{"id":131983,"date":"2019-12-20T09:15:05","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T15:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/?p=131983"},"modified":"2019-12-20T09:15:05","modified_gmt":"2019-12-20T15:15:05","slug":"11-literacy-spotlight-rose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/adults-with-down-syndrome\/11-literacy-spotlight-rose","title":{"rendered":"1:1 Literacy Spotlight: Rose!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rose came to GiGi\u2019s to develop her communication skills. I was presented with a lovely young lady who was nonverbal, very shy, and heavily dependent on her tablet to assist her in connecting with the world. She even struggled with making eye contact early on. I decided the best way to help Rose was to picture us in the following scenario: if we were two people on the same island, who speak different languages, and she did not have the tablet to communicate, how would we bond? I knew I would have <\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>think \u201coutside of the box\u201d in order to not only make her comfortable, but hopefully also grow her confidence and self-esteem. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I started by incorporating play with dolls that were provided, and using them as a bridge between us. The more I interacted with the <\/span>dolls,<\/span> the more interested Rose became in what I was doing. As I would create a narrative for what the dolls were doing or thinking, I could see in Rose\u2019s eyes that she was creating her own narrative too. I felt strongly at that point that she did have the capacity for speech, and shortly thereafter I let her mother know that the tablet was no longer necessary during our tutoring sessions together.<\/span> \"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Rose\u2019s growth since those initial interactions has developed considerably. The shy person who struggled to make eye-contact was\u00a0<\/span>now\u00a0<\/span>meeting my eyes, giving hugs, and clearly ready to move past needing the dolls as a means <\/span>for us to<\/span>\u00a0connect.\u00a0<\/span>While\u00a0<\/span>I have continued to<\/span>\u00a0utilize<\/span>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>resources<\/span>\u00a0prov<\/span>ided by the Playhouse, I h<\/span>ave also\u00a0<\/span>added<\/span>\u00a0some of my own \u201ctools\u201d to\u00a0<\/span>her learning toolbox such as an ID bracelet\u00a0<\/span>I made\u00a0<\/span>with her name and phone number to help with alpha-numeric recognition. The dolls still have their presence too, as Rose will often have the doll \u201chelp\u201d with her letter-word matching. It is moments such as those when I am in awe in how far she has come, and I am honored to have had a role in her progress.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of all our experiences together, t<\/span>he one I am most proud of was introducing her to her schoolmate, Kevin<\/span>. Rose\u2019s mother had mentioned in our initial conversation that Rose did not have <\/span>m<\/span>any friends. When I discovered that Rose and Kevin attended the same school, I jumped at the opportunity to facilitate an introduction. After getting their parents\u2019 permission, the three of us went for ice cream at McDonald’s. After they ordered for themselves, <\/span>paid in cash, and counted their change, I got to watch Rose <\/span>build a wonderful friendship. <\/span>Facilitating a\u00a0<\/span>learning-rich environ<\/span>ment for Rose has allowed us<\/span>\u00a0to develop her writing skills,\u00a0<\/span>improved her\u00a0<\/span>number\/letter recognition, and helped her find her voice. As she can proudly tell you, \u201cI can\u00a0<\/span>talk<\/span>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

-Chris Rosato<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rose came to GiGi\u2019s to develop her communication skills. I was presented with a lovely young lady who was nonverbal, very shy, and heavily dependent on her tablet to assist her in connecting with the world. She even struggled with making eye contact early on. I decided the best way to help Rose was to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpo365_audiences":[],"wpo365_private":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adults-with-down-syndrome","category-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131983\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/hoffmanestates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}