Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Thursday, January 12, 2012

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Third-grader Jessica Standiford can talk more freely with her friends now that she's comfortable with the iPad. An app enables Jessica, who has cerebral palsy, to choose a phrase or type in her own words, and the device voices the text.

While technology has become a mainstay in schools, it has become a lifeline for one little girl at Veterans Park Elementary.

Third-grader Jessica Standiford, who has cerebral palsy, uses an iPad to better communicate with her teachers and classmates. With the Sono Flex Lite app, she can select a picture from various topics or common phrases such as “How are you?” and “That’s funny!” and the iPad voices the text. She can also type her own questions and answers on the touch-screen keyboard.

“I can talk with it,” Jessica responded when asked the neatest thing about the device.

“One of the best parts is that her friends can understand her, so she can be included in everything. It’s opened up her social life,” added her mother, Lynn Standiford.

At birth, the umbilical cord was wrapped three times around Jessica’s neck, cutting off her oxygen supply. After the doctors resuscitated her, seizures caused her cerebral palsy.

“When she was born, the neurologist told us she’d probably never do anything, so we’ve proved them wrong. You never know until you see how they progress,” Standiford said.

Jessica can speak on her own, for instance, but it’s laborious. A weak diaphragm and poor muscle tone make it difficult to formulate sounds clearly or speak louder. Body movement and coordination also are challenges for children with cerebral palsy.

“She has a hard time talking and walking. Everything is twice as hard for her. But cognitively, she’s functioning as well as her same-age peers,” said Kempa Turner, a speech and language therapist for students with special needs.

Before this school year, communicating took so much more effort for Jessica. “She interacted verbally, but it’s hard on the listener and hard on her,” Turner explained.

As Jessica described it, she was “sad” about what seemed a frustrating impasse.

The youngster, who navigates the busy hallways with a walker, previously refused to use other devices or anything else that made her stand out. “She doesn’t feel sorry for herself, but she knows she’s different,” Turner noted.

Then Jessica was persuaded to try the iPad. The first time out, she laughed aloud.

“It was one of those moments you don’t get very often in teaching,” Turner recalled, adding, “She’s such a sweet child – you want her to succeed.”

Now, Jessica’s desk includes not only the usual pencils and wide-ruled notebook but also the iPad, which Turner secured through a grant. She uses it in reading group and math class and also with journaling. Soon she’ll get her very own device from Fayette County Public Schools.

Though she struggles a little with manual dexterity, the iPad is good for practicing keyboard skills and keeping her hands active. It’s also good for her morale.

“It’s become a lot easier for her to talk with the other kids because they can understand her more. The kids will come over and talk with her through iPad, too,” said Toni Jones, her third-grade teacher.

One day Jessica, who formerly might respond with a one-word answer or simply sit quietly in class, took the initiative to type “You are an awesome teacher.”

“It was bone-chilling for her to raise her hand and call me over and actually find out what’s going on inside her head,” Jones said. “There’s so much inside her she’s had so much trouble sharing.”

Did you know?

Cerebral palsy is a term used to describe a group of chronic conditions affecting body movements and muscle coordination. It is caused by damage to one or more specific areas of the brain, usually occurring during fetal development or infancy. It also can occur before, during or shortly after birth.

“Cerebral” refers to the brain and “palsy” to a disorder of movement or posture. The condition is characterized by an inability to fully control motor function, particularly muscle control and coordination. Children with cerebral palsy may not be able to walk, talk, eat or play in the same ways as most of their friends.

Cerebral palsy is neither progressive nor communicable. It also is not “curable,” though education, therapy and applied technology can help people lead productive lives.

SOURCE: www.about-cerebral-palsy.org/

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