Dear Jerry, Maurice and David,
We are absolutely delighted to accept your very generous donation to contribute to our fundraising for the MyTobii communication computer.
The computer is an eye-gaze-operated device that will give Sierra the capacity to communicate with other people and fully express herself and her needs. Sierra will begin by using a system of individual symbols which, as she gets older, will be gradually replaced by increasingly more complex systems. As an adult, Sierra will have the option to use a full word processing program on the MyTobii.
We are very excited about Sierra having access to effective communication! We’re already seeing the frustrations that she experiences in daily life, when simply telling us she would like or not like something is difficult. Empowering Sierra and minimizing her difficulties will really improve her quality of life.
We’re not sure how much you know about Sierra’s history. Without the effort we have put in from the time she was diagnosed with severe Cerebral Palsy at the age of 6 months, her body would already be in bad condition and would likely show emerging deformities of back, limbs and hands. Sierra had poor eye sight which we improved with the guidance of an Ophthalmologist in Prague, she has epilepsy we control with medication and involuntary muscular tightness, mainly in her arms and legs.
The physiotherapy work we have done with Sierra over the last 3 years has kept her body in relatively good condition; she has learnt the physiological skills required to be able to operate the MyTobii computer.
It was our goal to buy the computer before Sierra reached the age of 3. We were told that we could make the biggest impact on her body in the first three years and now the focus expands to include communication as a major area of development. My Tobii will open up the world to Sierra through her use of language. She turns 3 in January so your donation brings us even closer to meeting our target!
Deb did a great job of making the announcement both special and a BIG surprise. Shane and I were brought to tears along with the rest of the team.
Thanks again for your fantastic contribution!
Regards,
Shane and Karen
