Have A Chat works wonders

COMUNICATION doesn’t come easily for eight- year- old Saxon Hawks, but a camp held this week is helping him and his family.

Camp Have A Chat, a program run by non- profit organisation CPL for school age children with communication disabilities was held in Townsville this week and Saxon was one of the 16 children who attended.

Saxon’s mother Mellisa Hawks said she would like to see Saxon out and communicating with other kids his age, not staying at home.

“I kept hearing about Camp Have a Chat and seeing families post about it on Facebook and thought we should go, ” she said.

It is the third year the camp has been held in Townsville with allied health professionals working with the children and their families to improve their communication skills, with former Cowboys player Matt Bowen lending some extra star power to the event.

The children learnt how to use communication systems, including speech generating devices, tablets with communication apps and books.

Program and allied health manager Rebecca Daniloff said the camp was a great chance for children and their families to get hands on and learn how to use speech generating devices.

“Most people find that even though they are coming for the equipment, it’s really about friendship, networking and support that we see getting stronger and stronger,” she said.

“Families need to come along because it’s all about communication and supporting the camper’s family to continue on with that learning.”