Francis and Francess Bendu of Hyattsville, Md., are thrilled that their 9-year-old son, Francis Bendu, Jr. will receive a voice-output device from The Eric Fund to help him better communicate at home and in school and be in better touch with the world around him. 

Francis, who was diagnosed with autism when he was almost two years old, has limited verbal communication but will use the device to talk with his family and friends and share his thoughts and feelings with others. Francis’s school speech-language pathologist, Angela Mezzomo, worked with the Bendus to complete The Eric Fund application. “We have been trying to get a piece of equipment for Francis for over a year, but everyone else told us no. We were taking a shot in the dark with The Eric Fund and hoping you would understand what a kid like Francis needs,” says Mezzomo. 

Francis’s parents are looking forward to Francis communicating his thoughts and feelings more regularly with the entire family, including Francis’s older siblings, ages 27, 24 and 21, who regularly help care for and work with him. When Francis is not at school, he enjoys watching The Disney Channel, especially “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” and playing with his toys. The Bendus are dedicated to providing the best for their son and helping him learn the skills he needs to be more independent. “This will open a whole new world for him. This will change his life,” says Francis’s mother, Francess. “I am so grateful.”

Laura-Sun Cerfaratti is a bright, enthusiastic 22-year-old young woman from Annapolis, Maryland, who happens to be blind. The Eric Fund awarded Laura a Braille Note device to enable her to continue to excel at her job and to pursue her love of writing. 

Upon hearing the good news, Laura threw her hands in the air as if in victory and announced to all who were in the room, “I won the Eric Fund!”  

While attending the Maryland School of the Blind, Laura was able to use a BrailleSpeak  device, which eventually stopped working and is now an outdated form of technology. As with most devices provided by the school system, Laura had to return the device upon graduation,  leaving her without the device she had used to communicate with and explore the world for so long.  Laura said losing the use of the communication device, “left an enormous void in my life  
in which I am no longer able to express myself through writing.” 

Since graduating from the Maryland School of the Blind in 2007, Laura has been employed at a workshop and has had trouble finding more meaningful work.  She said, “I was surprised to hear back from The Eric Fund because so many times it seemed doors were being slammed in my face.”   Ideally, Laura would like to be an activity coordinator at a nursing home or similar facility
where she could utilize her musical keyboard playing and songwriting abilities.  The BrailleNote device will better allow her to express those talents, keep a calendar for appointments, record audio, listen to music, read electronic books as well as word processing and hopefully get that job she dreams of. 

Since he was a young boy, 11-year-old  Francisco Cabrera has always been a great student and has loved reading books. But these days, Francisco has an easier time reading with his ears instead of his eyes. 

In 2007, Francisco suffered a seizure and was in a coma for a few days, when doctors discovered a brain tumor.  After many treatments and surgeries, Francisco is back at  his Catholic school in Washington, DC. He still loves books, but reading for even five minutes is now exhausting for the youngster. The Eric Fund is happy to provide Francisco with a special audio player and a subscription to Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic, so he can listen to his text books and any other reading material, thereby increasing his comprehension and continued success. 

“When I received your phone call, I said ‘This is another present from God’,” said Francisco’s mother, Bessie. As a single mom supporting Francisco and his older brother,  Bessie said she knew the device and reading service would help Francisco but it was financially out of reach. 
“This will help me because right now, I can remember things better if I hear it. If I read it, I forget it,” says Francisco, a 5th grader who enjoys history, music and drawing. 

Francisco’s resource teacher, Peggy Fleury, works with Francisco several hours a week. Peggy found out about The Eric Fund and worked with Bessie and encouraged her to apply for a grant for Francisco’s device. “The ability to listen to his textbooks and trade books on tape will give him the greatest chance to succeed,” Peggy says.

”Motivation increased success.” This brief statement found in Regina Jackson’s communication assessment which was included in her application was key to the Eric Fund’s decision to award her with a new Flash Deluxe Kit Speech Generating Device (SGD). 

Regina, 10, is non-verbal as a result of cerebral palsy and mild mental retardation, and relies on facial expressions combined with crude vocalizations to communicate her needs. Her mother says that she is a happy child known for her big smiles which enable her to communicate her emotions effectively without words or vocabulary. Although her communication skills are significantly limited, the clinician who evaluated her language skills, commented during her evaluation, that “motivation incresased success.” 

