Grant awarded for summer camp

There are at least seven children at Chenowith who need an Augmentative or Alternative Communication Device (AAC), and currently no other speech pathologist in the area who works with Vance’s providers.

Water’s Edge in The Dalles is the only outpatient service for these children’s need. “Even they don’t have the capacity to work on teaching children or family how to navigate, so [AACs] end up sitting on the shelf or the families just get overwhelmed because it is intimidating. ... like if you were trying to just learn a foreign language or any kind of language,” Vance said later.

And the insurance can be a nightmare, she said, taking months to fund a device and forcing Vance to jump through lots of paperwork hoops. Vance worries the cuts to Medicaid in the federal budget bill, working its way through the Senate now, will increase the number of refusals she gets from insurance companies. It’s already tricky to get coverage for an AAC, which she emphasized is medically necessary for these youngsters.

So Vance found a company who will provide the device to a family for a trial period. After that period, Vance will write a report saying whether it’s medically necessary for that child. Then it goes through  insurance, a doctor provides an order, and that AAC becomes that child’s permanent tool.

It’s usually a sort of tablet or cellphone, with nothing on it but special software — which costs maybe $200, plus the cost of the physical device.

It helps people with communication impairments, like Down Syndrome. They can carry it everywhere — order at a restaurant with it, ask for help, communicate with family. Vance helps the child personalize it, adding photos of their family or other special touches. She also makes lanyards and other communication tools.

Vance encouraged anyone who thinks their child might need an AAC to contact her, or speak to their school’s speech therapist. They can also ask a doctor, from whom they’ll need a referral for private speech therapy or an AAC in order to get insurance coverage. Oregon’s Medicaid program, Oregon Health Plan, has no residency requirement; a similar program currently covers qualifying low-income immigrants regardless of immigration status.

Vance encouraged parents to let children “play” with devices, which function only as AACs — not real phones or tablets. If the child’s hanging out with it, they’re learning, she said. It won’t discourage talking; it should actually help them talk.

To help with that, she’s hoping this won’t be the last summer camp she hosts for these children, although this is a one-time grant.

As the emcee said last Friday morning: “Way to go, Ms. Vance! Let’s give her three! big! claps!”

The gym full of children gleefully obliged.

A previous version of this story inadvertently misidentified Chenowith Elementary School and the status of Central Oregon Health Quality Alliance. We regret the error.