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Beth Anne Luciani
Beth Anne is 30 and has cerebral palsy. She is unable to walk or talk, and
can easily be spotted in a crowd in her famous pink wheelchair! For over
twenty years, she has had different forms of augmentative communication devices.
For fourteen years, she used a DynaVox to speak. In October 2008, she got
a new device made by Words+. The Conversa is an actual tablet computer
that was modeled around Beth Anne to fit her needs with speaking and writing.
She is thrilled with the Conversa because she feels it is the best device for
her.
For sixteen years, Beth Anne went to The Day School at
The Children's Institute. It will always be her second home, as she holds
so many wonderful memories from there! Upon her graduation in 2000, Beth
Anne started to attend California University of Pennsylvania, where she chose to
major in Creative Writing. She started to write when she was very young
and expresses herself best in her poetry. Currently, she is a
senior and holds a 3.7 GPA.
Since she was nine, Beth Anne has given many speeches
at conferences and other various places. She has presented at the
Pittsburgh Employment Conference almost every year she has attended. Beth
Anne enjoys giving speeches because she knows she is helping people understand
about her disability and AAC. In 2006, she even presented at an
international conference for writers in Austin, Texas!
Beth Anne lives her life as any other woman her age.
She doesn't let her disability stop her from living life. In her spare
time, she enjoys going shopping; having dinner out; seeing her friends; talking
to her friends through e-mail and instant messengers; and going to concerts.
She has met four of her favorite singers! Beth Anne also likes to spend
time with her dachshund, Lily Mae Brown. Lily brings much happiness to her
life. She has written many stories and poems about Lily!
In addition to being SHOUT's Web site Manager, Beth Anne owns and maintains a
personal Web site, www.mytruesmile.com.
With the Web site, it is her goal to let people know and understand about the
person behind the disability. Beth Anne hopes people will see her true
smile after they view her Web site!
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