Like other children her age, Regina enjoys using the computer and attending school. Her two biggest passions are riding horses, which she does once a week in the therapeutic riding class that she participates in, and swimming. It is our hope that her new Deluxe Flash Kit SGD will motivate her toward increased success on her journey toward independence!

Benjamin Glantz is a happy and enthusiastic 14-year-old boy who loves school, and particularly likes reading and using the computer. Due to severe hypotonia and motor planning dysfunction, Benjamin relies on assistive technology for most of his communication, and without an augmentative communication device he has minimal ability to express his needs. 

Ben’s need for a communication device has never been greater. The outdated device loaned to him by the public school he attends was not replaced when it recently stopped working and Ben suddenly found himself unable to communicate, interact socially or participate fully in the classroom. 

The Eric Fund is very thrilled to be able to assist Ben and his family in securing a new Prentke Romich Vantage Plus augmentative communication device which will ensure his ability to thrive and maximize his potential not only in the classroom, but also at home and at play.

Emilia Prokop, 21, is an ambitious young woman from Haymarket, Va., who has been awarded a laptop computer and Dragon to Speak software from The Eric Fund so she can communicate better and pursue her dream of helping children with disabilities. 

Emilia came to the United States at age 7, adopted from Romania thanks to guidance Emilia’s mother, Martha, received personally from Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Martha was working between Virginia and Rome, Italy, for a priest who did some work with Mother Teresa. When Emilia’s parents found out they could not have children, Mother Teresa advised Martha to go to Romania where many children had been rescued by the church and were living in orphanages.  Mother Teresa told her to go there and find a child who looked Russian  because Martha’s husband was of Russian  decent.  Martha said as soon as she saw Emilia, who looked much like her husband, she knew she found her daughter. 

Emilia had been neglected and starved since birth and looked as if she were between 4-10 years old when the Prokops met her. She was 7.  

Those early years of neglect led to a speech/ language disability, stunted growth, and gross/ fine motor disabilities.  But with the support of a loving family, Emilia just “graduated” from high school with a certificate of attendance and will be home schooled to complete her high school diploma.  She also just received an “Alumni of the Year” award by the Youth Leadership Forum of Virginia, sponsored by the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities.  

Emilia is a whiz with computers, but  unfortunately when she graduated from high school, her computer had to remain with the school system. Emilia is looking forward to the computer and software provided by The Eric Fund. She is excited the equipment will enable her to finish her studies, communicate better eventually to find a job and pursue her dream of training service animals for children with  disabilities.

Four-year-old David Robert Hagadorn of Nokesville, Virginia, will be learning with some help from Einstein  -- Baby Einstein that is. 

David, who has numerous disabilities and developmental delays will receive a library of Baby Einstein videos and books form The Eric Fund to help him  follow 1 & 2 tier commands (i.e. – “show me the book”). 

David’s father is a U.S. Army captain and his mom is a homemaker. The family has another child and is on a fixed income and cannot afford these tools for David. The Eric Fund is happy to welcome David to its family of winners.

Elizabeth Tribull recalls the day her daughter’s life changed like it was yesterday. 

She remembers listening to the radio one morning and hearing callers talk about the then recent Columbine school shootings, with experts trying to allay parents’ fears about sending their children to school.

Elizabeth remembers hearing that a child was more likely to be hit by a car than be hurt in a school shooting. That very afternoon, that statistic hit home for Elizabeth when her daughter, Shelby, was hit by a car on her way home.      

Shelby spent three years in a rehabilitation hospital recovering. Now 13, Shelby is a wheelchair user and communicates using a voice output device. Shelby is a typical teenager – wanting to get out more, go to the mall, go to the movies and spend time outside of her home in Annapolis, Maryland.      

The Eric Fund is purchasing a collapsible transport wheelchair to help Shelby get out and about with ease. Her current wheelchair doesn't fit in the family car and is difficult to lift.      

“With all of Shelby’s expenses, our insurance money is usually gone by March,” said Elizabeth. “This (Eric Fund grant) is a big relief and we are looking forward to going more places and getting Shelby out more.” 

Thanks  to the supporters of The Eric Fund, James Billian, 14, of Rockville, Maryland, is getting some new computer equipment that will help him write and organize his thoughts.

