New Year Resolutions.

When thinking about what to write on my blog first, I had so many ideas, but none of them seemed right for my first one. I sat back and thought about the new year, and how starting this blog is one of my many New Year resolutions among the usual keep fit, eat healthy and drink more water. Then I started to think about what I wanted to achieve with Tom this year.

Our main goal is always have fun and enjoy everyday. This year though we had something new to focus on. Back in November 2017 Tom got the 'MyGaze' eye gaze setup from Inclusive Technology. Tom got the adjustable floor stand, touch screen monitor, MyGaze tracker and the keyboard and mouse as a bundle ( http://www.inclusive.co.uk/hardware/eye-gaze-technology ) This meant that Tom could eye gaze wherever he was most comfortable and where suited him best rather than using the static stand. This was a really big deal for us all and we all were a little overwhelmed by the software and the potential Tom had with this new technology.

During December we all worked on getting Tom eye gazing and familarising ourselves with the software and what we could do with it. We discovered that Tom loved to colour using the 'Attention and Looking' software from 'Learning Curve'. Tom picked up eye gazing so quickly that by the end of December he was flying his very own plane on the eye gaze using 'Eye Can Fly'.

I was starting to become fustrated in myself as I wasn't sure where to go next, I didn't expect Tom to get this so quickly and I was worried that I was holding him back. Over christmas I started to do some reading on different reports from speech and langauge therapists and started to seriously reasearch Eye Gaze and what I should be doing.

The truth is no one can tell you what you should be doing, as each child is different. I realised that I need to look at Tom and work out a plan. So on Tuesday the 02nd of January I came in to Tom with a new plan and this week has been a real success with the eye gaze. Tom has been a superstar and has really built not only his confidence but mine to as i feel like we are really getting somewhere as a team.

Consistency is the key. All week we have been working on the same activity and Tom has become more responsive each time we do it. After Tom has worked hard on the 'Looking to Learn' application he gets to use the 'Magic Painting' in the 'Attention and Looking' application and this is something he enjoys and can relax whilst doing, I am a big believer in the importance of downtime.

We are going to try next week to move onto something new and hopefully Tom responds well to this. We are all very excited and think the future looks like a lot of fun with Tom and Eye Gaze.

If anyone has had any experience with Eye Gaze technology please let me know how you got on and any tricks you have. I appreciate any advice and new ideas!