Desi's Speech Generating Device
Donation protected
Our son, Desi, has Childhood Apraxia of Speech. This means he is extremely limited in everyday verbal communication. He has been working with speech therapists for several years and has made tremendous growth recently. He has always amazed us with his resilience and ability to be creative in communication, but he is still limited to few words and gestures.
Our Anthem health insurance has denied our claim for a Speech Generating Device three times because they claim it is not medically necessary, "to share your thoughts with others." Imagine being a 4.5 year old with receptive language abilities and cognitive development in sync with your peers, yet not having the capacity of language to communicate your thoughts, ideas, or feelings.
While our family is well off in many ways, this is an expense that we were not prepared to pay. He has access to the communication device we are fundraising for at school (through an IEP), but without access at home, it has been difficult for him to develop comfort and consistency with this form of communication.
He will be starting kindergarten in the Fall and building new and important peer relationships. We are hoping for what all parents hope for with their children, to have the tools and support necessary for Desi to grow, learn and explore.
The money goes toward:
-locked ipad mini only used for communicating
-app designed for children still learning literacy skills. it has pictures and words categorized for him to make phrases and sentances and then the ipad says it aloud https://touchchatapp.com/apps/touchchat-hd-aac-with-wordpower
-strong case, with stand and speaker https://store.silver-kite.com/product_info.php/products_id/551
Our Anthem health insurance has denied our claim for a Speech Generating Device three times because they claim it is not medically necessary, "to share your thoughts with others." Imagine being a 4.5 year old with receptive language abilities and cognitive development in sync with your peers, yet not having the capacity of language to communicate your thoughts, ideas, or feelings.
While our family is well off in many ways, this is an expense that we were not prepared to pay. He has access to the communication device we are fundraising for at school (through an IEP), but without access at home, it has been difficult for him to develop comfort and consistency with this form of communication.
He will be starting kindergarten in the Fall and building new and important peer relationships. We are hoping for what all parents hope for with their children, to have the tools and support necessary for Desi to grow, learn and explore.
The money goes toward:
-locked ipad mini only used for communicating
-app designed for children still learning literacy skills. it has pictures and words categorized for him to make phrases and sentances and then the ipad says it aloud https://touchchatapp.com/apps/touchchat-hd-aac-with-wordpower
-strong case, with stand and speaker https://store.silver-kite.com/product_info.php/products_id/551
Organizer
Kim Fulbright
Organizer
Cincinnati, OH