James has Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD and learning disabilities, but is a computer wiz.  The Eric Fund is purchasing James a Co:Writer® SmartApplet keyboard, a portable computer device that allows James to write.  He will also receive Draft:Builder, a computer program that will help him better organize his thoughts and enhance his writing skills. 

James’s mother, Margie, said that he is now learning to write paragraphs and this new equipment will really help him maximize his potential. Already gifted on the computer, James enjoys creating computer movies with Flash animation.  He attended a camp last summer for computer animation and was so skilled, he was working at the college level.  

He is so computer literate that his mother would like him to start teaching her friends how to use a computer. In addition to enjoying the computer, James is an avid Star Wars and Lord of the Rings fan. Congratulations to James on his Eric Fund grant. 

Michele Johnson is not the sort of person to take no for an answer. When she sets her mind to something, she plows full-speed ahead, determined to achieve her goal. 

Such is the case with Michelle’s search for employment. After her job search didn’t turn up any
offers, the 24-year-old Silver Spring, Md. resident, who has cerebral palsy, decided to pursue her lifelong dream and start her own art business. A budding artist since her teens, Michelle is in the process of creating a business plan and has already made prints of her artwork that she has sold at craft shows and bazaars to gauge the response. 

When Michelle and her mother, Peggy, learned Michelle had won an Eric Fund grant to purchase a Dynavox voice output device, Michelle signed her response, “Thank you for helping me make all my dreams come true.” She is looking forward to using the device to get her business up and running. She says the Dynavox will help her communicate with potential investors, suppliers and customers to help her business be a success, many of whom don’t understand sign language, which is her primary means of communication at the moment. A self-described “people person,” Michelle is also looking forward to using the device to maintain her existing friendships and make build new ones. “Being able to participate in social activities makes me feel more normal and accepted by others,” she says.

The Eric Fund Grant helped make a very Merry Christmas for 18-year-old Lauren Boyd, said her mom Lesley, when she learned that Lauren had won an Eric Fund grant to purchase a Chat PC portable voice device that will help Lauren, who has autism, communicate more effectively. 

Lauren’s trial with the Chat PC at school went well, but since the device is costly, Lesley said as a single parent, she wasn’t able to afford the much-needed device for her daughter and had difficulty funding funding until she learned of the Eric Fund. 

When Lauren learned she would be receiving the device, she laughed and smiled. Lesley and Lauren’s teachers believe the Chat PC device will help Lauren build more social contact at school and in the community and will help her transition to a job more effectively when he graduates. Currently, Lauren works in two job placements per week at Outback Steakhouse and PetSmart. Lesley says the Chat PC will help Lauren communicate more effectively with her supervisors to get the most out of her vocational placement, which will put her in a good position to transition to a job in a couple of years and increase her independence.

Thanks to The Eric Fund, David Lubkowski, 52, a former systems engineer with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can get back to sharing his years of experience with his colleagues.

In 2001, David sustained a brain injury due to cardiac arrest, which greatly affected his motor skills.

Before his brain injury, David was a main designer of the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) – a combination of hardware and software that acts as a set of electronic eyes for a pilot to help track nearby aircraft and their speed to avoid mid-air collisions. Since the airlines began equipping their planes with TCAS in 1990, no mid-air collisions have occurred.

While the injury greatly limited David’s physical abilities, his cognitive abilities were not affected. The Eric Fund is purchasing David an IntelliKeys keyboard, a programmable keyboard which enables users to easily type, navigate on-screen displays and execute menu commands.   
The hope is that by using this keyboard, David will again be able to communicate with his colleagues and share his knowledge and expertise of the TCAS program and restore his ability to feel he is contributing something to society, his family and himself. 

The Eric Fund is proud to help a man who has helped so many and developed technology that saves lives everyday.  David, his wife, Suzanne, 18-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter live in Northern Virginia.  Together, they enjoy movies, play checkers and watch one of David’s favorite shows, Star Trek. 

Tyla Briana Julius-Kumbah is a five year-old-girl with cerebral palsy who is blessed with a mother who is a tenacious advocate for her special needs.  She was very grateful to find out about the Eric Fund from a family friend!

