Meet Josiah: Patient Success Story

Josiah, who is as silly as he is smart, began exhibiting negative behaviors because he was unable to communicate with his family, causing all-around frustration. Josiah’s mother knew she had to find a way to help her son communicate to prevent him from missing out on the world around him and to prevent the world from missing out on such a special little boy. This is when Kacie, speech therapist, entered the picture with a mission to help Josiah find his voice.

As is the case with most pediatric therapy focused on individualized care, finding the right therapeutic technique was a bit of trial and error. With Kacie’s knowledge and skills, Josiah’s mom’s consistency and advocacy, and Josiah’s hard work and determination, they made an unstoppable team! Josiah responded best to child-led activities involving puzzles and toy animals, which helped him learn to make verbal requests and combine words into short sentences. Kacie introduced an AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) device to support Josiah’s expressive communication skills due to difficulty understanding his verbalizations, limited vocabulary, and of course, Josiah’s high interest in electronics.

Over the last few months, Josiah began having absence seizures causing him to become lethargic and unresponsive to auditory or visual stimuli. One of these seizures occurred at school, and he was unable to verbally express what was happening to his teachers. Thanks to Kacie, Josiah was prepared and able to use his AAC device without prompting to get the help he needed. He is now effectively able to communicate verbally and using his AAC device at home and school. Josiah has new goal to be able to communicate on community outings, specifically, like a true Texan, his goal is to order a “What Burger”!