Devonte was born on July 8th, 1994 in Hotsprings, Arkansas. He was immediately taken to Children’s Hospital in Little Rock after complications with a heart murmur. He had open heart surgery when he was four months of age. He was diagnosed with Down Syndrome shortly after.

Devonte began receiving speech therapy services when he was three years old. He has made significant progress with his receptive language and his passion for learning has always been his strength. However, his ability to verbally express himself had reached a plateau according to his current SLP from Therapy 2000, Marc Fagnan, who has been working with him on articulation targets since November 2004. We were ecstatic when Prentke Romich awarded Devonte with this great device.

Since receiving the device, Devonte’s verbal output has already started to increase. Whenever the phone rings, he runs to talk to the person on the other end, which is something he never did before. It seems he is more motivated to talk since receiving the SpringBoard only two weeks ago! He can already answer questions with his device such as, “How old are you?,” “When is your birthday?,” and “Where do you live?” Our goal is to increase language skills including length of utterances and vocabulary.

He currently lives with his mother and older brother in a Dallas suburb, where he attends an intermediate school. His teachers will also be trained by PRC representative Carla Aubrey on how to use the SpringBoard at school.

Submitted by Marc Fagnan, Devonte’s SLP