Tyla’s mom describes her as a happy child who enjoys music with a particular fondness for Alicia Keyes.  In fact, Tyla insists on playing the CD that she owns so often her mother wishes she would expand her repertoire!

The wheelchair that Tyla uses at school cannot be used in their home, and the seating system that her family uses to transport her up and down stairs and to the bus everyday is becoming increasingly cumbersome to lift as Tyla grows. 

Her mother was thrilled to learn that the Eric Fund is able to purchase a Convaid Tilting STroller System for Tyla. This system will provide a basic, but extermely important need for their family: the ability to easily get Tyla in and out of their home ... the first step toward a more active life with her friends and family in the community!

Caitlin Fleischmann is one nine-year-old girl with a busy schedule. Between Brownies, gymnastics, school, and spending time with her family, she is a girl on the go.

Thanks to The Eric Fund, Caitlin will be able to more fully experience her activities with new hearing aids. Her mother, Debbie, heard about The Eric Fund grants through her part-time work at a Virginia social services organization and thought she would apply on behalf of her daughter, who has down syndrome and conductive hearing loss.

"I was shocked when I found out that insurance won't pay a dime," said Debbie. "When the audiologist recommended hearing aids and that they were $800, I said OK, thinking it would be a major stretch to afford that but Caitlin needed them. I didn't know they were $800 a piece!"

Debbie said the hearing aids will help Caitlin with all of her activities and they will be especially helpful in school.  Dedicated to providing her daughter with the best education and supports to make her own choices in life, Debbie and Caitlin moved from Prince William County to higher-priced Fairfax County so Caitlin could attend Hayfield, one of the model schools for inclusion in Virginia.

Caitlin is flourishing at the school, which includes children with and without disabilities in each classroom.  Caitlin's teacher recently wrote home that she is a "great model" for the class. Caitlin was recently named star of the week and reader for the day in her second-grade class. 

In addition to school activities, Caitlin is a member of her local Brownie troop, is a medal winner in track & field for Special Olympics and is getting ready to learn gymnastics. 

"Caitlin is doing really well," Debbie said.  "The doctor just told me and I agree - imagine what she can do when she can really hear." 

"This kid may become President of the United States. You just never know"

Seven-year-old Jamisha Williams is positioned for success both at home and at school thanks to the positioning chair purchased for her by The Eric Fund.

Jamisha’s mother, Treliease, made several attempts to secure funding from government agencies and insurance companies to replace the positioning chair Jamisha had outgrown. As a single mother living in Washington, DC, with two children, Ms. Williams often found it difficult to supply Jamisha – who has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and who is non-verbal and non–ambulatory – with special adaptive equipment on her salary. Despite Ms. Williams’s persistence, however, the government agencies offered no assistance and her insurance companies would not cover the chair as it exceeded the allowable amount. 

That’s when Ms. Williams turned for help to Jamisha’s therapist, Lesley Douglas, at St. Coletta School of Greater Washington in Alexandria, Virginia. Ms. Douglas found out about The Eric Fund’s grant awards and encouraged Ms. Williams to apply.

With a more than $800 grant from The Eric Fund, a growing Jamisha can now use a positioning chair that will grow with her. She uses the chair both at school and at home where it allows her to sit in various positions throughout the day, a function that is critical to her development. Thanks to the new chair, Jamisha now has many more opportunities to participate in activities and interact with her classmates, family and friends.

Thanks to The Eric Fund, Rockville, Maryland, resident Margaret “Muffi” Lavigne  will get the equipment she needs to help her take photographs for her graduate school portfolio as well as help her with everyday needs in her apartment.  

Muffi is applying to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigne’s Master in Architecture program for Fall 2004, to study interior design.  Part of her application includes an artistic portfolio, in which she wanted to feature her photography. Muffi has been an avid photographer, but her disability – Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy, a progressive muscle disease affecting her arms, legs and hips – has progressed to the point where she is no longer able to hold a camera on her own. She uses a power wheelchair and has service dog, “Rudy.”  In addition, Muffi requires a personal care attendant, physical therapists and many other services to help her lead an independent life. The costs of these services, despite her working full time, leave little for her to purchase the necessary equipment for her to further her education and career goals. 

