Businessman Gives Kindergartner the Gift of a Voice for Christmas


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WEST HAVEN, Utah (AP) -- Thanks to the generosity of an Ogden businessman, five-year-old Rulon Patterson's Christmas wish has come true.

Jeff Clark was at the Christmas Tree Jubilee benefit in Ogden last month when he saw a note as part of the benefit auction.

It read: "All I want for Christmas is a voice."

Rulon has verbal apraxia, a disorder in which a person has trouble speaking because the brain's message to communicate is somehow not interpreted by the muscles involved in speech.

Clark was touched by Rulon's note and purchased a communication device for the boy and presented it to him at his school last week.

After he saw Rulon use the device to speak he donated 30-thousand dollars to the Weber County school district so it can buy several more.

Rulon and his parents call Clark their angel.

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Information from: Standard-Examiner, http://www.standard.net

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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