Photo: Jacob Rothschild enjoys a train engine moving across the monitor to the sound of his voice as speech pathologist Barb McKague encourages him to make sounds into the computer microphone. The computer is one of eight purchased with a grant from the Boeing Employees Good Neighbor Fund to help young children with severe speech disorders learn to talk. 
"Eeeeeeehhhaaaaaahhh!" announced 3-year-old Jacob Rothschild into the computer microphone. With a smile, he watched the animated train engine as it zigzagged across the monitor to the sound of his voice. To Jacob, making the engine move is fun. But the result is no game. Jacob is busy learning how to overcome his speech difficulties with the help of a computer purchased by a Boeing Employees Good Neighbor Fund grant.

Jacob is one of about 45 young children who receive therapy for speech disorders at the nonprofit Scottish Rite Centers for Childhood Language Disorders in Seattle and Spokane, Washington. The centers help kids with severe speech difficulties. Simply making a sound isn't possible for some when they first come into a center. Often, if these problems aren't resolved, frustration and a sense of isolation result, leading to further problems.

"Their delays are quite significant," said Mary-K McCoy, the Seattle clinic's director and speech pathologist. "It's not possible for them to participate successfully in preschool, day care, or to play with friends."

As a way to improve their services, the Seattle and Spokane Centers recently applied for and were awarded grants totaling $31,801 from the Boeing Employees Good Neighbor Fund to purchase eight computers, four printers, and language development software. "It keeps the kids practicing longer," McCoy said. "They'll keep looking at the screen while making a noise. It's incredibly reinforcing."

Pathologists use the computers as a fun way to gently prod children ages 2-8 into vocalizing. SpeechViewer III, the software purchased by the grant, provides the pathologist with hundreds of options that work interactively with the child. As the child makes a sound into the microphone, a dog opens its eyes, a cyclist rides farther down a path or, as in Jacob's case, a train engine chugs forward.

As the child progresses, the pathologist narrows the scope of what sounds will make the computer react. And, McCoy noted, the children are interested. "This is like playing for them," she said.

Previously, a movable 386 computer loaded with outdated software served three therapy rooms in Seattle. Staff had to interrupt sessions to retrieve the computer for other children to use. Boeing employee Michael Lansdaal, who volunteers his computer expertise at the center, said the new software is much more interactive.

Unlike the old version, the new software allows images and sound to work together, he said. "The kids see these wonderful computer images, and it's much more exciting for them. My son has come so far. It's incredible." Lansdaal's son received three years of speech therapy from the Seattle Center and is now attending a mainstream school. Though the computers have only been in place for a few months, McCoy thinks they already are making a difference.

Reprinted from the "October 1998 Grants" publication of the Boeing Employees Good Neighbor Fund.