Adrian Found His Voice Because of You

When Adrian Preciado, 5, from Bell Gardens, California, visited the Rainbow Children’s Center in February 2024 for a speech and language evaluation, he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

Adrian was nonverbal. He understood the world around him but had no way to express himself. That changed when pediatric speech-language pathologist Tracy Coleite introduced him to Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC).

Coleite has been with the Adventist Health White Memorial for 13 years, helping young people improve how they speak and communicate. With the help of an AAC program on his iPad, Coleite taught Adrian how to tap buttons that translated his thoughts into spoken messages. Today, using AAC, Adrian communicates in short sentences and plays games.

Adrian Preciado with his parents, sitting at Adventist Health White Memorial Aracelia Preciado, Adrian Salas Jr. and Adrian Salas Sr. at Adventist Health White Memorial.

Even more remarkable, he has started using his own voice to create word approximations and gestures to communicate with his family, friends and teachers.

Adrian’s mom, Arcelia Preciado, shared, “Our experience here at [Adventist Health] White Memorial has been amazing! I am very grateful for the entire team at the pediatric rehab center. I am very grateful for Ms. Tracy for her kind heart and skills she has taught my son Adrian and myself to help Adrian’s speech journey progress over the months. I am very proud of Adrian; every day he continues to pronounce words verbally.” -Arcelia Preciado

Your support helped Adrian find his voice and gave him a way to share his unique world with his family and friends. Thank you for making this grateful journey possible and helping us continue expand access to care to more people like Adrian in the Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles and Montebello communities. Your ongoing support is vital to our success in keeping families healthy and our community strong. Be a force for good by helping spread the message of giving. Give today.