Denise the Jokester

Denise’s celebrity long preceded my meeting her during my observations of speech therapy in Green Therapy Pavilion, our comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facility (CORF). I’d been directed to a video of alocal news story about her and her new communication device, so I knew it scanned her eyes to control the mouse on the computer screen.  I also knew Denise volunteered in Owensboro reading to pre-school and elementary school children.

Karissa Riter, Denise’s speech therapist, introduces me, asking if it was okay I observe and learn more about her and her communication device.  Denise gives me the eyes/eyebrows up response to say “yes.”  At first, I wasn’t sure how to manage my interactions with Denise.  Despite her disability, her personality radiates larger than life for someone who can’t move or talk!  I admittedly felt a little bashful with her.  Once Karissa explained Denise’s method of eye communication when not using the communication device, I could better connect with her; though it took some time for me to trust I was reading her eye gestures correctly.  In her therapy sessions, she primarily used her device.

Karissa graciously explained everything about the device to me in language I could follow; remember I’m a deer in headlights when it comes to technology.  Attached below the communication device (which sits on a stand) is an eye-scanner.  Upon powering the device, the eye-scan registers Denise’s eyes so they are within what I call the “scan zone.”  If the scan zone is off-kilter with Denise’s eyes, she’s unable to maneuver the mouse as easily so occasional adjustments are required to realign the “scan zone.”   Karissa then explains Denise moves the mouse via her eye movement around a menu panel to the option she wishes to select; upon landing on her target she holds her eyes steady, thus holding the mouse in place for approximately five seconds.  The menu is considered selected, and presents a new panel of options related to the topic selection.  For example, an About Me option on the main menu panel offers a new panel of choices with the following options:  home address; family; favorite foods, and; things I enjoy.  Denise once again selects with her eyes via the mouse her next option which offers additional choices of information to choose to communicate.  If she selects Family, a new menu panel appears with photos of family members:  mom; dad; sister; brother-in-law; nephew #1; nephew #2.  If she wanted to tell you about her mom, she’d focus her eyes on the picture of mom, and once selected, the device would say, “My mother is Jane Doe.  She lives in Sweetwater, Texas.” The layering of menus is mind-boggling; they operate similarly to computer file folders which have sub-folders which we create to manage documents.

I learn during my observation Denise has an uncanny sense of humor and loves to tell jokes.  A punster myself, she and I started trading corny jokes.  Humor, thus laughter, truly is the best medicine.  I also learn she’s quite a prankster having pulled a few on our CORF business manager, Kay.  During one session, Kay and Denise got to picking at each other so much that Denise couldn’t catch her breath for laughing so hard.

My understanding continues to broaden as I learn speech sometimes means teaching the basics of communication, such as the letters of the alphabet and their sounds, numbers, words, concepts of time, etc.  Many of those we serve on Campus never received an education for a variety of reasons, and now have the chance to become empowered with a voice through communication devices of all kinds; however, they must learn some basics of the English language that you and I learned in first and second grades.    Remember Helen Keller?  She was blind, deaf and mute yet someone recognized she wasn’t dumb; that she could contribute, she had a voice which had a lot to say, and provided her with the opportunity to learn, to break free of the silence that imprisoned her simply because so many didn’t believe in her. 

Our speech therapists find creative ways to empower our on- and off-Campus patients with their voice.  In my observation with Kenny, I’ll come to realize how the lack of education can add to the height of obstacles in finding their voice; yet these obstacles are not insurmountable.

In the Next Blog Entry:  A Ladies Man with a Remote - “. . . . . independent in his power wheelchair, Kenny gets around . . . at a notoriously “break-neck speed” . . . . . and as a result, run into things!”

We want to hear from you!  Please share your responses and comments by clicking below on “Comment” – you may post them anonymously or using your gmail.com profile name.

“The educated do not share a common body of information, but a common state of mind.” ~Mason Cooley     Please share our blog with others via Facebook, Twitter, or email!  Follow our blog!  Click on “Join our Site” below.

Blog content is copyrighted property of Wendell Foster’s Campus for Development Disabilities and Carolyn Smith Ferber and/or other blog authors).  Content may be used, duplicated or reprinted only with the expressed authorization of the Wendell Foster’s Campus.  Permission for use, duplication or reprints may be made to wfcampus.org@gmail.com.

Got Voice?

