OLLU: Harry Jersig Center, Summer Program

No one should live in silence! Some children have disabilities so severe that they cannot express their wants, needs, and how they feel. They are trapped inside their bodies. Either their brains are not wired to create the spoken words we take for granted or they have such severe physical disabilities that their breathing, voice box, and mouth cannot coordinate. These are the children, forty or fifty years ago, that we assumed had little intelligence, no thoughts, and nothing to say. Now we know better. Modern technology, like programmable devices that speak words when symbols or pictures are touched or activated, can be used in place of speech. Given resources, children can express whatever they want to communicate. Let’s reach those children who need this specialized help.