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Rosy Lawson-Lamont
 Rosy Lawson-Lamont is a 19 year old young lady with a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy - spastic quadriplegia. She lives in Cooroy, Queensland, Australia and uses a Pathfinder Plus with Unity® to communicate.
Rosy is living with her mum and younger sister at the moment, but is hoping to get a funding package so that she can live in an independent place. She likes to socialize and meet people and is always very approachable and honest, has a good sense of humour and gets on well with everyone. Rosy is intelligent and always tries hard at everything she does.
Rosy says, "During 2005 I wanted to gain more independence and move out of home. I actually did move out for a while, but had to live in a respite house, so I didn't really have anywhere to call home. Because I have a Pathfinder communication aid, I could tell people what I wanted and didn't want and was able to have a voice of my own, unlike some other people with cerebral palsy. My Pathfinder let me talk with the adults who were involved in organizing the respite and I was able to tell them what my likes, needs and dislikes were. Most importantly, my Pathfinder allowed me to let people know when I felt like I was going to have a seizure because my seizures weren't under control at that time, so they were able to help me more. I couldn't imagine not having a way to do that. My Pathfinder also let me tell people when I didn't like things and eventually I was able to tell people when I just wanted to go back home."
She continues, "I had a Deltatalker before my Pathfinder and that changed my life, but my Pathfinder has made such a difference to my quality of life. For a start it is much easier to access and because it has the word prediction and the touch screen, I am a lot quicker in a conversation with people. I can actually say out loud what I am thinking, which I think is different to other communication devices that I have seen other people use."
Rosy says, "From what I have seen, there are not any other devices except Prentke Romich devices, that let people using the device generate their own speech. I really like that feature. I also like that it doesn't look babyish, with big pictures all over it. It looks really nice. Also I can control my environment, which is nice. Also some people don't have a voice; they have to point or look at pictures, so it is nice to have a voice because I think that it gets my message across more."
Rosy attended "Camp Have a Chat" many times which is an annual event organized by the Cerebral Palsy League of Queensland for people using AAC devices and gives them an opportunity to meet up and talk. Usually there are around 16 AAC device users there and for the last three camps, she has served as a mentor for the younger children attending. Rosy enjoys these as it gives her a chance to interact with other young people using AAC devices as their primary form of communication.
Rosy also attended the AGOSCI National Conferences in 2003 and 2005, which was a great opportunity for her to meet more AAC users in Australia and also to hear about new research and development in the area of augmentative and alternative communication from all over the world. At the 2005 conference she gave a presentation to the audience about using an AAC device and the difference that it has made to her and her self-esteem.
Nomination submitted by
Chris Morgan, PRI
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Trial Evaluation