Elkmont, Ala. – There may have been a time when Jennifer Cech did not think she would be able to brag “how incredibly talented” her daughter is. When Katie was born, doctors told John and Jennifer Cech that she had infantile autism, a condition that can cause poorly developed communication skills, abnormality in speech pattern, inability to sustain aconversation, inability to make friends and tantrum-like behavior when the child’s routine is disrupted.
Katie’s condition was not that severe. She remembers having trouble memorizing, and she is almost completely deaf.
“I have hearing aids now,” the 11-year-old Elkmont High School
sixth-grader said. “I’m outgrowing the problems I had learning.”
She has more than outgrown them. She has surpassed her problems. On
Thursday, Katie’s teacher, Matt Stockman, notified her that she placed in
the top 10 nationwide in an inventor’s challenge.
Katie designed a walking stick that can growl and provide light. The
top of the stick has an animal’s head, such as a wolf.
“His growl can scare animals away, and the light helps you see if it
gets dark,” she said.
She got the idea from a magazine picture of a staff with an animal’s
head on it. On her entry form she wrote this explanation for her
invention:
“Imagine yourself deep in the dark woods and the sun is beginning to set.
You forgot your flashlight and the matches you packed in your backpack are
wet and soggy. How will you find your way back to camp or to your cabin?
This lighted walking stick is the perfect answer.
“A molded resin animal head in your choice of characters sits on top
of a 2-inch diameter staff. Just below that animal head, a fabric-covered
hand grip provides a comfortable place to grasp your walking stick during
your long hikes. Light shines through inserted plastic shapes that have
been carefully molded into the body of the staff. A button at the throat of the
animal can be pressed to make an animal sound like a horse snort, the
growl of a wolfhound or the deep grunt of a deer. A night-light-sized bulb
provides the light for the walking stick and is powered by two C cell
batteries, which are purchased separately from the walking stick.”
Katie also drew her creation.
“I started drawing when I was 5,” she said. “I like to draw half
humans, half dogs.”
By placing in the top 10, she won toys from the company that hosted
the contest, Wild Planet, and a chance to be a child consultant to Wild
Planet for a year.
Katie said she enjoys science and art, but she would like to have a
job where she can care for animals. Near her wooded Elkmont home, she
often finds abandoned dogs and cats. She has a Shiatsu named Max and three cats named Erwin, Aggie and Snickers.
Her family locates homes for some of the animals that she finds.
When the animals are too sick, her mother takes them to a veterinarian to be
put to sleep.
“It’s really sad when we do that,” Katie said. “I try to leave food
out for the ones that are OK.”
She has never been bitten and believes that’s because animals trust
her.
“I like to come up with names for them from movies I watch,” she
said.
Her mother couldn’t be happier that her daughter has so many
interests.
“I’m so proud of her,” Jennifer Cech said. “She’s done so well, and
she doesn’t mind telling you about it. She gets excited and will just talk
and talk.”
Katie admits she’s been “jumpy and smiling” since Stockman told her
that she won. With Katie planning to enter more art and science contests,
she’ll probably have plenty to talk about.