About Cela Portal
CELA Portal is a site that provides access to games, servers, and activities to entertain kids who are in Children's Hospitals, those who have disabilities that require a lot of appointments, or their families. It's a lot of moving around with not much to do, you may miss your family and friends, and sometimes you have to be alone. It can be boring, painful (at times), and it's good to have distractions. This site provides additional options for patients or their siblings to play and interact with others, online, when people cannot be physically present with them. Child Life Departments are awesome and meet all of these goals, however, sometimes Child Life or other volunteers are busy helping others. CELA Portal can be another option.
Many thanks to the following...
Many thanks to the following...
- Travis Eriksen from Child's Play Charity has been amazingly helpful and supportive.
- Miranda Laramie from St. Luke's Children's Hospital in Boise for meeting with me and providing great advice.
- JJ Bouchard from CS Motts Children's Hospital for providing advice on Play events.
- Kimberly Kuehnert and Deriek Cruz from OHSU Doernbecher for meeting with me and talking about opportunities for volunteering as well as the infrastructure of hospital IT.
- Mrs. G, Mrs. Reuter, and Mr. Gaertner who were the most amazing teachers a student could have. They were the ones who would challenge me instead of thinking that since I have a disability, average is good enough. They shaped my character, encouraging me to be positive, resilient, and most importantly, they taught me how to treat and respect all people. These teachers were my greatest advocates and have become the role models for the person I want to be.
- Of course my family who puts up with me, my music, and my humor.
About Me
My name is Adam. I was born with Velopharyngeal Insufficiency (VPI) and I couldn't talk until I had surgery on my throat when I was 4. I wasn't able to be understood very well until I was in 8th grade, after a decade of speech therapy. The reason I can now be understood is due to new technology called the SmartPalate - a computerized palate that provides real-time feedback. My speech improved drastically in a month. I am understandable now. I sometimes also change words that are easier for people to understand. I spent a fair amount of time in Children's hospitals. I am now in college and thought an online server might be a good way to volunteer and help other kids.