2008 MANY STORIES ONE VOICE ONLINE COLLECTION

Erin Blasé, Age 18, United States

Click HERE to download the story in Microsoft Word format.  

I wrote about how getting a communication device changed my life.  I am so happy that I can now talk so I can tell other people what I think, tell them what I want, tell them what to do, etc.  This device has really changed my life – for the better.  I am so thankful for this device!

This device has made it possible for me to learn how to read.  I really enjoy reading and want to learn more and more.  It is so much fun to be able to pick up a book and be able to read and not have to rely on others to read to me all the time.

I use a T-tam to write but we are having problems with it.  It is getting older than my para-educator!

As a person with lots of disabilities, it is so great to be able to be independent in one area of my life by talking!

 

How My Communication Device Changed My Life

 

          Having been born with cerebral palsy, unable to talk and walk, care for myself and being confined to a wheelchair, it hasn’t been an easy life for me.  My communication as a very  young child was blinking my eyes to say “yes” and shaking my head for “no”.

       But then my life changed at the age of  seven when I got a Delta-Talker.  I haven’t stopped talking since that day!  With the help of the para-educators at my school, I spent hours learning the language which was very hard.  I would get mad, upset and even stubborn, but I kept working at it and am glad that I didn’t give up.  I could say exactly what I wanted to say, tell people that I wanted or needed, let them know that I really like M & M’s and pop for a snack and just plain speak when I wanted.  My eyes and head finally got a rest!

 

       I used my Delta-Talker so much that I wore it out.  To replace it, I got a Pathfinder which wasn’t hard to learn to use.  Now that I’ve had these devices for several years and learned how to use them, I am much happier and glad that I’m able to talk to everyone!

 

       When I ask my para-educatior for help to say a word, I like to say it before  she can look it up in the book, tell her she is old and slow and even try to fire her from her job which is a way I joke with her.  Really, I couldn’t get along without her!  With my grandfather, I like to tell him that he is handsome and then ask for a dollar.  It works every time!

 

       My communications devices have changed my life in so many ways, made me happy and given me a way to communicate the rest of my life.