Yes. Behavior is also communication.
[Love this from Walking With Drake]
[Love this from Walking With Drake]
This is a huge pet peeve of mine.
There was once a “specialist” at Drake’s school who would have him say ‘hello’ using his AAC device when he had already waved to the person. It frustrated Drake, rightly so.
The same would happen with goodbye or the words yes and no, when he would clearly shake his head for yes and no.I kindly explained to her why it was frustrating. He waved, that’s hello! Thankfully things changed after that conversation.
At nearly eleven years old Drake is beginning to learn how to verbally communicate. We are ecstatic. It’s slow, it’s infrequent, but it’s progress. Any attempt is progress. However, we don’t ask him to use one type of communication over another. In his mind, he has answered the question…verbally, using body language, pointing, or otherwise.