SoonerStart Success Stories

Bryan County Success Story

Haven has learned that she can move her kidwalk by placing her hands on the wheels and pushing. As she rolls herself back and forth she sometimes 'prances' as if she is walking. Haven is unable to propel herself with her feet at this time, but she has made so much progress in the last few months due in part to her stander. Now that she has discovered the power of movement and is able to roll herself some, she reaches for the stander and wants to be in it rather than fight us tooth and nail like she did before. It also allows her to stand next to her twin sister and play with her activity tables without having to sit down.

Carter County Success Stories

Through the SoonerStart Early Intervention program, a toddler from Carter County was able to progress through walkers without purchasing one that would not accommodate him for very long. He progressed from the Kid Walk to the Rifton Gait Trainer and then to a Reverse Walker. SoonerStart had access to the equipment that was needed for him to develop a desire to want to walk. The family was able to see improvement and gained hope that their child would be able to walk independently. They now are on the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA) and can get their needed equipment. They take the equipment to all activities such as football games and camping at the lake. He is now able to be up and mobile as other children his age are.

young boy propelling himself with a reverse walker

Carter County SoonerStart recently assisted a little girl aged (0-3) who needed a Kaye Walker and ankle splints. She had started walking very short distances, but wouldn’t attempt to walk otherwise. Her ankles had very low tone and she didn’t realize where she was placing her feet when she would attempt to take a step. She would always end up standing on the other foot. After SoonerStart provided her with the Kaye Walker from their loan closet and ankle splints she was able to walk independently within 6 weeks. She is now able to interact with playmates more independently and spend quality time outside playing.

young girl standing up in front of tv

Creek County Success Story

SoonerStart provides many services to families, one of which is hands-on access to assistive technology kits. These kits allow families to try out devices to assess if it will work for their child. The SoonerStart representative visited a little girl from Creek County. The little girl (aged 0-3) needed to try a toy which would help her to be more independent at play time. The AT kit was brought to the home for a trial. The girl tried the Big Red Switch, a device which activates different toys, and was able to see and activate it. The switch provided her a way to play independently while in her stander. It also increased her confidence. The family was very happy with her success. SoonerStart accessed the DCP program for funding to purchase the device for her very own.

little girl using red switch to activate toy

Garfield County Success Story

The Kindle Fire tablet was first presented to Cole to allow him to watch videos on trips. The parents soon found out that it could be used to help Cole learn a variety of new skills such as language, numbers, and colors. Cole learned quickly how to navigate the device and select applications. He learned how to interact with the applications. After the SLP demonstrated how to augment the applications with language stimulation techniques and social interaction, Cole immediately began to imitate the SLP's one and two word phrases. Eye contact increased and he wanted to take turns. After the SLP would imitate the device’s words, Cole would look at the SLP and imitate the SLP's words attempting to articulate correctly. The device is durable and can be taken anywhere. Cole has increased his vocabulary and will produce words learned from the device and say them spontaneously during daily routines. He will now count his toy cars and will name some basic colors.

SoonerStart Grady County Success Story

SoonerStart provides many services to families, one of which, is hands-on access to assistive technology kits. These kits allow families to try out devices to assess if the device would work for their child. The SoonerStart representative visited a girl (aged 0-3) in Grady County who needed a way to practice reaching and grabbing. SoonerStart had the available resources the girl needed. She used the wobble on base switch and bouncing butterfly. The wobble switch would work for her when she manipulated it in a manner that caused the toy to move and encouraged her to practice more. These actions improved her coordination and increased her ability to look, grab, hold on and activate the toy independently. Though progress was slow, the interaction with this assistive technology device provided her family a way to actually see progress in her motor development. She has improved from just accidentally swatting the switch to gripping and holding onto it.

Oklahoma County Success Story

In 2009, the SoonerStart program for Oklahoma County assisted a three year old girl, with a developmental disability, to become more mobile and independent. A physical therapist and an occupational therapist performed a collaborative assistive technology assessment to determine the most appropriate equipment for seating and positioning to allow her maximum support and assistance. The therapists determined SoonerCare funding would purchase a Ti-Lite Wheelchair which she uses to manually propel herself at home and at other locations to interact with peers. Also purchased was a KidWalk Dynamic Mobility System which assists in her efforts to learn to stand and walk. She has become more mobile and independent and hopes to learn to walk like her peers.

Tulsa County Success Story

SoonerStart providers suggested that Tenetke's family borrow an iPad2 from AbleTech to try and see if Tenetke could communicate with it. A request has been submitted to insurance for Tenetke to obtain his own iPad2 to use for communication.
Currently Tenetke communicates mostly by crying. He has not been consistent with signs or choice making. With the ABLE Tech Loan, Tenetke was able to demonstrate he could communicate his wants and even make choices using the iPad2. Because of AbleTech, we were able to try a couple of different devices before making a request to insurance. We also tried a BigMac and a Seven Level Communicator. Because Tenetke was so successful with the iPad2 we were able to videotape him using the device for submission to insurance. Without AbleTech's loan program, Tenetke would not have had the opportunity to try the device and be videotaped using it for submission to insurance.

Woods County Success Story

This little boy from Woods County was in need of assistive technology (AT) in order to play successfully and with purpose. Through the use of the AT kit and other toys, SoonerStart personnel we were able to try out adaptive switches and toys with this child. One particular toy, that was added to our AT kit after a family donated it to the program, was very successful. It was a small butterfly that had music and lit up. We added a large pancake switch to it for activation. This little boy was given a few hand over hand cues to touch the switch to activate the toy. After this, he was doing it spontaneously to play with the toy. This was the first time the parents and OT had seen him play purposefully. He has a diagnosis of a vision impairment and does not really look at toys, but appeared motivated and made some glances at the toy while playing.

Assistive Technology used: Kid Kart with tray, pancake switch, adapted light and sand butterfly.

Positive Outcome: the child was able to borrow this piece of equipment for 2-3 sessions in a row to familiarize himself with the toy and switch use. Borrowing the toy and switch allowed us to have a better understanding of which pieces of equipment would be best for him. Several switches were tried prior to determining which switch was the best. This will allow for better success when ordering the switch as we know which one works best for him.