Leadership Montgomery County aims to help special needs community

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas -- Impaired by cerebral palsy, 13-year-old Megan Fry, a Montgomery County resident, was unable to clearly communicate to the outside world until technology opened that door. Now the 2013 Class of Leadership Montgomery County hopes to unlock that door for other special needs residents of the county through a program called BridgingApps. The class is raising funds to set up a site here in Montgomery County where special needs residents can be trained on the use of various digital tools and software.

Megan and her mother, Andi, had to make long trips three times a week into Houston to be trained on the Dynavox communication device that is now her communication portal to the world. The Leadership Montgomery County (LMC) Class of 2013 wants to establish this program locally so that other county families can connect to these services closer to home, states LMC class project team leader, Paco Rivera.

Leadership Montgomery County is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated cultivating the future leaders of Montgomery County. The goal of the program is to educate and inform class members about major community issues, while inspiring and motivating individuals to exercise their leadership skills to benefit the community. Each year’s LMC class is tasked with finding a project that will benefit the community of Montgomery County and provide lasting impact.

Rivera said the class jumped on the idea of a project that would use technology to help people with special needs after hearing of the experience of a family whose daughter is battling a neurological disorder that prevents her from communicating with the outside world. “Ever since an iPad has been introduced to her by her therapist, she has just taken to it like crazy, and is improving leaps and bounds on what she can do and learn,” said Rivera, Houston Market Manager for Green Bank in The Woodlands. “Her father said it was the best thing that had ever happened to her.”

The class agreed to tackle a project to get technology into the hands of Montgomery County residents who have special needs. After research, the class discovered “BridgingApps,” a program in Houston administered by Easter Seals.

“We contacted Easter Seals. They told us they didn’t have the resources to launch it in Montgomery County, but if somebody could help launch it they would take it over,” Rivera said. The goal of the class is to raise enough money to launch the program in Montgomery County.

The face of the program is Megan Fry, whose story is told on the class website set up to promote the project,LMC class project. In the video, Megan and her mother, Andi, describe the program and what is has meant to Megan’s life, and the life of their family. Cerebral Palsy, Andi said, cut her daughter off from the world, making it very difficult for her to communicate.

“She didn’t have a voice,” Andi said. “Her fantastic teachers could tell there was a little girl in there dying to get out. I knew this all along. It was amazing to me, because one of the first things she ever said was ‘Thank you.’’’

Megan uses a Dynavox and communications software that enables her to communicate through an electronically produced voice. She can look at the screen and by blinking can write words that the computer then speaks for her. Megan can be seen using the device in the video.

At one point in the video, Megan speaks about her experience: “I am just like you inside, but I have a computer that talks for me because I cannot speak. If I did not have a computer I would feel lost.”

There is plenty of hard work ahead to ensure other families can experience similar successes in Montgomery County. The class has planned several fundraisers to meet its goal and launch the program.

Upcoming fundraisers include a wine dinner at Crescent Moon Wine Bar on January 24, 2013 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., a golf tournament at The Palmer Course at The Woodlands Country Club on February 18, 2013 at 12:30 p.m., and a series of dine-in events at Chick-Fil-A locations in The Woodlands’ Alden Bridge Shopping Center and in Magnolia on Jan. 9, Feb. 13 and March 13, 2013, which will donate 20 percent of receipts back to the class.

“We don’t know exactly how many special needs people there are in the county, but our hope is we can get the tech lab built to the specifications we need, and we’re hoping to be able to help everybody in Montgomery County that has that need,” Rivera said.

For more information about the project and how you can help or for ticket information to events, golf sponsorships and donations email: LMCforBridgingApps@gmail.com . To make a donation online, visit the link below.

For more information about Leadership Montgomery County, go to www.lmctx.org, email Executive Director Sarah Rhea at Sarah@LMCTX.org, phone 832-248-1116.