Page 8 - link magazine

8 WESTLEA
Cameleon enables communication
O ^
Seven year old Jamie White is celebrating his first year working with his cameleon at Westlea School.
Confined to a wheelchair be- His language skills have come on
BUILDING cause of cerebral palsy, Jamie uses tremendously over the last year.
the specialised touch screen com- "Jamie navigates through the
SERVICES puter to communicate with teach- pages from an index screen which
ers and classmates. He is the first leads to sub-indexes. It means he
Extensions, Alterations, in a Swindon mainstream school has to make choices about what he
Renovations to have the equipment and his wants to say and has to concen-
progress is being monitored for its trate very hard to get to the screens
All aspects of garden application with others who have that he needs to make his point, or
construction including fencing communication difficulties. ask a question. Apart from a stand-
All general building work The cameleon is able to hold hun- ard set of symbols, we have drawn
dreds of pages made up of sym- some special ones that he likes and
Tel: Mr J.F. Keenan bols and words. Working with recorded sounds so that he can
(01793) 727824 education support assistant Sue add expression and fun.
Sheikh, thirty pages have been pro- "Jamie is a very happy boy who
grammed so that Jamie can ask has to work really intensively to
questions, start conversations and achieve communication."
take part in classroom activities. Having demonstrated the
PHILIP STONE
This screen can be positioned on a Sue with Jamie and cameleon for The Link, Jamie said,
PAINTER & table or attached to his electric his wheelchair attached computer "I like school."
wheelchair so he can talk to friends
DECORATOR in the playground. Once a sen- Grandparents return to school
tence is formed, the cameleon will
For a high standard speak it for him. Over 150 grandparents spent the
"Although Jamie also works with day at Westlea School on 22 Sep-
of work a speech therapist and has great tember to find out what young-
References available difficulty expressing himself ver- sters get up to nowadays.
bally, he can hear well and is very Dennis, 68, and Shirley Wheeler, 65,
Telephone now for a aware of what's going on around," of Chippenham look over grandson
FREE ESTIMATE said Sue. "Jamie's speech has been Robbie White's, 10, homework diary
stimulated by being in a main-
Tel: 870515 or stream environment where every- Bonfire night in Westlea
body is chatting away. The Westlea School's firework spec-
Mobile 0374 - 208527 cameleon gives him the opportu- tacular takes place on Friday 3 No-
nityto communicate with his peers. vember, 5.45pm for 6.30pm.
Tickets are £1 child, £2 adult or
£5 a family from the school office.
THE Dog dirt gets to council cabinet

IREPLAC^ The long standing problem of dog fouling in public places will be
discussed at Swindon's cabinet on 24 October when a report on the
F CENTRE provision of dog dirt bins is presented.
Westlea school pupil Beverley
Harris raised a petition amongst
OFFICE & SHOWROOMS class mates earlier in the year to
Specialists in fireplaces, protest about the fouling of routes
to school, including the habit of
gas effect fires with some owners who scoop the poop,
or without flues, ues, but leave it hanging from trees and
shrubs in plastic bags. The issue
electric fires, has been discussed at both the West
gas & multifuel stoves, and the North area panels.
The report will indicate that the
baskets & accessories cost of providingbins and the man-
A Thamesdown remnant still in place.
power to empty them on a regular
The dog owner advice sign by the
basis could be over £200 a year for
Ferrers Drive open space in Grange
each one.
Dare to be different .. . or stick with tradition Former Thamesdown and Swin- Park
di ill don councillor, and dog owner, are expensive to maintain and it's
unrealistic to think there can be
Bob Pixton wrestled with the prob-
PERCYST 0 HAWKINS ST lem for many years. He was re- effective enforcement. You have
0
sponsible for signs in the early to ask if the cost is good value for
THE
Z FttEPTRCE 1990s asking owners not to let their money.
CENTRE
dogs foul public parks and an early "The bottom line is the attitude
DOLPHIN
O OUILE VIH LLAAE experiment where an outdoor toi- of dog owners and their respect
PUB D A PAn
O CAR PARK let was created in Grange Park. for other people. Their dogs foul
"The idea was not a success be- public areas, they have the respon-
VISIT OUR SHOWROOMS AT
cause the device was plugged into sibility for picking it up and taking
1 RODBOURNE ROAD, the drains which could not cope it home to put in their own bins.
SWINDON SN2 2AG with plastic bags. Having said that, there is no easy
TEL/FAX: (01793) 612288 "I understand the frustrations, answer to dealing with irresponsi-
but bins are not the answer. They ble dog owners."