Katie Yonker, PRC Ambassador
Katie’s Mantra
My name is Katie Yonker. I live in Phoenix, Arizona. I have a Cerebral Palsy so my mouth and right side of body does not work right. I am twenty-eight years old. I have had a communication device for a long time and it helps me to talk to the people.
I have two friends that have communication devices. We have gone to camp, conferences, and a group, called “Out and About”. We go out in the community and we order the food using our communication devices and other fun activities. Not only that, I even got to do a training session for speech therapy students one month. I have device called a “Vantage Lite.”
Katie is also a talented artist.
I can remember when I got a communication device when I was in kindergarten. My classmates and my teacher Mrs. Henize wrote a letter to the Prentke Romich Company in Ohio. It’s took me a while to get a communication device because I had to do evaluations on devices that I wanted to try. My first device was called “Liberator”. It was a big box and heavy. I used to have a roller backpack to carry it. I didn’t like to carry it on my shoulders all time when I went to my school classes.
I do like the old pictures of icons sequence symbols because I know those icons in 144 Unity. Now I got new pictures on the Vantage Lite in 84 Unity and I don’t like it because it’s hard for me to remember. When I don’t know what the right icon sequences are that I need to say, I use the ABC mode to spell my message out!
The Vantage Lite is small. It has activity rows and an MP3 player so I can listen to music on my device.
I want to get the new device! (Accent 1000 using 144 sequenced) I like it because it has the 144 vocabulary that I am used to but my mom says no because I have to wait until my Vantage Lite is broken.
I hope you like my art and my article this month.
Thank you for listening. Katie Yonker
Katie hopes to get an Accent 1000 so she can use 144 location Unity.
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Communicators In Action