Although Gila has the cognitive ability to communicate, until she received her personal communication computer, she did not have the motivation to do so, and she rarely did. Since she received the computer, however, she has begun to communicate and to express herself and her wishes, as well as recounting her experiences in school and at home.

The computer helped Gila jump to an entirely new level of communication. She has demonstrated unusually good ability to navigate the device – sometimes even better than that of the staff! Today, the computer never leaves her side; she takes it everywhere, showing a tremendous amount of responsibility in watching over it. Gila also uses the computer for entertainment, photographing and videoing her friends and classroom events.

Gila’s newfound abilities led to the idea that she communicate with her family by sending pictures of herself and her class by email. Gila learned how to send emails independently, and her parents and family were so excited to receive her pictures! Keep in mind that Gila is nonverbal and does not read or write! Despite these challenges, she is able to do all of this with great success.

Gila’s parents are very excited by this new level of communication – both from the emotional point of view, as they no longer see her every day, as well as from the perspective of her personal development. They are well aware of where Gila was, what her abilities are, and how far she has come as a result of the hard work and great investment of the Seeach Sod staff.