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Cultivating Anchored Community PUBLISHER
MARLIN MILLER KEVIN BILLE
GENERAL MANAGER
SUE WENGERD
SENIOR EDITOR
PHIL BARKMAN
COPY EDITOR
MATT YODER
ACCOUNT MANAGER GRAPHIC ARTIST
ISAAC HERSHBERGER SETH YODER
GRAPHIC ARTIST PHOTOGRAPHER CUSTOMER SERVICE CUSTOMER SERVICE
LANDON TROYER BETHANY TROYER JANELLA SCHLABACH
KAREN RABER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
DR. GORDON WILSON
CONTRIBUTING WRITER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
FERREE HARDY
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
NORITA YODER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
TORRY MARTIN & DOUG PETERSON
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
DR. TERESA HOXWORTH
JUNE AD SALES DEADLINE
MAY 5, 2020
Plain Values is published monthly by Room to Bloom. Room to Bloom is a nonprofit, tax-exempt Section 501(c)(3) organization. Please contact us with any questions regarding Plain Values.
PO Box 201/2106 Main Street, Winesburg, OH 44690 Phone: (844) 260-4578 | Fax: (330) 601-4099 www.plainvalues.com | reachout@plainvalues.com
THE FORMALITIES This publication and its contents are © 2020, Room to Bloom. Individual copyrighted items, trademarks, etc. contained within are the property of their respective copyright holders. No part of this publication may be reproduced or redistributed by any means without authorization from the publisher. Publisher is not responsible for advertisers’ offers, products, or services, and publication neither expresses or implies an endorsement.
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CONTENTS OHIO
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ISSUE 83
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M AY 2 0 2 0
MESSAGE FROM THE PUBLISHER
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RIVER ROCK GARDEN MARKERS
// 40
A fun and practical way to mark your plants in the garden this year! Children and adults alike will enjoy this spring-time craft.
WALKING CATHEDRALS
// 45
You don’t have to travel to Paris to see one of the world’s greatest cathedrals. If you look carefully, one may be walking around in your own backyard.
WE ARE NOT HOME YET
// 54
Home is one of the dearest words in any language. It’s that one place where we belong. No need to knock.
FUNDS AND BENEFITS
Every month we provide a listing of opportunities to help out those in need. Pray for them, and support them financially if you feel led to do so.
THE GIFT OF WORDS // 13
NEW COLUMN - GOOD STUFF!
Bella’s story is one of thousands, but it lends a glimpse of how the gift of words has impacted each of those lives. Bella and her parents hope her story will inspire others with disabilities and provide them with the same opportunity.
HOMESTEAD FURNITURE // 35
// 84
// 89
A brand new column from our General Manager, Kevin Bille. Every month this column will be filled with bits of wisdom that life has taught him.
IN THE HOME OF FELIX MANZ'S MOTHER // 63
THE BEAR REMOVAL TEAM
// 70
TAIL DOCKING AND DEWCLAW REMOVAL
ON THE COVER
INDEX OF ADVERTISERS
AAC devices, like the one shown in this photo, are being used to give a voice to the voiceless.
Every advertiser in this issue of Plain Values can be found here, along with the page their ad is on.
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MESSAGE from the
PUBLISHER words by: MARLIN MILLER One day in the first year of my wife’s teaching
He wants to make his thoughts and preferences known,
career, one of her students entered her classroom, and
but you will have to work to understand him through
excitedly began to share about her afternoon plans.
sign language, grunts, and word approximations,
“Mrs. Miller, today I am going with my mom to go
mostly made up of vowel sounds. Kind and gentle with
see Stanley Steels.”
no judgment, he patiently shows us what he wants or
“Oh, wow!” Lisa responded. “That sounds like fun.
needs by pointing to his communication chart, or waits
Who is Stanley Steels?”
for us to ask him a list of “yes” and “no”
The student’s eyes grew round
questions since those are two words of
with disbelief, and she replied, “You
the dozen he is able to say clearly.
don’t know Stanley Steels?” She shared
Many of us take our ability to
a look of amusement with a few other
communicate for granted and are
students who were nearby.
easily able to share our thoughts,
Lisa thought for a moment and
ideas, needs, or wants. When a portion
said, “No, I don’t.”
of the message gets tangled, such
The student said in awe, “Well,
as the case with Stanley Steels, we
what do you cook with then?”
struggle to make our points or the
Totally confused, Lisa said, “I use
connections we are aiming for, and it
my pots and pans.”
can cause confusion. Most of us have
“That’s Stanley Steels!” the student
probably never tried even to imagine
exclaimed with a smile and went on
what it’s like to communicate using a
with her morning work.
method other than speaking when, in
As Lisa shared the story with me later in the
reality, there are many different ways to connect with
evening, she told me she had quietly laughed to herself
one another.
as she realized “Stanley Steels” was indeed one and the
Our feature story this month spotlights an
same as her “stainless steel” cookware.
incredible tool that provides a way for individuals with
Our seven-year-old son, Bennett, is one of the
special needs to make their voices heard. As always, may you find joy in the simple things. //
sweetest little boys you will ever have the chance to meet.
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© TED STEVENS, AKRON CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL. USED BY PERMISSION.
