Autism Association 2024 Annual Report

Kooper’s Story

Over the past few years, Kooper and her family have joined our Regional Intensive Holiday Program, travelling from their hometown in the Pilbara to visit Perth each January. Throughout the year, Kooper continues to meet with her Speech Pathologist via teletherapy to work on communication and personal goals. Kooper enjoys using an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device which she calls her ‘talker,’ to help her to communicate and interact with others. This year, Kooper’s Mum Carol, her therapist, and her teachers worked together to support Kooper to feel more comfortable using her talker at school. To explain what Autism means to her, Kooper did a presentation to her class. In the lead up to the presentation, the class learnt about different forms of communication and how these look different for everyone. Kooper planned and recorded her presentation in advance with her mum, and then played the video to her class. Following the presentation, she answered questions with her talker, and her classmates completed an activity using visual communication boards to play Simon Says together. Since this presentation, Kooper has felt more comfortable and confident using her talker at home, at school, and out and about to communicate with her peers. Marcella, Kooper’s therapist, says, “It’s been wonderful to witness Kooper’s growth and confidence in recent years both in person and over teletherapy.” Well done Kooper!

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