2009 - What I Wish for My Child – Winning Requests
Read more about what our What I Wish for My Child Campaign is or explore our Custom Assistive Technology services to see how we can help year round.
- “Some assistive device (as well as advice, ideas, etc.) to help my 15 year old deaf son who has 4 inflexible and little fingers to enable him in washing his own hair…He takes pride in doing things independently.”
- "A special bed that is big, close to the floor, has 4 sides and one side would go up and down with a push of a button, then my 14 yr old daughter could tuck herself in." This parent is writing about her daughter whose disability is Cerebral Palsy. She can only walk with help and gets around the house by crawling. Uses a walker and power wheel chair outside her home. Her entire body is affected by CP – she needs total care. Her mom carries her to bed and tucks her in now. One of the special things that she likes to do is make her bed – “while crawling around she can get herself up in bed and make it the best she can.”
- “My 12 year old son Jonathan has CP and is trying desperately to be as independent as possible. Unfortunately, there are very few things he can do by himself. He is often bored and we are struggling to find activities to keep him entertained. Jonathan's grandmother has a golf cart that he loves to ride on with her when the weather is nice. Now that he is 12 and getting much bigger it’s difficult for her to get him on the golf cart and also for her to hold on to him while she is driving the cart. It would be wonderful to have some adapted seating on the cart so we could strap him in and keep him safe while riding the golf cart. Thank you.”
- “I would love to have some sort of electronic device that would be worn by my daughter and on me or my husband (like a watch or bracelet) that would alert us when Erin had a seizure. Erin has Aicardi syndrome. She has no corpus collussom, the middle brain, so her seizures are not gran mal. They are tonic clonic and present themselves as a stiffening of one side of the body. The brain activity is epileptic. A cool watch or bracelet would work. She tends to have these seizures in the night and will try to get to us by walking down the stairs… This is very dangerous. A child with Aicardi syndrome died a few weeks ago b/c she had a seizure in her sleep and her parents were not aware until the next morning that she was unresponsive. Thank you!!”
- “My daughter, Brandy, is a 21 year old with Down Syndrome. She is significantly overweight and in need of exercise. It has not been easy to find activities that she enjoys, but riding the tricycle at school is one such activity. However, she is not aware of traffic or other dangers and is not able to stop when necessary. I am requesting an adult size tricycle with pedal brakes for her and a remote control for braking for me as I run along side her on the tricycle. That way she can get needed exercise without endangering her safety because I can stop the tricycle when necessary. Thanks for your consideration.”
- “My wife and I would like to ask about a possible devise for my step daughter Kaitlyn. She has grown up with Cerebral Palsy and has never been able to walk without a great deal of assistance. I work with her in her gait trainer but she has issues with her knees coming together. I think full leg braces are counter productive to the goal of strengthening her legs. I would like to be able to keep her legs from bowing in while I help her to walk. If you can be of any assistance my wife and I would greatly appreciate it.”
- “My 12 year old daughter… needs to be able to get out of her wheelchair and sidestep to the toilet, but her joystick gets in the way of her helper. Also, it would be great if there was a way she could get from her chair to her walker. The problem is that her chair is too big so she can't get close enough to her walker. Thanks”
- “Hello and thank you for this opportunity! I'll try to be short and simple. My daughter, Kayla, is a 12 soon to be 13 year old little girl diagnosed with Ventricle Septal Defect (VSD) and Pervasive Developmental Delay. She had heart surgery when she was 3 to repair her VSD and currently still has issues surrounding her heart condition, but does not have any restrictions. Kayla does not do well in the heat and has to be watched carefully for over-heating. My request is this: We would love to have a bike with training wheels or a tricycle with a long bar at the end so I can help with brakes (if needed) and brakes on the pedals and handle bars. Kayla has been working very hard at learning how to ride a bike and is currently using a toddler/young child bike with training wheels and it is starting to break because, while she is very small for her age (67 pounds), she is too big for this type of bike now. Thank you for your consideration and time and thank you for making a difference in our children’s lives and helping them reach independence! Sincerely, Kayla's mom.”
2009 What I Wish for My Child Sponsors:
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