Case Studies
Over the past 20+ years, Find a Voice has been privileged to help many adults and children on their journey to finding their voice. Whether this has been by loaning them equipment to find the one that best suits them, or by teaching someone to read their first book or send their first email, Find a Voice has supported many children and adults to achieve their goals. Here a just a few of their stories:
David Sowery
David had a Message Communicator on loan from Find A Voice and found that it was an invaluable aid to everyday communication. The experience of the product and the impact on David's quality of life was used as evidence to support a successful bid to Kent County Council for funding of David's own communicator. With his Message Communicator David can do many things which he was previously unable to; for example he can talk to his Nan when she visits, as impaired vision had prevented her from using the visual aid that David used previously. David can also speak to family members over the telephone instead of waiting for them to visit and can represent himself better at meetings and reviews. When asked what he would do without his Message Communicator David grabbed hold of it and refused to let go!
Nicola Treen
Nicola Treen recently took delivery of a ChatPC 4, which is a durable PDA-based dynamic communication aid. Funding for her device was obtained from Kent County Council. Nicola lives in supported living in Tonbridge together with three friends and is very active including things such as horse riding, gardening, lunch club and is also involved in her local church. The portability and durability of the ChatPC 4 suits Nicola's lifestyle well. Nicola said it was good to have a new communication aid as it would help her with telephoning her Dad and sister, and also with communicating more easily when out and about in the community.
Ben
Ben borrowed a Vantage communication aid to assess its suitability, and from this he was able to secure a funding package shared between his family and East Kent and Coastal Primary Care Trust. West Sussex County Council will also be providing considerable support for him to develop his communication skills with the new aid. Ben was previously using a very old ORAC communication aid and his care support worker has said that the new Vantage aid will allow Ben to communicate to an excellent standard.
Tony Cook
Tony Cook is in his 20s and throughout his life he has been committed to succeed in life and participate in community life. He uses a wheelchair and switches to access a computer. Tony doesn't have learning difficulties but relies on both high and low-tech communication aids to express himself. His old laptop was unsuitable as it didn't have switches, had limited voice output and was not easily mounted. Tony was looking for a Tellus3+ communication aid and in May 2007 Tony got the good news that an agreement had been reached to fund him the Tellus3+ and access equipment. This funding is to be provided by East Kent Coastal PCT and Kent County Council OT and Sensory services.
