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Feb 28, 2007 6:07 pm US/Eastern
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Children's Hospital Offering Some Kids A New Voice
by Lisa Hughes
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
The sound of a child's voice can be a delight, but imagine your child has a problem speaking then think about the kind of help you could get right in our own backyard at Children's Hospital.
Lisa Hughes is here to show us how technology and caring is making a huge difference in a little boy's life.
The little boy is 6-year-old Max Norton. The goal of the ground-breaking work being done at the hospital's Waltham location is no less than helping him develop a voice of his own.
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.
"What do you call a cat that drinks lemonade? A sour-pus," Max joked.
His vocabulary and communication skills are getting a big boost from a virtual world called "Puddingstone Place."
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....so for example if you click on the tea kettle it whistles," said Howard Shane, a PhD at Children's Hospital.
Shane developed the interactive world.
"It's an environment that really invites them in. 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," Shane said.
Max and his parents have lived in the Boston area for just a year and a half.
"When we found out we were going to be relocating to Boston, 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," said Susan Norton, Max's mother.
As Max gets older he'll be able to use what he's learning with Puddingstone Place and type what he wants to say. A communication device will allow the rest of us to hear him speak. This therapy is just one of the many innovations from the skilled professionals at Children's.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)