Tommy-Lee's Eye Gaze Fund
I am so pleased to finally be able to re-start this. We are on a mission to fundraise for a very special and determined little boy. Tommy-Lee is 6 years old; he has a more complex medical and social history than most. He lives with his Foster Carers and sees his Mummy and Daddy as much as his health allows.
The medical jargon is that he has Athetoid Dystonic Cerebral Palsy, Severe Dystonia, a gastrostomy in situ & is nil by mouth, he has apnoea’s and is oxygen dependent, Laryngomalacia, Epilepsy and Asthma. Tommy-Lee is dependent on 2 adults for all his daily care and health needs, and this includes a specialist team at school, where Tommy-Lee attends two days per week. Tommy-Lee also accesses The Treehouse East Anglian Children’s Hospice where he is supported by a team of Nurses and Senior Care Assistants to enjoy time away from his Foster Carers independently.
Putting past trauma and medical diagnoses to one side, Tommy-Lee has learnt to love life! He is a little boy first and foremost. With this in mind he has been working with the Sensory and Communication Service to practise his Eye Gazing skills, after trialling an Eye Gaze we have been told that Tommy-Lee is ready for his very own.
For Tommy-Lee using an Eye Gaze is the only activity he is able to access completely independently. During his two-week trial we were able to let Tommy-Lee play games and be just like any other child.
If we are able to purchase a device for Tommy-Lee it would initially be for independently playing games on Look2Learn, Scenes&Sounds and Inclusive Technology to enable Tommy-Lee to gain a further understanding of using his eyes.
The main aim is to give Tommy-Lee some much needed independence, freedom and time being a little boy.
The medical jargon is that he has Athetoid Dystonic Cerebral Palsy, Severe Dystonia, a gastrostomy in situ & is nil by mouth, he has apnoea’s and is oxygen dependent, Laryngomalacia, Epilepsy and Asthma. Tommy-Lee is dependent on 2 adults for all his daily care and health needs, and this includes a specialist team at school, where Tommy-Lee attends two days per week. Tommy-Lee also accesses The Treehouse East Anglian Children’s Hospice where he is supported by a team of Nurses and Senior Care Assistants to enjoy time away from his Foster Carers independently.
Putting past trauma and medical diagnoses to one side, Tommy-Lee has learnt to love life! He is a little boy first and foremost. With this in mind he has been working with the Sensory and Communication Service to practise his Eye Gazing skills, after trialling an Eye Gaze we have been told that Tommy-Lee is ready for his very own.
For Tommy-Lee using an Eye Gaze is the only activity he is able to access completely independently. During his two-week trial we were able to let Tommy-Lee play games and be just like any other child.
If we are able to purchase a device for Tommy-Lee it would initially be for independently playing games on Look2Learn, Scenes&Sounds and Inclusive Technology to enable Tommy-Lee to gain a further understanding of using his eyes.
The main aim is to give Tommy-Lee some much needed independence, freedom and time being a little boy.
Organizer
Laura Lizz
Organizer
England