Over half way through!

Well, I'm now past the halfway mark and there are only 2 more days to go. I can't believe how quickly the time is flying by!!!

Well after Saturday's hectic schedule, Sunday was quite literally, a quiet day at home!! Apart from buying a Xmas tree & decorating it, oh and practising my telephone skills on my dad, I did little else. This gave me time to reflect on my communication at home and communicator usage...

• I actually use the communicator very little at home, generally relying on gestures and signs (fortunately I have taught James one or two handy Makaton signs over the years!). Besides that, James knows me very well and so he's pretty tuned in to what I'm thinking (most of the time!). I think Lucy must have been reading my mind when she said she now understands why many of our students choose not to use their communicators at home (see Lucy's blog).
• I've also noticed that I only communicate my thoughts and feelings to others when I really need to. Most of the time I just have a private monologue with myself inside my head. This is ok to a point but I really do miss the general 'chit chat' that I have with James on a daily basis or when I get home from work. There have been times when communication has been more of a 'chore' than a pleasure - I don't know any one who doesn't like a bit of a natter!
• Having said all of the above... I'm glad I have a communicator and am not relying on signs and gestures alone. This would be impossible as many people don't know any formal signing system and to be honest... I've had to laugh at my sometimes quite daft attempts at gesturing my message! I sometimes feel like a french mime artist or a character in an episode of Mr Bean! Goodness knows what I must look like to others!
• I am starting to worry less about my mistakes now. The odd spelling error doesn't bother me so much as long as the message sounds ok and makes sense. Sometimes I accidently select a word from my word prediction row rather than my message window (to make my message speak). This means I end up saying a word that is sort of similar to the intended word. So far it has either been mildly amusing or a little annoying - I hope I don't make a really embarrassing mistake and end up saying something very rude instead!
• I quite often change my intended word with one carrying a similar meaning if it is on the screen in front of me rather than going to a different 'page' on my communicator. This is a strategy I use to try and speed up the process.

All in all, I still feel that I'm a way off being a trully effective communication aid user, but, I am improving!