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alt="Events"></a></td>--> </tr></table> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td height="250" align="center"><table width="696" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td height="36" colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle" class="a_new_tblue_20B">Welcome to DynavoXPRESSions! </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="30" colspan="2" align="center" valign="top"><a name="dynawrite" id="dynawrite"></a><span class="a_new_tblue_18B">Meet Sarah Rush </span></td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td height="270" colspan="2" align="center" style="background-image:url('http://www.dynavoxtech.com/newsletter/april.2006/images/sarah_rush.jpg'); background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position: top center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="50%" height="270" align="left" valign="top"><p><strong>Sarah Rush, 24, Bowman, North Dakota </strong></p> <p><strong>Mode of Expression: Palmtop </strong></p> <p><strong>Finding a Voice:</strong> Growing up in rural South<br> and North Dakota, Sarah had little exposure<br> to the technology that would eventually <br> help her to overcome the challenge of <br> articulating her thoughts. While denied <br> the gift of intelligible speech by congenital<br> brainstem dysfunction, Sarah has always<br> been creative in expressing herself, <br> whether using a picture communication<br> book or uttering single words in <br> combination with gestures. In high <br> school, she adopted new tools  a laptop<br> computer with speech and an electronic<br> personal organizer where she typed<br>messages for conversation partners to read.</p> <p>A new world of possibilities opened for Sarah<br>at a February 2004 videoconference with a<br>representative from the North Dakota Interagency<br> Program for Assistive Technology and her vocational rehabilitation counselor. She went on to try her first </p></td> <td width="50%" height="270" align="right" valign="top"><div align="right"> <p>augmentative and alternative communication device,<br>but it proved too heavy to tote around. When<br>she later tried the Palmtop, she knew she&rsquo;d<br>found the perfect fit. &ldquo;It changed my life,&rdquo;<br>she said. &ldquo;I can take it wherever<br>I go. People can hear my words<br>without looking over my shoulder.&rdquo;</p> <p>Ever resourceful in getting her message across,<br>Sarah uses the Palmtop fully and appreciates<br>its timesaving features. Word prediction,<br> for instance, supports her efforts to expand her<br> vocabulary and conversation opportunities.<br>Lisa Clayton, her speech-language pathologist,<br> recalls many pride-filled moments in the<br>two years they&rsquo;ve worked together &ndash;<br>like hearing a phone message Sarah left<br>with the aid of the device.</p> <p> Sarah is a real success story because<br>of her strong motivation to communicate and<br> her willingness to patiently work through<br>the challenges. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="360" height="104" valign="top"><div align="justify"> <table width="330" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td valign="top"><hr> <p class="justified"><strong>Significant people in Sarah&rsquo;s life: </strong>Sarah enjoys spending time with her family. Her father, Val, is pastor of Bowman United Methodist Church and mother, Teresa, a homemaker. She has a younger brother, Jonathan, and adult foster brother, Mark, who has Down Syndrome. Her older brother Aaron is a seminarian in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.</p> <p class="justified"><strong>Hopes, dreams and simple pleasures: </strong>&nbsp;For fun, Sarah likes to surf the Internet, watch TV, listen to the radio and read. While she enjoys the freedom of living in her own apartment, she looks forward to marrying and starting a family someday.</p> </td> </tr> </table> </div></td> <td width="360" height="104" align="right" valign="top"><table width="330" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td valign="top"><hr> <p class="justified"><strong>At work: </strong>Sarah is the secretary at her father&rsquo;s church. She prepares the bulletin, tracks weekly church attendance and offerings, writes birthday and anniversary letters to members, and keeps the prayer list up to date. As a volunteer at The Cedar Chest second-hand store, she arranges clothing displays, packs bags of clothes sent to missions and runs errands.</p> <p class="justified"><em><strong>It&rsquo;s easy to see why Sarah loves her jobs &ndash; helping people makes her happy. And thanks to her Palmtop, it&rsquo;s easy for her to say so. &ldquo;I use my device to talk to my co-workers,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It feels great.&rdquo;</strong></em></p> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="40" align="center" valign="middle" class="a_td_blue_outline">&nbsp;</td> </tr> <tr> <td height="10"><img src="http://www.dynavoxtech.com/newsletter/april.2006/images/misc/a_transparent.gif" alt="DynavoXPRESSions" width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="26" align="center" valign="top"><a href="index.htm" class="a_link_red13">Home</a>&nbsp; <span class="a_new_red13N">&middot;</span>&nbsp; <a href="new_products.htm" class="a_link_red13">New Products</a>&nbsp; <span class="a_new_red13N">&middot;</span>&nbsp; <a href="funding.htm" class="a_link_red13">Funding</a>&nbsp;<span class="a_new_red13N"> &middot;</span>&nbsp; <a href="technical_support.htm" class="a_link_red13">Technical Support</a>&nbsp;<span class="a_new_red13N"> &middot;</span>&nbsp; <a href="index.htm" class="a_link_red13">April Index</a>&nbsp;<span class="a_new_red13N"> &middot;</span>&nbsp; <a href="archives.htm" class="a_link_red13">Archives</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="36" align="center" valign="top"><a href="#top" class="a_link_tblue13">Back to Top</a></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <p>&nbsp;</p> </body> </html>