Pat Adams is fundraising
Help PV Get Control
Help Priscilla V. (PV) Get Control
o Control her computer … to play solitaire again
o Control her TV … to watch a show or turn it off
o Control a speech app … to talk to her people
o Control her devices… to learn what’s happening in the world
Give PV a VOICE – Her words are her POWER
Priscilla has always been a pretty sophisticated woman who needs the best to pursue her interests. She worked in aerospace at Rocketdyne for many years, holding rocket scientists accountable for their projects. Her ability to be active and in charge ended in 2012 when an illness destroyed most of her brain stem and her ability to breathe, move, and talk on her own. This devastating illness qualified her for the “locked-in” club, those few people who have totally active minds and spirits, but who are locked inside an uncooperative body.
For the first 2 or 3 years, Priscilla struggled to stay alive and to regain command of key functions. Insurance paid for a fancy talking computer but her physical limitations made it impossible for her to use it at that time. She has figuratively leaped many hurdles over the past six years and has regained enough hand movement to manage a “royal wave”. She can also talk a bit, move her head around and eat soft foods, so she enjoys weekly “yogurt therapy” with friends.
The talking computer she got in 2013 is obsolete, but Priscilla is definitely NOT. Now, after intense speech therapy, she can speak a few words and sentences. Forming words drains her energy pretty fast, so she saves her voice for important phrases (“I love you”, “Tell me a joke”, or “Scratch my nose”).
A new computer with a speech app will give her a voice for the many conversations she wants to have. All she needs is a special joystick for one-handed pointing and clicking, hardware to place it right by her hand, and to connect it all to her TV/monitor. Net Learning Center, a non-profit educational support organization (501(c)3), is providing the needed equipment. It will be a sweet setup, not too costly at all. That adaptive joystick can also assist with important computer tasks like solitaire and emailing friends.
Some buzz phrases used in the medical care specialty that apply to her include “Speech Therapist” who configures an “Augmentative Alternative Communication” (AAC) device for a client like Priscilla, who is an “Adult with Acquired Disabilities”. Remember, she is also in the “locked in” club. Some therapists have little experience with this, especially in a computer-savvy adult who wants to use the whole computer. Historical note: medical insurance used to forbid having a speech assistance computer that could also be used for anything else, so therapists can really only help with that one facet.
The Net Learning Center has initiated The Access Project (TAP) to help PV leap any hurdles that remain. TAP is designed to assist Priscilla in regaining control over her world. TAP will identify and collect the right hardware pieces, put them together with the apps, work out the kinks, then train family, friends and caregivers to help Priscilla make these tools part of her daily life.
More information at the NLC web site www.netlearningcenter.org .
Your tax deductible donation to Net Learning Center’s TAP will provide these:
o Hardware and software costing only around $1,200 - $1,500.
o Expertise to pull the pieces together worth many thousands.
o The benefit to Priscilla and her family will be priceless!
o Control her computer … to play solitaire again
o Control her TV … to watch a show or turn it off
o Control a speech app … to talk to her people
o Control her devices… to learn what’s happening in the world
Give PV a VOICE – Her words are her POWER
Priscilla has always been a pretty sophisticated woman who needs the best to pursue her interests. She worked in aerospace at Rocketdyne for many years, holding rocket scientists accountable for their projects. Her ability to be active and in charge ended in 2012 when an illness destroyed most of her brain stem and her ability to breathe, move, and talk on her own. This devastating illness qualified her for the “locked-in” club, those few people who have totally active minds and spirits, but who are locked inside an uncooperative body.
For the first 2 or 3 years, Priscilla struggled to stay alive and to regain command of key functions. Insurance paid for a fancy talking computer but her physical limitations made it impossible for her to use it at that time. She has figuratively leaped many hurdles over the past six years and has regained enough hand movement to manage a “royal wave”. She can also talk a bit, move her head around and eat soft foods, so she enjoys weekly “yogurt therapy” with friends.
The talking computer she got in 2013 is obsolete, but Priscilla is definitely NOT. Now, after intense speech therapy, she can speak a few words and sentences. Forming words drains her energy pretty fast, so she saves her voice for important phrases (“I love you”, “Tell me a joke”, or “Scratch my nose”).
A new computer with a speech app will give her a voice for the many conversations she wants to have. All she needs is a special joystick for one-handed pointing and clicking, hardware to place it right by her hand, and to connect it all to her TV/monitor. Net Learning Center, a non-profit educational support organization (501(c)3), is providing the needed equipment. It will be a sweet setup, not too costly at all. That adaptive joystick can also assist with important computer tasks like solitaire and emailing friends.
Some buzz phrases used in the medical care specialty that apply to her include “Speech Therapist” who configures an “Augmentative Alternative Communication” (AAC) device for a client like Priscilla, who is an “Adult with Acquired Disabilities”. Remember, she is also in the “locked in” club. Some therapists have little experience with this, especially in a computer-savvy adult who wants to use the whole computer. Historical note: medical insurance used to forbid having a speech assistance computer that could also be used for anything else, so therapists can really only help with that one facet.
The Net Learning Center has initiated The Access Project (TAP) to help PV leap any hurdles that remain. TAP is designed to assist Priscilla in regaining control over her world. TAP will identify and collect the right hardware pieces, put them together with the apps, work out the kinks, then train family, friends and caregivers to help Priscilla make these tools part of her daily life.
More information at the NLC web site www.netlearningcenter.org .
Your tax deductible donation to Net Learning Center’s TAP will provide these:
o Hardware and software costing only around $1,200 - $1,500.
o Expertise to pull the pieces together worth many thousands.
o The benefit to Priscilla and her family will be priceless!
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