Profile
of Success - The Nathan Bayless Story
"Nathan is a firecracker!" Karen Bayless speaks enthusiastically of her four-year-old Autistic son, Nathan. Karen says Nathan loves the Pages about "Bob the Builder" that his PRC Regional Consultant, Jane Odom, and Speech Therapist, Karen Poole helped them establish. "Nathan loves Bob the Builder and SpongeBob. The Vantage has just done wonders for Nathan's communication efforts and overall relationship with his family, friends, and especially his six-year-old brother, Trey."
Karen shared the story of Nathan's former "one-word answers" and how the Vantage has opened a whole new world for him. Since receiving his Vantage earlier this year, his mother says his ability to communicate has dramatically improved. "Nathan was given DIAL-3 testing at his school using only his verbal communication and his score was 5. We knew he was communicating at a much higher level, so we took him to the Medical University and they did another test allowing him to use the Vantage. Nathan scored 85 at the medical center, which seemed more in line with what we thought." His latest I.E.P. indicates that Nathan should be using his communication aid in all environments, including school. An excerpt from the report states, "Nathan should use his Vantage communication device more frequently and consistently at school. The better he can communicate the less frustrated he will become, which can also decrease problematic behaviors,"
Because his former school speech pathologist felt the Vantage did not belong in the classroom, Nathan was not always permitted to use it. His latest I.E.P. indicated that, "Although Nathan will be communicating differently from the other children, he would likely "stand out" even more from them if he did not have a good method of communication."
"In the coming school year," Karen stated, "we will fight to get the Vantage included."
Before the Vantage, when Nathan wanted to play "catch" with his brother he would get frustrated because he couldn't say the word "ball" and couldn't make his brother understand what he wanted. "One of the first words Nathan spoke with the Vantage was "ball," said Karen, "and from then on it was like a light switch got turned on inside Nathan and he's been communicating (and asking his brother to play "catch") ever since!"
Prentke Romich Company Profile of Success, September 2003