Hello! My name is Chris Klein. I am 46 years old, and I have been using augmentative alternative communication (AAC) for forty years now. I was born with Cerebral Palsy and I am classified as an athetoid, which means my muscles never stop moving! I can’t use my arms and hands, but I have control of my feet and toes. This is how I have always accessed my communication devices. I have been called Mr. Toe since the fourth grade! I have that on my license plate.
The first device I received was the Handivoice 110 - a word-based system that had 250 core vocabulary words on it. I was six at the time, and you had to kind of be able to read in order to use the Handivoice 110. Yet, I was able to use it, and I was talking in complete sentences by the time the weekend was over.
I switched to the Pathfinder in 2008 with the Unity vocabulary, and it was a blessing. I was able to express my complete thoughts again because I had access to the language that I was accustomed to using. This enhanced my relationships greatly, and led to me getting married in 2011.
I graduated from Hope College with a BA in Kinesiology. I have a Masters in Theology. I speak and teach all over to make a living. I love watching children see the possibilities when they receive their first communication device. I love helping families see the potential with a communication device! My passion is to inspire them to shoot for anything!
I love sports. I follow every sport and I’ve even coached high school girl's basketball. Fantasy football is my favorite hobby and it gets very competitive between my friends of me. Actually, any game I play gets competitive because I believe you play a game to win. I’m known to be sarcastic and a prankster. I’ve tried to live life to the fullest, which my family taught me to do at a very young age. I hope that spirit shines through me!
