Image: MARK ANDREWS
“Happy! Happy! Happy!” shouted Keano Ismael’s new voice, a high-tech device.
The 14-year-old Keano has grown up with cerebral palsy which has limited his vital ability for communication.
But on Friday the East London boy received a new imported augmentative and alternative (AAC) device valued at over R20,000 from Frere Hospital. This was after a thorough assessment of the young boy’s condition.
Image: MARK ANDREWS
The device consists of icons which, once selected, give out a voice command of what the user is trying to say.
“Keano caught the attention of a paediatrician, Professor Gerald Boone, who was impressed when he saw him playing games on his mother's cell phone despite his condition. Through a collaboration with our paediatric and speech-language therapy department, an assessment was arranged to determine if Keano would benefit from an AAC device,” she said.
The assessment determined that Ismael had a good understanding of spoken language and was able to follow complex instructions, which further confirmed the critical need to give him a means to communicate with the world, to give him a voice.
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