Cramer nominated for NSLHA representative |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Apr 15 2009 at 3:28 PM |
Photo by Chelsea Archer
Marti Cramer pauses from playing with her doll to listen to Swink give her instructions. Some of her favorite games include "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Chutes and Ladders."
By Chelsea Archer
Antelope Staff
"Shh, shh, shh," said 11-year-old Marti Cramer as she walks around the small room. She stops in front of a small picture of seashells. "Shh, shh, shh," she and her clinician, Janessa Swink, said together while holding a mirror in front of her client's mouth. "Shh, shh, shells," they said.
Marti pulls the small picture off the wall. "Shh, shh, shh," she said with her index finger pressed to her lips as she searches the room for the next picture.
"This week, we were playing 'Shh and Seek,'" said Janessa Swink, a senior communication disorders major from Imperial. "Each week I come up with a new game for Marti to keep her attention. She'll let me know if she's getting bored with it."
Marti, a fifth grader from Central Elementary and daughter of UNK communication lecturer L. Jake Jacobsen, has been working with clinicians from the University of Nebraska at Kearney Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic for more than seven years. This month, she was nominated as the Better Hearing and Speech Month Representative.
"In conjunction with May as Better Hearing and Speech Month sponsored by our national organization, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, our state association, the Nebraska Speech-Language-Hearing Association, solicits nominees for state recognition," said Mary Kommers, UNK Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic coordinator.
Although Marti was not selected as the nominee for the entire state, she is definitely a winner at the UNK facility, in part because she feels like a winner. Kommers said Marti is indeed "a great representative of what is possible in spite of obstacles to positively communicate to those around her and be a proponent for our services rather the state contest."
Marti is a small girl with a mischievous grin and a dynamic personality whose favorite colors are pink and purple. She is like every other fifth grader whose favorite part of school is lunch, especially if it is spaghetti.
What sets her apart from her peers has affected her since birth. Marti has Down syndrome, congenital heart disease, lung disease and a low immune system. "We're very lucky she's alive," said her mother.
Within the last three to four years, Marti has also lost all of her hair from a genetic disease called alopecia areata.
"It broke my heart when her hair fell out," Jacobsen said, "It was so long when she was younger."
Marti now wears a wig donated from Locks of Love - sometimes. "Some days she wears it, other days she doesn't want to put it on," Jacobsen said while smiling. "She has that kind of self-esteem and it's amazing."
Just two days after birth, Marti was taken to her first speech therapy. Her parents would massage the muscles in her jaw to encourage proper swallowing. She was fluent first in American Sign Language, but "as soon as she learns a word in English, she stops signing it," Jacobsen said.
Once Marti was four years old, she began to attend the UNK Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic twice a week in one-hour sessions.
"For years, we worked on two to three words in a sentence," Jacobsen said. Her sentences began with the simplicity of, "me want cookie," and have since then grown to, "may I have a cookie, please?"
Marti has gone to the clinic year round since then. "If you cannot communicate to others effectively, your world becomes small," Jacobsen said. "I want her to talk well enough so her peers can understand her and so she may be a productive member in society and give back."
Each night, Marti is reinforced with the lessons she learns during the day. "We do flash cards and read to her every day. She loves books," Jacobsen said. "She wants to sit down and read a book, and we're working on it."
Jacobsen is quick to express her gratitude to those who have worked with her daughter. "They walk on water, they're so good with her," she said.
At the clinic, Marti plays different games throughout her session. "We usually do something with counting and work on a certain sound," said Swink, Cramer's clinician. Cramer's favorite games include "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Chutes and Ladders."
According to Swink, she plans several games each session. After each game is finished, Marti moves the picture that symbolizes a game and places it on a Velcro strip to keep her on task.
"She is so much fun and has so much energy, you'll never know what she'll say or do," Swink said when referring to Marti. "She's very personable and melts your heart."
According to Jacobsen, her daughter has helped her learn how to teach better. "We are all from different worlds. To be understanding of that and to teach from a new perspective makes us all aware that human life is important, and it touches everyone else."
