Weatherford Special Needs Student Missing His 'Voice'
WEATHERFORD (CBSDFW.COM) – Lance Newby usually has an after-school routine.
Normally, after the 21-year-old puts away his lunch bag and the containers inside, the special needs student recharges an important electronic device called a Dynavox.
But not anymore.
The specialized touch-screen Dynavox looks like a thick, tablet computer. It's the only means Lance has to communicate to the world.
"If he wants something or needs something he will bring this picture up on the screen and it talks and it will tell you, 'may I have something to eat?' or 'is it time to go to bed yet?'" said Ted Harris, Lance's Stepfather.
"Like, when we stop at Sonic he'll use the box and put in there I want a coke, a burger or whatever," said Beverly York who's been Lance's teacher caregiver for more than a decade. "It even has a place to say cut the lettuce."
Harris said his stepson kept the product with him at all times. He had a strap for it, which kept it attached to his shoulder. Other times he hung it from his neck.
"He never did just lay it down or walk off and leave it," Harris said.
But last week at school the Dynavox -- Lance's voice -- went missing.
School faculty members think someone may have picked it up accidentally. Or even worse, it was stolen. The family said the Dynavox has absolutely no use to anyone else except Lance.
"They most likely didn't realize what it was and how essential that is in his life," York said.
"Without that box he's lost," Harris said. "He's got no way to communicate. It's not just one of those things you go down to the store and say let me have one of these! It's special."
The product costs up to $9,000 and without insurance to cover its loss at school, the device is too expensive for the family to replace.
Lance is visibly happy as he looks at the pictures of the Dynavox in the operation manual for his missing means of communication. But no one knows just how isolated he feels without it except the 21-year-old himself.
"You don't really know how he feels," Harris said with tears in his eyes. "He's got no way to tell you. Lance is just like an angel. I just want his box back for him. Because that's all he's got to talk to anybody with."
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