Sponsored Silence Event

The “Sponsored Silence Event” at Wright State University men’s basketball game Saturday, January 30, was a big success. One hundred and seventeen tickets were sold to Dayton Children’s staff, friends and family with a portion of the proceeds coming to Dayton Children’s. Patients from the rehabilitative services department who use alternative/augmentative communication devices (speech generating devices) were highlighted at the game. The game began with Sara Pyszka, a senior at Wright State who has cerebral palsy and uses a computerized voice output system to communicate, sang the national anthem with her DynaVox. This was followed by a thunderous round of applause!

During the game, Wally B. Bear entertained children in the Kid’s Zone area and used a similar device from the Prentke Romich Company to communicate and teach kids about augmentative communication. Holly Pendleton, RN, director of general pediatrics and Gregory Ramey, PhD, child psychologist and vice president for outpatient services also volunteered to use devices to communicate during the game without actually talking. The final highlight of the event occurred after half time when they played a video of Hope Smith and Neal Lain, patients at Dayton Children’s. Both Neal and Hope attended the game along with many other families and Dayton Children’s staff members.

Thank you to everyone who helped with this amazing event - especially our incredible patients!