Happy National Speech-Language-Hearing Month! | Explore Support & Services for SLPs
Happy National Speech-Language-Hearing Month! | Explore Support & Services for SLPs
Welcome back to ableFamilies in Real Life, where we celebrate the everyday communication wins of families across the country. This month, meet Natasha and her daughter Taylor, a four-year-old from Maryland, who has spent the past three years building her communication with the QuickTalker Freestyle. The words Natasha uses with Taylor set the tone for their whole journey: “Take your time, it’s ok, and I’m so proud of you.”
Taylor is four, the older of Natasha’s two girls, and she loves her tablet. Natasha is a single mom raising a four-year-old and a two-year-old. When Taylor was younger, Natasha noticed signs that she was struggling with communication and concentration, and Taylor was later diagnosed with both forms of ADHD. Among the resources recommended to the family was the QuickTalker Freestyle, and it has been part of Taylor’s days ever since.
The QuickTalker Freestyle earns its place in this house through plain everyday use. Natasha keeps it in the daily routine rather than saving it for practice, and that consistency is what she credits for the change she has seen. “When I started using the tablet on a daily basis, I started noticing improvement with her learning abilities,” she says. The pictures give Taylor visual support for memory and attention, and a whole set of learning experiences comes along with them.
Communication is still a work in progress, and Natasha is honest about that. Taylor still struggles, and she also keeps improving. The hardest part has not been the device at all. It has been helping a four-year-old sit down and stay focused long enough to dig in. The win, in Natasha’s words, is simple and real: improvement in her communication.
Ask Natasha for the QuickTalker Freestyle moment that makes her smile and the answer is not one big event. It is watching her daughter progress. For a parent who noticed something early, followed up on it, and then put a new tool in her daughter’s hands, progress is the whole point.
You can hear how she coaches Taylor through it. “Take your time, it’s ok, and I’m so proud of you,” she says. “Good job.” Those are the words that carry this family. Taylor is four, so she does not have a favorite word to share just yet, but she does love her tablet.
Natasha’s advice for other families comes down to one thing: early diagnosis. She noticed the signs, followed the recommendations she was given, and got Taylor the resources she needed while she was still very young. Her thanks go to the ableFamilies community for the device that came with them.
For now the routine stays the same, a little more every day. Asked what the QuickTalker Freestyle has done for the way her family communicates, Natasha keeps it short: “Changed it for the better.”
Stay tuned for more real-life stories from ableFamilies across the country. Want to share your family’s journey or have a question? Our Parent Enthusiasts are here for you. You can also explore additional resources, guidance, and community connections on our SupportHub.
Stay tuned for more real-life stories from ableFamilies across the country. Want to share your family’s journey or have a question? Our Parent Enthusiasts are here for you. You can also explore additional resources, guidance, and community connections on our SupportHub.