The Eric Fund is providing Muffi with a clamp and swing arm to help secure her camera for picture taking and allow her to complete her portfolio for her Master’s program application.  She is also receiving a wall switch extender and a lamp converter to help her reach for switches and lamps in her home. Muffi has been working for many years as the Information and Referral Coordinator at United Cerebral Palsy’s national headquarters in Washington, DC, where our Fund’s namesake, Eric Savader, once worked.

"I'm thrilled!" said Barbara Shaw when she first learned that The Eric Fund would be funding a Lightwriter for her 20-year-old daughter Katie Marie. "Katie will be too!"

Katie Marie, who is developmentally delayed with a severe expressive language disorder, is in her final year of a transition program at Howard Community College in Maryland. She has mastered the art of communicating with a Lightwriter SL87, which she has been able to use on loan through the school program. However, since it is school property, Katie Marie would not have access to this crucial piece of augmentative communication once she leaves the school system in the spring.

Katie relies on the Lightwriter to communicate her needs and express her feelings when she is conducting her day-to-day activities outside the home. Her mom is able to interpret the sign language that she uses at home, but says that Katie Marie rarely communicates via sign language outside the home.  When she is interacting with people who are unfamiliar with her disability, or engaged in such basic functions as ordering food at a restaurant, asking for directions, or requesting help if she is sick, Katie relies solely on the assistance of the Lightwriter to do her "talking" for her. Her mother explained that the ease-of-use of the Lightwriter continues to improve too. "It's gotten so much smaller and lighter since Katie Marie began using it," her mother said, "it's no longer the big bulky piece of equipment that it use to be."

Katie Marie is also very ambitious. Her part-time job at Pizza Hut allows her to earn extra money, but not enough to be able to afford expensive assistive technology. She is thrilled that The Eric Fund will help her to achieve this goal, so that she may be able to live, work and play independently after she graduates from community college.

Three-year-old Austin Ruby will be ramping up to get around in his community with a wheelchair ramp provided to him by The Eric Fund. 

Austin, who has a severely involved disability due to a brain hemorrhage at birth that limits his motor skills and causes him to be fed through a feeding tube, attends Fairfax Villa elementary three mornings a week where he receives physical, visual and speech therapy and companionship from his school friends.  The Eric Fund is please to grant Austin and his parents, Jennifer and Keith, the funds to purchase a wheelchair ramp for their minivan and the tie downs and floor tracking to secure Austin’s wheelchair inside the vehicle. The van accommodations while vital, were impossible for the Rubys to afford on their single income while supporting a family of four. 

This assistive device will ensure that Austin can continue his journeys out into the larger world and will help him be a part of rather than apart from the community as he grows.

John Robert May, 42, of Silver Spring, Maryland, will soon be writing away on a new computer with voice recognition software, both provided by The Eric Fund.

John, who has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and uses a wheelchair, is looking forward to using the computer to start a business and write a book.  Before he was diagnosed with MS, John had a 20-year career as a hairstylist, specializing in coloring. John’s disability has made it difficult for him to work.  

The new computer and software will help John achieve one of his life-long goals of writing a book.  John said he has had many interesting life experiences that he would like to document. The voice recognition software will be particularly helpful because he is unable to type.  John hopes the book becomes a success so he one day open his own hair salon. 

Payman Jazini, 24, of Rockville, Maryland, will be improving his communication skills in 2005 with a library of assistive technology CDs that will help him not only communicate more effectively with his E-Talk augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device, but will also help Payman to develop English as a second language to his native Persian. 
     
When Payman was in the 8th grade, a car accident during a visit to Iran left him with physical disabilities and a traumatic brain injury, mostly to the speech area of his brain. After 20 surgeries, Payman no longer uses a wheelchair, but it able to walk with a cane. In addition to relearning words and how to communicate, Payman is also relearning words in English. 

The new CDs provided by The Eric Fund will help Payman better master the English language so he can begin pre-vocational training that will hopefully result in job placement and allow him to study independently at home with only moderate assistance from his family. 
     
Payman and his family were thrilled at the news about his grant from The Eric Fund. “(This grant is) going to make a big difference,” says Mina Mahmoudieh, Payman’s mother. “He’ll be able to better communicate with others, and that will help him to get a job and be independent.” 

When Payman is not working on his language skills and speech, he enjoys playing computer games, playing basketball, swimming, or solving math problems.