This App is an complete mess. It is supposed to be easy and intuitive to use. Dozens upon dozens of food items (which are coincidentally the signs she can semireliably recall) do jack diddly for her communication.
What kind of speech therapist is that anyway? I actually mailed the last vlog to two speech therapists I work with and they both thought that replacing words as vital as want is stupid. How did this person agree to that? Did Assa just hear what he wanted to hear?
According to the almighty Ass-hat, it's only worthwhile to teach Abbie to communicate about items she wants, food, bath, golf cart, music, swing. The rest of the time, A&P just rely on asking her questions like "Do you want to do this? Do you want to eat that?" to which she can either nod yes or shake her head no. Then, a significant amount of the time, if Abbie doesn't choose what they want her to choose or if they can't be bothered to give her what she's asking for - they just ignore and dismiss it.
Then P makes comments that imply that it's Abbie's fault for not communicating better. Or in that other comment where A/P said that autonomy is so important. They have done a very shitty job of teaching her to communicate and then place the blame on her for not communicating effectively. Then they do something idiotic like teaching her the sign for donut instead of something that would actually help her communication skills. In tonite's vlog, going on and on about the cupcakes.
I agree with
@mbkw999 and
@Gambit, that P not knowing how to use Abbie's device and Ass-hat being the most familiar with it... it's very telling. Yes, Asa is considered the primary caregiver, but for something as important as Abbie's communication device, both A&P should be very familiar with it and know how to use it.