Petr’s Play-Doh Pictures

Eleven-year-old Petr recently immigrated to Canada from Czech Republic with his family. Petr is non-speaking and uses an iPad to communicate. In this blog, (with the help of his mom, Eliška) he shares all about his new life in Canada and his fantastic Play-Doh art!  

New Country, New School

We visited Canada several times before [we moved here] and we had lots and lots of fun, especially in Stanley Park on Christmas. The first couple months at school were tough but I really love to go there now [that I have] learned English. I like planes and flying even though I was quite tired.  

We drive to school every day [for a] long time but there are friends to play with and the school staff is awesome. When we drive, we listen to music and we see so much of Vancouver and lots of awesome construction vehicles and ships. I like bulldozers the most! Because of the story of The Little Mole and the Bulldozer.  

Favourite Foods, Canadian and Czech

I love cheeseburger[s]! If I have to choose between pizza or [a] cheeseburger it is sometimes tough, but mostly cheeseburger wins! I like barbecue or just [to] go to [a] restaurant with my parents and iPad. We like to eat dumplings with sauce and some meat or an egg. I love eggs and I know how to cook them! 

Communicating With an iPad

IPad is the best thing in the world! I use it a lot. Mostly, I just watch movies and documentaries, listen [to] music. I like to read subtitles for everything. I also like [the] voice description feature in movies. I share movie scenes I’m excited about, like documentaries about whales. It is so awesome when whales are eating fish and krill. I love to play Monument Valley and play life-skills games, when I reach [the] limit for my favourite movies. I have so much fun learning how to read with Headsprout.  

We communicate using simple spoken phrases I learned — in Czech or in English, or also using pictures from Widgit Software that we have in [my] communication book. You can make the description bi-lingual. We use story board if there is some new or complicated adventure ahead. You know, just to make sure everyone knows what is the plan! I also like to use Google Earth to find where I am and where we go. It is much fun to make sure that everyone knows that I know where we go, I like to show it to everyone. It makes me happy if I can [find] places I like on the Google Street View or re-trace the road to them both in Czechia and in Canada. I also look for places I know from movies. 

Making Art with Play-Doh

[Making art with Play-Doh] makes me feel relaxed. Sometimes, I play with it before I fall asleep. It makes me feel so good and excited when I can re-create pictures from books and movies and create characters I like. I can do it for hours every day. I like to show and share with people my favourite characters and scenes. I replay them using the Play-Doh pieces I make. I like to make happy whales!