Imagine struggling to communicate on a day-to-day basis, and then imagine that you were a small child. Health reporter Katie Blackburn discovers how one five-year-old is being supported
BEING able to communicate our wishes and desires, our most basic needs such as what we'd like to eat or drink, is something we all take for granted.
For five-year-old Callum Jefferson, of New Waltham, struggling to communicate these needs to his family was a reality.
But now, thanks to a special device called a voice output communication aid (Voca), his voice is being heard.
Callum has quadriplegic cerebral palsy, which can cause speech and communication difficulties and means he spends most of his time in a wheelchair.
He's one of just of a handful of children in North East Lincolnshire who rely on a communications aid to interact with the world around them.
The Voca, which has been fitted to his wheelchair for ease of use, has 84 buttons and works by the user selecting images on the screen to create a sequence, which produces sentences. So if Callum wants to talk about nature he presses the tree button, if he wants to talk about activities it's the dice image.
The device can store frequently used phrases and even photos; so when he presses the button with a picture of his teacher, Miss Hubbard, on it the device says "good morning Miss Hubbard".
Callum has had the device since February 2011, and mum Helen said it has made a huge difference to their lives.
She said: "Callum was able to say basic words, but couldn't string a sentence together; it was very frustrating for him.
"He is very bright, but he couldn't show it, he couldn't show his understanding.
"The device has helped him so much; he can now express himself, he can now tell me what his opinions are, what he wants to do. He has a sense of humour and that really shines through now."
Every Monday morning at school, Callum has a session with his speech and language therapist Kimberly Ward.
They talk about what he's done at the weekend and work on some of the things he'll be doing in the classroom in the week ahead.
Kimberly says as well as giving him a voice, the device is also helping to progress his speech.
She said: "He's come along a lot with the help of the aid. Before he could say some words, but now he is linking sentences together and his speech is coming on really well; he has a spoken vocabulary of about 20 words."
Before getting the aid, Callum went to an assessment day to find the device best for him.
Kimberly continued: "When we chose the aid for Callum we picked one that should last him right through to high school.
"He's very intelligent and his understanding of language is developing ahead of where we would expect him to be for his age.
"We made sure Callum got a higher level and more high-tech device, because we wanted to give him the best chance."
Helen said the device is a vital part of his school day and that the teachers at New Waltham Academy have been very supportive; they've even had special training on the device.
Callum's teacher Louise Hubbard said: "We'd never seen or heard of anything like it before. Callum is very good with it and in fact he's shown us a lot and we've learnt a lot just by playing with it.
"It means that in class he can talk and take part in the discussions with his peers.
"The other children in the class have really taken to the device. They all crowd around Callum when he is using it; they listen to stories on it and play games on it."
The device can even be connected up to the computers at the school and used as a keyboard and mouse so Callum can take part in the ICT lessons.
Callum's communication aid cost £7,000 and an additional £1,000 to fit it to the wheelchair. It was funded jointly by the Trust and the local council.
Kimberley is part of a local specialist and award-winning Communication Aids Referral Team (CART) which works across North and North East Lincolnshire.
Bryony Simpson, clinical director of community and therapy services at the trust, said: "Locally, we have developed and trained a group of staff from health (NHS) and education (council) in the skilled assessment of and support for communication aids.
"This has led to an all-round improvement in the provision and use of alternative and augmentative means of communication.
"A key factor in the success of the project was the professionalism, expertise and support provided by the ACE Centre Oldham, which has made all this possible and means that people no longer have to travel across the country to get a service."
ON THE WEB: The ACE centre promotes and supports effective uses of augmentative and Alternative Communication. Find out more at www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk
