Noah's journey
Noah is a four-year-old, happy little boy who started the SWAP programme in January 2023. He is non-verbal and took part in the programme with his dad, David, who attended five zoom parent sessions and five face to face sessions with Noah and the SWAP team.
From the very beginning, it was very apparent that Noah and David had a lovely bond. David was very tuned into Noah and was committed to the taking part in the SWAP programme to support Noah as he begin to learn to communicate using pictures. David had older children and he commented “If we look at the relationship I have with my other children, it is very playful and very close. I think SWAP helped me form a deeper bond with Noah by being able to follow his learning path and match his needs”.
During the five child led sessions, Noah coped extremely well and enjoyed a wide range of activities and resources and was really engaged and was able to use pictures to get his own wants and needs met. Both Noah’s nursery and childminder bought into the programme and introduced Noah to symbols within their settings which is so important for the child to begin to understand that using pictures is for everywhere they go and with everyone they meet.
David said; “Noah is very affectionate and will cuddle those he is familiar with, but we have recently had his nursery start using the PECS® cards and they’ve noticed that instead of pulling at hands for attention he is able to show what he wants by selecting a picture”.
Noah started to develop early language through the love of his specialist interests, numbers and letters. He used lots of identifiable sounds when counting and naming letters. He really enjoyed these activities and would love to spend time with his dad and the SWAP team, labelling numbers/letters, counting and matching.
During Noah’s last session, he engaged in bubble play and the SWAP team introduced the word “more”. Noah quickly understood that for the bubbles to be blown he could use the word “more”, he began to vocalise “more” using his early language development. Noah is still using “more” at home to communicate with his family. #
David commented on Noah’s development during SWAP; “I think SWAP reinforced Noah’s current position in terms of understanding and learning ability, and I think it did it in a gentler way. The process was more about Noah, rather than any kind of syllabus we had to follow”. Noah made positive relationships with both Cheryl and Ann-Marie and they both really looked forward to Noah’s face to face session.
“Noah is an extremely happy and intelligent little boy he was keen to learn new things and loved to laugh and share interactions with us both”, said Cheryl. “David, was very supportive of Noah and the programme and it was lovely to see their close bond and how David supported Noah throughout the face-to-face sessions”.
On the SWAP programme it is predominantly mums who attend the 10-week course. However, we are seeing more dads, grandparents and other family members attending to learn how to support and help children develop a different way to communicate using pictures.
Finally, David wanted to share his thoughts for any families considering taking part in the SWAP programme. “Enjoy the journey with your child, just don’t expect too much too soon and go at your own child’s pace. SWAP is a programme that has provided me with a wider knowledge and understanding of how to support Noah in all areas of his development and they provided me advice and hints/tips on a wide range of topics. I would highly recommend the programme to all families”.
We asked Noah’s dad David for this thoughts on the SWAP programme. Here’s what he said;
How did the overall experience of SWAP help you personally to develop a better understanding of Noah and how to support him to communicate his own wants and needs in a more positive way?
I think SWAP reinforced Noah’s current position in terms of understanding and learning ability, and I think it did it a gentler way. The process was more about Noah, than any kind of syllabus we had to follow.
As a father, how have you found the journey of parenting a child with additional needs? If we look at and the relationship I have with my other children, it is very playful and very close. I think SWAP helped formed that bond with Noah - not that it wasn’t there anyway - but being able to follow his learning path and match his needs.
Do you feel that fathers who are sharing this journey have enough support services for them to access?
I chose to do this with Noah because I wanted to do it. I did notice on a Tuesday meeting, that it was predominantly mums. I wouldn’t know where to go for support for myself as a dad with a special needs child.
What advice would you give to another dad who is just starting on this journey with their child?
Enjoy the journey with your child, just don’t expect too much too soon and go at your own child’s pace. The SWAP team are very supportive and have provided me with advice on a wide range of topics from sleep issues, behaviour problems, how to work with Nursery to best support Noah, along with many other things.
Ann-Marie & Cheryl said “It has been absolute pleasure to support Noah and his family on the SWAP programme. Noah’s dad David fully embraced the programme and supported Noah along with mum, his childminder and nursery to ensure Noah was able to use symbols to communicate his wants and needs in all areas of his life. During the programme, Noah was beginning to enjoy having a wide variety of objects labelled, showed interest in colours and was using distinct sounds to count one to ten. SWAP is so much more than using symbols to communicate, it’s about empowering parents to begin to enhance their skills in supporting their child in every area of their development. If you have a preschool child, that is aged 2-4 and they are non-verbal and you would like to receive more information on the programme, please email swap@sycamoretrust.org.uk