Archer is one of the goofiest and smartest kids you will ever meet. His favorite thing in the world is books! Archer usually does not leave the house without at least 20+ pounds of books in tow. He is constantly studying anything he can get his hands on!
Archer has always been “the big kid” and was almost 10 pounds at birth. I still remember and tell friends and family about how the nurses lined up to see “the big baby.” Archer crawled at 6 months and was walking at 13 months. Archer got an evaluation performed at the University of Kansas hospital right after his second birthday because mom and dad were not seeing the normal eye contact, babbling of sounds or imitation like most babies show. He is now a 7-year-old boy who was diagnosed with Autism. He has a mixed expressive-receptive language disorder, and severe Speech Sound Disorder. This makes it hard for Archer to communicate his needs on a daily basis. His medical diagnosis is Autism Spectrum Disorder, 84.0.
Archer is a very active and currently is using a loaner device to communicate because his iPad broke and the 3 year warranty that was purchased for protection had just lapsed. Archer has been enrolled at KidsTLC and has been receiving Occupational and Speech therapy 5 days a week since November of 2017, right before his third birthday. Archer is currently used to using a device we are paying for and uses it as his primary communication although he sometimes will use sign language if it’s for “help” or “more.”
This equipment is necessary for Archer’s quality of life as he has severe autism and has a very wide vocabulary, with the right equipment he knows how to use that vocabulary very well. Getting the correct equipment into the hands of Variety KC Kids is the same as giving our kids a voice. Can you imagine not being able to communicate what you want or what you need? Help us to give every child a voice, donate today at www.varietykc.org/donate
