The Family Center on Technology and Disability

Meet Tim A. and learn about his successful use of assistive technology.

High school is a chance for young minds to reach for and achieve new heights. It is a time for teens to make new friends and to embrace new information and new experiences. Perhaps most importantly, it is a time of transition into young adulthood, a time full of excitement about the possibilities that lie ahead!

This Fall, Tim A. entered the wonderful world that is high school, equipped with a new tool that will help him get the best experience possible from his four years there. That tool is SpringBoard, an augmentative and alternative (AAC) device that will help him communicate with his teachers and peers. For Tim, the device has made all the difference in the world, allowing the world to see him for the talented, caring, and intellectually curious person that he is.

Since receiving the SpringBoard equipment, Tim’s communication has really taken off. It took the family seven years to obtain the device through the school system and now that he has it, he has shown his teachers just how capable he is. The family would never have been able to get the device without the help of people who kept pushing them to advocate for their son. It was a long journey, but the technology that was obtained in the end was worth it.

When Tim was seven, an advocate from the area board encouraged the family to seek extra help for him. A friend of the family referred them to a project at Stanford University, the Youth and Education Law Project led by attorney, Bill Koski. Koski fought alongside the family for four years until Tim received the technology that was necessary for him to communicate. Within a week of obtaining the equipment, he was able to impress all of his teachers at Achievekids, even those who thought he would never be able to communicate. Many were certain he did not have the cognitive skills to master the AT tool, but once the technology was made available to him, Tim showed them his capabilities.

Tim’s father, Sky says, “now that people believe in him, he has opened up and pushes to learn more.” He is determined to learn how to speak and sits in front of a mirror every night by his bed listening to audio tapes and repeating what he hears. Tim has always had a fascination with words and by being able to communicate in a way that is no longer behavioral, he is opening up more opportunities for himself. When he was younger, he used to have his parents read him the dictionary. He would point to a word and his parents would read it to him. With the Springboard and more advanced technologies promised him in the future, Tim will continue to reach for and achieve new heights. To help him along, his mom works with his teachers at Achieve to program the voice box to keep it up to date. They work as a team to serve Tim’s needs.

Tim and his family are very grateful for the technology. It was a very long battle for them to obtain this technology and they went through many years of IEP meetings that they did not feel met Tim’s needs. Throughout the struggles a constant in the family’s life was The Center for Speech, Language and Occupational Therapy. Tim is one of the oldest kids at the Center, but they will not let him go because they want to see him grow now that he finally has the opportunity. When everyone else had given up on him, they took him in and encouraged both him and his parents to trust, work hard and believe in Tim’s desire to learn.

Tim’s parents now feel strongly about the need for families to be effective AT advocates. Their advice to other families who are fighting for the rights of their child is, “Start early and do not take no for an answer. You don’t quit.” They set an excellent example for their family, which consists of five kids with special needs (all adopted) and their two dogs. They have a happy home, which may be a bit chaotic at times, but is full of love. The ages of the children range from 12 to 28 with Tim, who has Down Syndrome, in the middle at age 15. All of the kids are very close, especially Tim and Lysa, the youngest.

Tim and Lysa enjoy playing and spending time together. In an effort to find an after-school program that met their needs, Tim and Lysa joined a dance and movement class. Tim went as a way to express his enjoyment of music and dance and also to take care of his younger sister. When they first approached the class, one of the teachers was very apprehensive, but once they were given the opportunity to show what they could do, they were happily included. Unfortunately, the class closed a few months later and the family is looking for a new way for their children to spend time after school.

Tim does not lack for things to do, however, as his interests are wide-ranging. He loves to read and build his vocabulary by spending a lot of time with the dictionary and phonics tapes. He also expresses his love of music by playing the drums and hopes to take guitar lessons in the near future. Tim takes pleasure in spending time with his dad. They go on long walks and explore everything around them. It is on these walks that Tim and his father bond.

It is also on these walks that Tim’s compassion for other people can be seen. As a baby who was born and left on the street, Tim is empathetic toward the homeless population and will not pass anyone who is in need of help without helping in some way. He follows in his dad’s and mom’s footsteps of wanting to help as many people as he can. His father is his role model and Tim is constantly at his side, like his own personal “shadow.”

Like all other kids (and adults), Tim likes to kick back and watch TV. The channel is most likely tuned to the Disney Channel as his favorite shows range from Hannah Montana to The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. He also flips to Nickelodeon and PBS at times to catch Spongebob Square Pants and Barney. Barney is particularly important to him because he grew up watching the show. When he is really stressed out or upset about something he turns on Barney; the show is his safe place to escape from the reality of the world around him. Plus there are words, words, words and lots of songs to sing for him to practice his communication skills!

Tim could not be more excited about school starting. He was able to go with his teacher from Achieve to attend some of the classes at the high school before the school year ended. The teachers were very welcoming of him and the high school has a great system in place to support Tim’s needs in the classroom. They have a psychologist and a trained speech teacher who will help Tim. Importantly, he will have an upgraded version of the technology he is using now which has features to encourage expansion in his communication by offering sentence and paragraph structures in lieu of just words and pictures.

With the window that assistive technology has opened to Tim, the world has become so much larger. With appropriate AT in place, his communication skills will continue to grow stronger, leading to greater opportunities at school and in the community. Tim is looking forward to what lies ahead of him in high school and where that will lead him in the future.

Tim’s mother, Fay, tells people that “without a voice, people forget you’re around.” She advises, “As parents, we are our children’s best advocates, never say never.”

Tim has a voice now and people are definitely going to know he is around. He is going to take high school by storm!

If you have or know of a child/teen who has experienced success through the use of assistive technology that would like to be featured, please contact us at agutierr@aed.org.