Using my iPad2!

Using my iPad2 and my TobiiP10

On March 9th I won an iPad2 thanks to Project Mariposa from the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation. Just a week later it arrived by mail, on March 15th. It was so exciting to open up the package, and actually being able to touch it!

Saying Thank You, GSF!

Turning it on for the 1st time

Listening to how to use the iPad

Thanks to my friend Catalina I just got a mount for it this week! Now I can really use it! Today, Daddy attached the mount to my Tobii's pole so now I have my communication device and the iPad both accessible from bed and from my wheelchair. The mount is from Ram Mounts, and it rocks!

Hanging around

Mesmerized

Techno geek

Chillin' with VeggieTales

Here's the video of me opening my iPad when it arrived, and of today when I actually was able to use it. Patience paid off!



I am so excited at everything new that I will be able to learn now! Not only will this electronic tool help me for my occupational therapy goals, but it will allow me to do other stuff during my home instruction sessions. And now when I am out and about I will really have a way to communicate beyond just a blink or a frown. A simple thing can be life-changing. I am very grateful for this, and hope that all other SMA kids who still have no access to such technologies can win one soon! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, GSF!

Besides being happy for all the things that are going on in my life, I ask of all my friends and family to please send many prayers for my SMA friends Emily, Carter, Amanda, Addy and Grace who have been sick, in the hospital, or desating, and for baby Blake who gained his wings at just 4 weeks old. May God put His hand over all of them, heal the ones that are here on Earth, and hold tight the little angel that went to him today.

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For those of you who do not know:
The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation (GFS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing global awareness of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), the #1 genetic killer of young children, accelerating research focused on ending this cruel disease, and supporting families impacted by SMA and other life-altering conditions. Project Mariposa is an initiative of the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation (theGSF) with a simple mission: to make the world more accessible to those with severe disabilities through targeted technology product grants. Mariposa is butterfly in Spanish -- theGSF's signature symbol -- and like a butterfly emerging from it's cocoon, Project Mariposa will help those with disabilities to spread their wings. Project Mariposa will initially focus on granting iPads to those impacted by Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) -- 50 iPads in 50 weeks. These incredible devices, coupled with the growing application library that accompanies them, are literally life-changing in assisting with communication, education, and independence.
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