When Ryan was growing up, he wasn’t able to hit a lot of the milestones, said his mother Cindy, and he was eventually diagnosed with cerebral palsy. But she knew he was in there. Ryan is now 21 years old and very social, especially with the help of his NeuroNode Duo.
Cindy recalled what life was like before using the NeuroNode Duo, a speech generating device connected to the NeuroNode sensor, that allows Ryan to communicate. “We would be physically picking things up, like do you want the milk or the water,” and Ryan would choose by looking at the drink he wanted.
In Ryan’s class at school, he was introduced to the NeuroNode by his speech language pathologist, Megan McGrath. She was excited by this new technology and the power it could give Ryan and other students like him at his school. She noticed from the trial that he quickly got the hang of the movement he needed to active the device. “It’s easier for him, less fatigue, less frustration, it’s quicker,” she told us.
One of the benefits of the NeuroNode sensor is it’s ability to accommodate for extra, unintentional movements. “Otherwise it would be going off constantly,” Cindy told us. In spatial mode, the NeuroNode can be set to activate on only a certain movement, so other big gestures won’t get in the way.
Megan was glad to have found the NeuroNode for her students, like Ryan, who has higher cognition and receptive language, but need a solution that reduces the demands on the motor system. “It allowed him to express himself faster, and we got to really see how high that cognition is,” said Megan.
Cindy agreed with Megan’s statement, and now that Ryan can express himself, “everyone is just excited to see what he has to say. He has the capability of making his own choices and making them known, which is tremendous and life-changing.”
Watch the full video, read Ryan’s case study, or learn more about the NeuroNode Duo.
