Hi, my name is Elle O'Gorman.
I am 14 years old.
I like to go shopping at the mall.
I have two brothers named Cole and Carter.
[ Music ]
Hi, my name is Jill O'Gorman, and
my daughter is Elle O'Gorman.
She is 14 years old and diagnosed
with cerebral palsy.
>> Elle O'Gorman: This is my Dynavox.
I use it to talk.
>> Jill O'Gorman: The Dynavox is an augmentative
communication device that helps her communicate
with us and her peers and at school.
>> Elle O'Gorman: When I look at a picture
using my head mouse, the Dynavox talks for me.
>> Jill O'Gorman: Without the Dynavox, she was,
had a difficulty communicating
what her needs were.
People tend to underestimate her ability or what
she understood and what she was able to express.
>> Elle O'Gorman: I like to
write e-mails with my Dynavox.
Before I had my Dynavox, I used a laptop.
>> Jill O'Gorman: We started out with
just a simple book chart that was broken
into categories, and she would eye gaze
towards the pictures that she wanted.
From there, we advanced to trying out a
Pathfinder, which had too many buttons for her
and was a little bit frustrating for her.
So we went to a laptop with
a communication software.
From there, we went to the Dynavox.
>> Elle O'Gorman: I am learning to use more
buttons to tell people what I am thinking.
>> Jill O'Gorman: The school played a
role in helping us find the Dynavox.
The assistive technology specialist
who's been helping of the district
who helps Elle was very instrumental
in helping us.
Elle is on an IEP, and so
it was an IEP team decision
to determine what device
would work best for her.
So they helped select the Dynavox
trial it, and then helped with funding.
We contacted Dynavox first and
did a I believe a six-week trial.
During that trial period, we
had to write an extensive amount
of monitoring to give detail about the trial.
The speech pathologist along with the assistive
technology specialist from the district helped
in writing all of that up,
and then we had to submit it
to insurance to see if it would be approved.
>> Elle O'Gorman: My teachers
helped me with my Dynavox.
>> Jill O'Gorman: We've all had
training from Dynavox and, again,
the assistive technology
specialist has trained her IEP team.
So modifications and additions
and stuff were added by,
at school and sometimes I add
them at home as I think of things.
So it's really a team approach.
>> Elle O'Gorman: At school, I can chat
with friends, interact with my teachers,
and practice my letters and numbers.
>> Jill O'Gorman: The Dynavox has really
opened up a lot of doors for Elle in terms
of just being able to tell us everything that
she wants and needs and as well as helped
with school in communicating with her peers and
could, and some social opportunities for her,
and so we will continue to, you know,
explore future technology options to see
if there's anything new and improved and
better, which I'm sure there will in the future.
