Teresa Patterson - Mum of Jamie, AT User
by Shirley Deakin
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Teresa and Jamie Patterson |
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Teresa shared with us her son Jamie's experience of using AT. Teresa is the Mother of a 15 year old who is an enthusiastic user of many assistive technologies'.
From the early days of using a Big Mac or switches and then a Mighty Mo (which had Teresa's voice recorded on it), to currently using his Communicator 5 Software on his MS Surface Pro. Jamie also uses a touchscreen with a Gridpad for his social media - a typical teenager! Jamie and Teresa moved into their new home 2 years ago. Jamie was so excited and is able to enjoy their garden in his powerchair without the need for supervision. Their home has a wide range of environmental controls which allow Jamie to control the radio, lights, doors, X-Box and Playstation. A group of Jamie's class mates visited their home (at Jamie's request) so that he could demonstrate all the things he can do there. Teresa explained that technology is now a huge part of Jamie's life. He has grown because of it. While technology can take some getting used to and needs patience, overall Jamie's life is richer because of it.
‘It makes you see that you can be anything you want to be with the Assistive Technology around you. As a disabled person, you need it, it’s part of your life’.
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