Today’s blog chapter contains contributions from Karissa Riter, a speech therapist with Wendell Foster’s Campus’ outpatient facility for eleven years.

Imagine you cannot speak.  You have no way to say what you need or want:  a drink of water; food; that you hurt.  You cannot verbally tell someone your name or ask anyone how he or she is doing. You must use another means of communication, perhaps gestures or sign language; or maybe it’s a language all your own, developed between you and your caretaker or family member over the years.  You may even be able to write it down, but what if you have cerebral palsy?  You may be unable to do so.  Perhaps you use body language, such as gestures; but what if you can’t move any part of your body?

First, you’d have to gain someone’s attention; remember, you can’t speak and you have limited movement. You may be able to vocalize with a loud sound from the throat that may sound like a cry or yell which should gain a caregiver’s attention.  Oh, and you communicate only through eye movement to answer “yes” or “no” questions; eyes/eyebrows looking up means “yes” and eyes/eyebrows looking down means “no.”  The caregiver comes over, and so begins the twenty, thirty, fifty questions that become part of the guessing game to figuring out what you need or want.  Do you want to talk about hygiene? “No.” Do you want to talk about activities? “No.” Do you want to talk about food and drink?” “Yes!”  Progress!  Well, yes and no, because now we start a new game of twenty plus questions as the caregiver goes through the list of food and drink items until s/he guesses the correct one to generate a “yes.”

Do you think that would be frustrating or aggravating? Would your patience be tried?  For someone who doesn’t have a voice of his or her own, it would indeed.  Meet Denise.

Denise arrived to Wendell Foster’s Campus (WFC) in 2008 after living in Texas where she still has family.  An Owensboro native, Denise returned home to be closer to her sister and nephews.  She arrived to WFC lying in a wheelchair on her stomach; she literally faces the world head on every day!  Denise’s only communication: eye gazes indicating “yes” and “no” responses.   She’d never told her nephews or any of her family members that she loved them. Karissa Riter, her speech therapist, first met Denise through a video which was provided from Denise’s previous residential home in Texas.  Karissa’s first concern anytime she meets a new patient is “how do they communicate?”  Through this video, she learned about Denise’s eye gazes, but also that she had a communication book which required assistance from her communication partner.  When all else failed, Denise would wear a head band with a laser pointer attached and point to the object which she trying to communicate in the book.  Tiring.  Frustrating.  Time-consuming.

Denise let Karissa know upon her arrival what she wanted:  an easier way to communicate. Communication devices were available but to operate it, one uses a finger or knuckle to press a menu panel to select the topic or phrase desired to activate the device to “speak” the selection aloud. Because of the unique wheelchair design and Denise’s severely limited mobility, creativity was required so she could access a communication device that didn’t require touch to make it talk for her.  A unique new device became available shortly after Denise’s arrival to WFC. This device contained a built-in camera that scans the user’s eyes which maneuvers a mouse on its screen.  If there was a body part Denise could control and use the best, it was her eyes! Suddenly, her communication possibilities are limitless!

Denise took to her communication device like a duck to water!  She tells anyone who’ll listen about her family and how she feels.  Denise socializes to find out what you’ve been up to, how the weekend was, and even shares the latest Campus gossip.  And the jokes! An outgoing and fun gal, Denise even expresses her wicked sense of humor through her device. She even volunteers reading to local elementary students, and now, says to her nephews “I love you.”

Denise’s personality shines brightly through her newfound “voice,” a beautiful spirit she shares freely with everyone she meets.  Through my few observations, I enjoy the opportunity to meet and get to know her better.

In the Next Blog Entry:  Denise the Jokester - “Denise has an uncanny sense of humor . . . . . I also learn she’s quite a prankster. . . . “

We want to hear from you!  Please share your responses and comments by clicking below on “Comment” – you may post them anonymously or using your gmail.com profile name.

“The educated do not share a common body of information, but a common state of mind.” ~Mason Cooley     Please share our blog with others via Facebook, Twitter, or email!  Follow our blog!  Click on “Join our Site” below.

Blog content is copyrighted property of Wendell Foster’s Campus for Development Disabilities and Carolyn Smith Ferber and/or other blog authors).  Content may be used, duplicated or reprinted only with the expressed authorization of the Wendell Foster’s Campus.  Permission for use, duplication or reprints may be made to wfcampus.org@gmail.com.