By Denise Jewell Gee
The Buffalo News (New York)
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — A yellow helmet slipped off his head, and a firefighter’s coat reached past his knees Thursday as 11-year-old Matthew Dotts climbed aboard Engine No. 3 at the Ontario Avenue Fire Hall.
Matthew didn’t say much. Somewhere between his brain and his mouth, the words got lost.
But his smile was unmistakable.
This day, his parents said, was the happiest of Matthew’s young life.
“It’s always been the dream of his life to be a fireman,” said Matthew’s mother, Barbara Dotts. “When you have a special needs child, you never know whether or not their dreams will come true.”
Matthew has severe developmental apraxia, a neurological disorder that limits his ability to form words and hinders his motor skills. From age 3 — long before he could say simple things like “yes” or “three” — he has loved anything to do with firefighting.
Thursday, the Niagara Falls Fire Department made Matthew an honorary fireman and took him for a spin on a shiny red engine.
It was a rare treat — both for Matthew and the firefighters, said Fire Chief William D. MacKay.
MacKay and Leigh Colangelo, Niagara Cerebral Palsy service coordinator, arranged to let Matthew follow in the footsteps of his grandfather Robert Johnson, who retired from the Falls Fire Department as a captain 20 years ago and was there for his grandson’s big day.
Johnson had tears in his eyes as Matthew prepared for his ride.
“The firefighters’ extended family always continues with you,” MacKay said. “The Fire Department really has no boundaries as far as its family goes.”
Matthew has two adult cousins, Firefighter David Barr and Fire Investigator Lance Gornbein, who currently work for the Fire Department. The family ties have fueled his love for firefighters.
Nearly every day, his mother said, Matthew rounds up his bag of fire engines at home and dresses up in pretend fire gear. He watches old reruns of the 1970s television program “Emergency!” again and again, and he calls everybody Roy and Johnny after the show’s main characters.
Matthew was an easygoing baby, but his parents, Falls residents Barbara and Jim Dotts, began to worry when their only son couldn’t walk or talk by the age of 18 months.
After a series of tests, he was diagnosed with apraxia. Colangelo described Matthew’s words as being “trapped” within him despite knowing what he wants to say.
“The brain tells the body to talk, but somewhere along the way it gets transmuted,” Barbara Dotts said.
Matthew, who has bright brown eyes and dark brown hair, is learning to use a keyboard and communication device to spell out words. His mother said he stumbles sometimes on short words but has already learned to spell “battalion” and “captain.”
“He has progressed in so many ways,” Colangelo said.
All day Wednesday, Matthew repeated the words “one more” — his way of expressing his excitement for the following day.
“He’s been counting the days,” Johnson said. “This is his life right here. This is the pinnacle.”
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