Hello,
I was a very successful teacher and after I retired I spent twelve years as a Faculty Advisor in the Education Department at UBC. I also served as Chairman for various boards in my community. Five and half years ago I was involved in a traffic accident. I hit my head and that’s when my life changed.
After the accident, a MRI confirmed I had two bleeds in the brain. My speech steadily declined and I went to speech therapy. That began a faint hope of recovery, until I got this terrible diagnosis of Primary Progressive Apraxia of speech. I joined a speech therapy group at Lion’s Gate Hospital and the speech therapist, Nichole Armstrong, contacted CAYA to get some electronic support with the talking. Monica and Tatajana from CAYA are my angels. They come to your house or the hospital for meetings and they’re always smiling and glad to see you. You feel appreciated when they arrive.
They outfitted me with an iPad Mini and “Predictable” with a keyboard. So I found that very successful, I’m able to talk and type and keep up with the conversation. I got the iPhone and they downloaded “Predictable” onto it, I use a stylus because my fingers are too fat to be effective when typing out a message.
It’s wonderful to be able to talk to family and loved ones and friends. You have a new sense of confidence when you go into the bank or go to the pharmacy and any time you deal with the public. It’s made a difference in my life. I have something that gives me confidence; it speaks for me.
CAYA are doing wonderful work. They are giving a voice to people who have lost their voices. They’re building confidence in people who’ve lost confidence and giving the hope that comes from communication. More important they’re giving hope to the people who have lost their dignity and sense of pride. CAYA is fulfilling a necessary function and if that ends it will be a sad day. They’re doing such vital work, necessary work, after all, doesn’t everyone deserve to be heard?
Sincerely,
Neil MacDonald