This week I had the best phone call I’ve had all year… And it was only 10 seconds long.
This is how it went:
Me: Hello?
Dylan: Hi, this is Dylan. How are you?
Me: Oh hi Dylan! I’m good, how are you?!
Dylan: I’m good. I just called to say hi.
Me: Oh okay. Im glad you called. I miss you. I hope you have a great day!
Dylan: Talk to you soon. Bye.
Me: Okay, I love you! Bye!
My sister is working with Dylan to teach him how to call people. Our conversation was entirely scripted. But! The goal is to prompt him through phone calls a few times, then fade the prompts and let him try it independently.
Some may wonder why this is important to me or why I think it’s so great, being that it was completely prompted. Well… For one, he willingly did it. Two, he’s learning the abstract concept that a person can be represented by a phone. He can talk to someone even though he can’t see them. Three, he is learning several important skills: how to dial numbers, the etiquette for greeting someone, asking questions, waiting for the response, and saying goodbyes.
The ability to make phone calls, which is so simple for most of us, does not come naturally to Dylan or other kids like him. It must be broken down and taught. And, it’s a skill that we can teach progressively to open up new doors for him.
Along with learning how to call family members we can teach him how to place food orders over the phone, how to make emergency calls, how to make phone plans with friends, how to set appointments, etc. The possibilities are endless!
I’m looking forward to my phone call from him next week. 🙂
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