Profile of Success - Josh and Caleb Hurd
Vital statistics
Name: Joshua and Caleb Hurd
Age: 5 years
Device: Pathfinder with Unity 128 Sequenced
Length of time used: 1 year
Pet name for device: Talker
"Joshua,
why are you crying? I need you to tell me on your talker."
Josh first pushed his Pathfinder away with his toe, then thought the better
of it and scooted it back towards him. "Sang," he said immediately,
followed by "lion hug rocking chair."
"Oh, I was singing to you and I stopped."
"Yes!" he said with quavering voice.
"You want me to sing more, while you hug the lion in the rocking chair?"
"Yes!" He said much more emphatically.
" I'm glad you could tell me what you want."
Boy, am I glad! As a parent of 5-year-old twins with identical physical disabilities
that have left them unable to walk, dress themselves or speak, I am so relieved
to have found a way for my boys to communicate all that is going on in their
minds without resorting to an infant's method of communicating. "I cry
and the adults do what it takes to stop the crying."
With their Pathfinders, Joshua and Caleb are able to use simple sentences to tell us what they want (I want hotdog, I want juice please). They can order meals in restaurants, greet people like little gentlemen, talk about their favorite story book characters, let me know when they want their braces off, and even communicate feelings.
For more complex ideas, they are able to string words together that get the point across, though not always with adult grammar.
The boys have been using Pathfinders only one year, but we are seeing amazing progress. Both boys are choosing appropriate verb tenses, finding the words they need, and even beginning to select letters of the alphabet to go along with our alphabet books.
One of the most exciting parts of having the Pathfinder is to see the interactions between Joshua and Caleb and their older brothers. The first week we had the device home on trial, Caleb was exploring his device and found "fat pig." Older brother John (age 10) was surprised. "Are you calling me a fat pig?" he asked. Caleb laughed and repeated the phrase. John pretended to be upset. Caleb laughed even more. John went back to his homework. A few minutes later Caleb pointed to John, said "Fat pig," and laughed uproariously. Before the Pathfinder, Caleb and Joshua had few ways to engage their brothers and to reveal their senses of humor.
A few months later we heard Joshua and his brother Wesley (age 7) on the sun porch talking about our trip to the zoo that day. All of a sudden, Wesley cried out, "Yes! That's right. You did see a bear!" The conversation continued for a few more minutes. Joshua and Wesley took turns talking about the animals they saw.
The Pathfinders have had an enormous effect on our boys and our family. Along with their power wheelchairs, their Pathfinders have freed Joshua and Caleb to be "real boys" The Pathfinders have enabled them to interact with us more and more each day. They can tease, they can sing, they can talk about what is important to them. The boys have become free to be contributing members of family discussions. They have been given the tools to interact like other children their age. For this we are truly grateful.
This profile is submitted by David and Robin Hurd, parents of Joshua and Caleb.