Jun 3, 2007 7:37 pm US/Eastern
Children's Helping One Child Find His Voice
by Lisa Hughes
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
This Thursday, WBZ-TV hosts a very important fundraiser -- "Day of Giving" to benefit Children's Hospital Boston.
To show you just one example of the groundbreaking work going on at the hospital, WBZ's Lisa Hughes has the story of 6-year-old Max Norton. Even though he can't speak, Max is finding his voice -- thanks to Children's.
Because of a chromosome problem, Max can't speak on his own, but his mind is sharp and he uses a synthesizer to tell jokes.
His vocabulary and communication skills are getting a big boost from an animated game called "Puddingstone Place."
With game animation, Max explores the house...clicking on items to learn the names, and even making music.
It's designed for kids with communication problems like autism and other developmental disorders. Experts at the hospital say those children respond best to visual information.
"There are a number of objects that can come alive," said Howard Shane, PhD. of Children's, who developed the interactive world. "So for example if you click on the tea kettle it whistles…If you click on the microwave oven it makes popcorn."
"It's an environment that really invites them in," said Shane. "And for some children who might be resistant to face to face or more traditional learning strategies, this becomes a way to just open up the opportunity to learn."
Max and his parents have lived in the Boston area for just a year and a half.
"What has children's meant to your family?" Lisa Huges asks Max's mother Susan.
"When we found out we were going to be relocating to Boston," she said, "my husband and I both said at the same time, wow, Max is going to be a winner in this move because now he can go to Children's Hospital."
The doctors and nurses at Children's Hospital are creating medical miracles every day, and this week brings your chance to help them.
On Thursday June 7, WBZ's phone lines will be open all day to take your donations. That support is critical in helping Children's continue its' life-saving care and ground-breaking research.
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