Does my child with cerebral palsy need a communication board?

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child with cerebral palsy in speech therapyYour child has a lot to say, but right now, she has no way to communicate with you because her cerebral palsy causes difficulties with oral motor functioning. You would do anything to help her communicate because you know that communication is essential to her happiness and independence.

How an Individualized Communication Board Can Help

A communication board allows your child to communicate without speaking. There are a variety of options for creating a communication board for children with cerebral palsy. Ideally, the board should be customized for your child and may change as she gets older. A communication board could, for example:

  • Be on paper. Your child’s communication board could be a series of notecards or pieces of paper that have pictures or words that your child needs to use often. Your child may point to an image or put together a series of images or words to express her thoughts.
  • Be electronic. The same pictures or words that are static pieces of paper may be on a tablet or phone app that your child uses to communicate with you and others. Additionally, your child may be able to type a message for others to read.

Before you begin using any kind of communication board, a speech and language pathologist should evaluate your child and suggest options that could help her.

How to Pay for a Communication Board

It will be expensive to pay for the communication board your child needs now, future boards, and the speech and language therapy she requires to go along with the board. If your child’s cerebral palsy was caused by a doctor’s mistake during labor or delivery, all communication board and speech and language therapy costs should be part of her legal recovery.

Learn more about getting your child the full recovery she deserves by contacting our experienced Kentucky cerebral palsy birth injury lawyers for a free and confidential consultation. We would be happy to discuss your legal options with you and, if appropriate, fight hard to get your child everything she deserves.

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