Computer Gas

This year, my son Eric received a Dynavox V speech generating device. It is awesome. Anything he wants to say can be programmed into this thing. We can program each button to speak a full sentence, a phrase or just a word. Eventually, he will be able to build words and phrases together to speak full sentences. For now, he uses buttons that say full sentences ("I played on the beach in Cuba.") and occasionally builds a couple of words into a short sentence ("I love" plus "Mommy.")



The device came pre-programmed with words and phrases for a number of situations, such as mealtime, bedtime, playtime, etc. It was very well-thought-out. But there were a few buttons that surprised me. For instance:

That's right. There is a "fart" button. And when you press it, it doesn't say "fart". It makes a fart sound. Like someone held a microphone to their butt and let one go. Very thoughtful.

I don't get it. THis is supposed to be a speech generating device, not a bodily-functions noise generating device. Under what circumstances would Eric need the computer to make that noise? Will pressing that button relieve the gas pains in his stomach? No. Farting will.

I haven't even come close to exploring the whole computer, and the fart button makes me wonder what I will find next. Is there a button that makes the sound of a turd landing in the toilet? Or one for the sound you make when you throw up in your mouth a little bit?

(Secretly, I hope so, but I just want to find them before Eric does.)