‘Steve has been working with our Hunter Therapy team over the past few years to improve his mobility and communication. Steve is a non-verbal communicator and previously he communicated by nodding/shaking his head and using facial expressions and gestures.
With support from an Ability Options Occupational Therapist Steven received a new wheelchair approximately 2 years ago and the process of trialing, gaining funding and installing a communication device to the wheelchair began. Along with Steve’s Coordinator of Supports and Speech Pathologist a device was chosen and a request for purchasing the device was lodged with the NDIS. After approval in late 2019, in February 2020 Steve received his device! Our Speech Pathologist provided some initial training for Steve and his regular support workers and facility staff. An Ability Options OT also arranged for a mount for Steve’s wheelchair to be ordered and installed making the device accessible for Steve to use.
Steve is very happy with his new communication device and has even set up a Facebook account so that he can better access social media to communicate with his wider network. Steve now uses his device to communicate via Grid 3 Fast Talker which verbalises what he types. He also uses other apps to email, make phone calls and to read using the Kindle app. Steve is now able to communicate much more easily giving him more independence, ability to make decisions and to express his fun personality. Steve is looking forward to getting out into the community to engage with even more people and expand on his hobbies!
This is a great result for Steve and the team who have worked over several years for this fantastic outcome!
Source: Ability Options