005 (year 11) and wrote for my Annual Review that I 'wouldn't benefit from any direct therapy and so none was planned'.

LEA told Mum that if SLT says no therapy then no therapy gets written into my Statement of Special Educational Needs, and if she says one hour per year, then that's all that gets written.

Social Services and the company who supplied my Pathfinder also only listen to a speech therapist and not a Mum.

Mum had to forget about any further communications with Communicate, school, ACE, Advisory Support, IPSEA, Educational Solicitor... and concentrate entirely on her dialogue with SLT, who wielded such power over my Provision.

We've been waiting to see the amended Statement from the LEA since early spring. We already know it will go to SEN Tribunal, and possibly an Ombudsman will have to be involved. We will definitely need a solicitor, as certain things that are already written in Statement aren't being interpreted to my benefit, although it says I am:

'to be taught the appropriate alternative and supplementary communication systems'

and my IEP says that teachers are to:

'model its correct use'

my head teacher and an SEN officer believe that this can refer to Makaton signing rather than my voice output machine.

I often hit myself now and cry. I want to talk to my friends. I am always asking Mum to come to school to help me with this, and Mum wants some of my friends to tell her what words they think I am trying to say.

Mum anything about my school day. She can usually

 

Note:

In February 2007 we went to SENDIST Tribunal, where Michael's support team - head teacher, slt and an SEN officer - opposed our appeal for him to be supported to use his Pathfinder in school, saying that the reason he doesn't use it in school is either because he has nothing to say because he is just a 'typical teenager' or because his cognitive ability is so low, and that it is appropriate for him to just answer yes/no to questions.

They lost. Thank god. We should have something better to write soon.