Roberta, Tyler’s mom, can’t talk about her son without welling up with tears. Tyler has had many struggles in his young life including two open heart surgeries. Partial DiGeorge syndrome has affected his heart, immune system, fine motor ability, and learning. Before starting kindergarten at Word of Life Lutheran school, Tyler needed a lot of help. All of this sounds like the beginning of a really sad story, but Tyler’s is one of triumph.

Tyler loves to read, laugh, and make jokes with friends. He can often be heard telling his resource teacher, “You’re gonna tell my mom I did this myself, right?” Tyler is proud of the work he does and eager to share what he has learned with others. Partnership with LASE has made it possible for Tyler to be a part of the Word of Life family.

Roberta says, “I want people to know how hard Tyler works. It is a relief to see how far he has come since he started at Word of Life. (The LASE staff) has made it possible for him to learn with the friends he has made here. They help the other teachers understand how Tyler works.”

For children who are challenged by writing, the task of composing an essay can seem daunting.  Thanks to new software used by LASE, children with writing disabilities can learn to construct stories that include varied sentence structures, a wide range of vocabulary words, and interesting content. Story Book Weaver software is an innovative program that encourages students to personalize each essay by adding colorful characters, outrageous settings, and even sound effects. Austin is a 6^th grader at Atonement who uses Story Book Weaver as he learns to write paragraphs with Mrs. Carol Lima, LASE Speech and Language Pathologist, and Mrs. Kim Paquette, LASE Resource Teacher.  His mother, Nicole, is thrilled to follow his progress in writing with this new software.  Recently, Austin used Story Book Weaver to independently write a clever story about Gila monsters.  He accomplished the goal of using lengthy sentences and specific vocabulary words in descriptive fashion.  Austin is delighted to share excerpts from his essay with you:

The Gila monster emerged from the desert.  The man pulled out his binoculars to see what the Gila monster was doing.  The Gila monster was stashing his food.  The lizard came to the man and the man ran away.  He told the guys at work what he had seen.  They did not believe him.  The man cringed and was exasperated at them.  He showed them were he had seen the lizard.  One of the guys was mesmerizing the lizard.  The man was legendary. Way to go, Austin the Author!