Re: Burglars Make Off With Boy’s Communication Device

[Guest guest]

Okay I will admit it is sad that this device was stolen and I know the Ms.

Duncan claims it was part of a 'routine' to put the device in the car on a night

- but please surely common (maybe not that common) sense dictates not to leave

valuables in cars. Yep I am aware that theft is wrong, but it is also sensible

to take sensible precautions against such, like not leaving valuables in cars!

>

> http://www.tylerpaper.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090502/NEWS01/905020326

>

> Posted on

> Saturday, May 02, 2009

>

> Burglars Make Off With Boy's Communication Device

>

> By KENNETH DEAN

> Staff Writer

>

> LIBERTY CITY -- The Dynavox changed Angel Duncan's son's life and the way he

communicates with his family and classmates, helping him be more social and

break free of the isolation of autism.

>

> So, when Ms. Duncan discovered car burglars had stolen her 8-year-old son's

link to the world, her heart sank.

>

> She and others in her Liberty City neighborhood discovered the rash of car

thefts Wednesday morning. The Dynavox is a computerized laptop device specially

built for Casey to help him communicate.

>

> " I just got sick, absolutely sick, " she said. Ms. Duncan said it took her four

years to save up to purchase the $8,500 device after Casey was diagnosed as

profoundly autistic -- meaning he is completely non-verbal.

>

> " It opened all kinds of windows for him and he was able to communicate with me

and others, and the kids in his class thought it was so cool that he could

talk, " she said.

>

> The device is Microsoft-based and can give users many ways to express

themselves, learn and even enjoy music.

>

> Casey only had the device for a year, but his mother, beaming with pride, said

her son could do things with it from the very first day that left her impressed.

>

> " He was able to open up so much. He is not only using it for reciprocal

language, but it gives him a way to stand out and feel more a part of everything

around him, " she said.

>

> Ms. Duncan said she placed the device in the car before she went to bed the

night before as part of a regular routine with a child with autism.

>

> " Autism is all about routine and this was part of ours. I charge the unit

every night, pack his lunch and place it in the bag and then put it all in the

car, " she said.

>

> The burglar broke into the vehicle and took the bag, which resembles a simple

laptop bag.

>

> Gregg County Sheriff's deputies are investigating the rash of burglaries and

say they have put out a description of the device to pawn shops in the area.

>

> Ms. Duncan said the person who took the device probably thought they had a

laptop.

>

> " I just hope they read this and turn it in somewhere, or a pawnshop realizes

what it is and contacts law enforcement. He is really lost without it, " she

said.

>

> Ms. Duncan said even if she orders another device, delivery would take at

least six weeks.

>

> " I wish we could just get it back. It is not about the monetary aspect of it,

but what it means to him. He has been unhappy since it was stolen. All he did

today is write on his board that he was sad, " she said.

>