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PRC Profile of Success: Cristian Orbe-Rosas

Cristian is ten years old. He lives in Pinole, CA with his mom, dad, two sisters, and one brother.
Cristian was given access to the Pathfinder at the age of six and he took to it like a fish to water. Since day one, he has taught himself much of the language of Unity, and continues to challenge himself by learning more.

A big challenge that Cristian has had to overcome is learning to communicate with everyone in his life. He speaks Spanish at home, English at school, and he uses his own bilingual modified sign language. Add in Unity, and he has had to learn four languages by the age of ten! Cristian's greatest strength is his creativity in self-determination. If he doesn't have a sign for a word, he will create one. If he doesn't know where to find a word on the Pathfinder, he will find a way to communicate what he wants with other words. He won't give up and will find a way to get his message across.

Cristian loves to tell jokes and sing songs with his Pathfinder. He spent last summer helping his little sister learn phonics. When she would get stuck on a sound he would help her find the letters with his Pathfinder. Now he likes using his Pathfinder to write notes to friends and make plans to go out. He is looking forward to getting a new Pathfinder this year and loading his favorite Beatles songs into the mp3 player. One of the things he wants is more Spanish in his device so he can communicate more at home and in his community.

Watching Cristian grow up has been a wonderful gift. He used to get frustrated when he couldn't make himself understood and would yell or cry. I have seen him go from such limited communication to discovering new words in the Pathfinder to where he is now. The Pathfinder allows Cristian to communicate in so many ways, to express his sense of humor, to be polite, to share his thoughts, and to be the rambunctious little boy that he can be at times.

Cristian is my hero for his enthusiasm for life. Whether it is laughing at a good joke, painting not just with his hands but his arms, hair, and face, or coming up with new signs and words, he does it with his whole heart. He makes me take the time to smell the flowers (all of them), splash in puddles after the rain, and never forget to find joy in each day.

Submitted by Karen Baca
Friend of the family

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