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Statewide communications materials are prepared by the Special Olympics Illinois Communications Department. Barbara DiGuido is the Director of Communications and Media Relations located in the Glen Ellyn office at 630-942-5610. Michele Henson is the Director of Communications and Publications located in the Normal office at 309-888-2573. Local Area programs also send out information to the media.
SPEAKING DEVICE GIVES ATHLETE OWN VOICE
Special Olympics Opens Up Athlete's World Too
Posted: 2008-04-23
Tommy Shimoda, 15, expresses himself through his sports and his “talker” – the machine that helps him put his thoughts into words. Even though Tommy has autism and verbal dysproxia, he is able to respond very well to training, according to his coach Lisa Mulcrone at Chicago’s Mt. Greenwood Park.
"When we’re working on gymnastics, and show him how to do something, he is always willing to try to copy what we do,” Mulcrone said. “Right now, he competes in the all-around competition at Level 1, but he’s slowly working himself up to Level 2. The all-around includes floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vaulting, parallel bars and horizontal bars.”
Barbara Shimoda, Tommy’s mother, explains that Special Olympics has always been there for her son since age 8 when it was hard for him to keep up with his peers. “Special Olympics has been a huge influence in his life,” she said. “It’s also his social network. He has become a well-rounded person as a result of the program.”
Another big influence in his life has been the addition of the VOCA (voice output communication aid) that is his communication link to the rest of the world. It has changed his life completely, according to Barbara Shimoda. “Tommy has great difficulty speaking, but with the VOCA, he can formulate sentences by using the symbol keys on the machine; then the machine speaks for him,” she said.
He was recently featured as the Special Olympics Athlete of the Month on Comcast SportsNet. With the help of his VOCA, Tommy answered questions from the reporter about the sports he plays in Special Olympics. He also brought up another sport – ice hockey – which is not a Special Olympics sport.
“I play on the Tomahawks. We played at United Center recently,” he said. In fact, the Comcast crew had videotaped part of the Tomahawks game that preceded one of the Chicago Blackhawks games. The Hawks support this ice hockey program for young players with disabilities.
Several of the Tomahawks also compete in Special Olympics speed skating, including Tommy Shimoda. “I have lots of Special Olympics medals,” he told the reporter proudly, through the VOCA. Then he broke out into a big smile that didn’t need a translator.
