making noises
For most of his life, Butch Franklin used a handmade communication chart to speak. The person he was speaking with held the chart and pointed to rows of letters, words and ideas until Mr. Franklin indicated letter by letter, word by word, or thought by thought, what he wished to say. Unfortunately, this form of communication only worked if the other person was familiar with how to use it, and it didn't leave Mr. Franklin much room for independence.
That all changed when, five years ago, Mr. Franklin was evaluated by a speech therapist. He, his speech therapist and the education coordinator at the residential facility where he lived all determined that he would benefit most from using a Delta Talker.
At first, Mr. Franklin thought the Delta Talker would be too difficult to learn. Its anicon-based augmentative communication device with each icon having a different meaning. But he studied his device every day, and he received Telemedicine (Telemed) with his speech therapist. Telemed works over the phone line and uses a small TV screen. Mr. Franklin could see his speech therapist and she could see him, and she taught him how to use his device this way. He was able not only to learn the words that came with the device but also to program in his own personal words and ideas.
The Delta Talker has some features that Mr. Franklin especially likes. He can hook it up to his computer and display his speech onscreen, or he can compose and send e-mail messages with it.
Mr. Franklins Delta Talker was paid for with a grant from a private foundation.
nope, nowhere, never.
getting the noise out of my head to the keys
pc, keyboard, mouse, rabbit, yak.
butch on myspace