FEATURE STORY
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
GOD OF WONDERS
WIDOW'S PATH
OUR HERITAGE
GREAT OUTDOORS
CANINE CORNER
GIFT WORDS the
of
words by: KAREN RABER
Imagine for a moment that you are six years old. You long for a pet dog, love french-fries, and like Berenstain Bear books. But you are stuck with a significant problem: you can’t talk. No one knows your preferences; in fact, your family isn’t sure you have preferences or if you can even process thoughts because you never say any words or nod your head. Now it’s your seventh birthday, and your family has planned something special. You feel excitement as you travel toward your favorite restaurant, but… they turn in at Spaghetti Warehouse. “Can’t we please get some fries at McDonalds?” you want to say, but your tongue won’t formulate the words. After dinner, you arrive back home, and Mother says, “Now here’s the real surprise!” Daddy is holding a round bowl in which
BELLA YODER WITH HER SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST AT AKRON CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
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the proverbial gold fish is swimming laps about the perimeter. “Its name is Goldie!” announces your sister. “Isn’t it pretty?” Well… Goldie is alright, but you had wanted a dog for years! You had imagined how it would jump on your lap, lick your face, and wag its tail. You had imagined how it would cock its head and look at you with understanding eyes because it couldn’t talk, either. But Goldie won’t be doing any of those things. Daddy places the bowl on the side table and chooses a story for bedtime. It’s Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss. “No, no, no, Daddy,” you wail inwardly, “Don’t you understand I’m past that level? I want you to read The Berenstain Bears Love Their Neighbors!” You feel trapped inside an uncooperative body as you listen to Hop on Pop for the one-hundredth time. Then Mother tucks you into bed and kisses you. At that moment, you wish more than anything that you could tell her how much you love her. The frustration of it all causes tears to trickle down your cheeks, making poor Mother worry. “Oh dear, you must be sick!” Okay, let’s stop imagining. Most of us reading this article aren’t six, and most of our tongues can formulate words. We feel understood. But this frustrating scenario may provide us with a glimpse of how life feels for children who are, indeed, trapped inside an uncooperative body. For them, the blessing of being understood is only a dream. How do you suppose a nonverbal child would feel if someone introduced them to a device that could talk for them? Wildly excited, maybe? Well, here’s the good news: a company named PRC-Saltillo has been making these dreams an exciting reality for children and adults for over fifty years! PRC-Saltillo is a company that started out small, but because its founders had a great vision, it has grown into a phenomenal worldwide organization, giving a voice to 50,000 individuals annually. Ed Prentke, who worked at a local hospital, and Barry Romich, an engineering student at Case Western University, established it in 1969 as The Prentke Romich Company (PRC). Because they both had the vision to help individuals with disabilities, they combined their talents and set up business in Romich’s basement. They worked to create assistive technology
PRC CONSULTANT LaCONDA ROSS AND DEVICE USER BETO WITH HIS ACCENT 1400 ©2020 PRC-SALTILLO. USED BY PERMISSION. PLAIN VALUES
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primarily for those with spinal-cord injuries. At the time, the goal was to enable individuals to do things such as operate light switches and answer a telephone. Soon, however, the focus of PRC shifted from general assistive technology to communication. Technology was moving toward synthesized speech and computers, and the company worked toward communication solutions for people with severe physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy and ALS. The enterprise grew and was moved to Shreve. At this time, a young teenager who would play a vital role in the future of PRC began his employment there. Dave Hershberger was sixteen and a sophomore in high school, but because of his family situation, he contemplated dropping out of school and acquiring a full-time job. Fortunately, Dave had a guidance counsellor who didn’t think that was a good idea. Knowing that Dave enjoyed working with electronics and technology, he arranged for him to work half-days at PRC while attending school. Dave loved working with technology, and he remembers the time clearly when he realized that this particular field was where he wanted to work for the
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rest of his life. The company had been working on a project for several years, and finally, it was time to test their technology with several clients from Houston. One of these clients had cerebral palsy, and another had sustained severe head injuries. It was the first time Dave interacted with the clients using the technology he had helped to create. After seeing the difference AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) made for these individuals, Dave realized he could never find anything else that would give him the same satisfaction. By 1995, Dave was in charge of engineering and longed to work with a broader spectrum of individuals. The devices they had at the time were sophisticated and quite effective, but only for a specific population. Dave saw that there were others who had language or cognitive barriers such as autism or Down syndrome and was interested in bringing them into the AAC family. At the time, PRC was unable to work toward that goal, so Dave formed the Saltillo Corporation in 1996. Saltillo operated independently until 2007 when the companies rejoined at PRC’s current location in Wooster. When Dave became the CEO in 2018, the two companies were merged with the name PRC-Saltillo. PRC-Saltillo is excited about the interest in AAC spreading
across
the
world
through
technology
information sharing. They now have offices across the United States, and also in the UK, Canada, Germany, and Australia, and are providing products to several other countries that have organizations wanting to work with PRC-Saltillo. Because they have devices in English, Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, French, German, and Dutch, thousands of people across the world are speaking for themselves and being understood! And now, it’s time we
©2020 PRC-SALTILLO. USED BY PERMISSION.
meet Bella, one of PRC-Saltillo’s enthusiastic fans! Bella
PRC USER SEAN USING HIS
Yoder is ten years old, sweet, sassy, and loves words. Like
ACCENT 1400 TO COMMUNICATE
any typical ten-year-old, Bella loves to talk. Talking for Bella, however, is anything but typical! To communicate her opinions and thoughts, she uses her AAC device, which looks like an iPad but has been custom built by PRC-Saltillo to provide the access options Bella needs. To speak, Bella must first choose a group of organized words in her AAC device with the switch mounted on her wheelchair. The device reads the words to her through a small speaker beside her ear. She must then, with a series of taps to her switch, choose the words she wants. The device then speaks the words audibly, so that those with her can understand what she wishes to say. 17
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A YOUNG MAN USING HIS AAC DEVICE TO COMMUNICATE IN SCHOOL
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