Kye is a sweet little boy who is also a fighter! He was prenatally diagnosed with a heart condition (hypoplastic left heart syndrome). After birth, he had a stroke. In spite of all of his diagnoses, he is pleasant and a go-getter. He has received therapy since he was three months old and it’s suspected Kye has apraxia of speech, which limits his ability to motor plan in order to produce speech.
Because he can’t communicate his needs, Kye will whine and cry from the frustration.
In the area of speech and expressive language, Kye’s verbal communication skills are significantly limited, and he is primarily non-verbal at this time. He has some occasional “pop out” words, but he does not typically use verbal skills as a means to communicate his wants, needs or thoughts. Kye is beginning to communicate through non-verbal means such as taking the therapist to what he wants or by making choices with the use of pictures of objects. The therapists have introduced Proloquo2go (P2G) on an iPad from Marian Hope Center that is used during his therapy sessions. Kye demonstrates an understanding of how to use P2G. With some assistance and when motivated, he is beginning to be able to scan the page and find the corresponding picture. Kye uses P2G to work on labeling pictures and objects as well as to make requests. It should be noted that Kye’s receptive language skills appear to be higher than his expressive language, but are also limited, when compared to same age peers.
The gift of a communication device would greatly assist his communication efforts. Although he is young, he has had experience communicating with an ipad using Proloquo2go and has had good success. His family says it would be an absolute blessing for him to have his own iPad to communicate in all of his environments.
Variety KC hears this story from about so many kids. Right now, while quarantined at home, the frustration from communication struggles is especially hard for kids and families. Variety donors are helping Kye, but we have so many more on the list. If you can help, please donate at www.varietykc.org/donate
Thank you!
