How Rady Children’s Helped Remi Connect With the World
Eight-year-old Remilia “Remi” Massella has always had plenty to say.
Born with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen around the time of birth, Remi was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Throughout her life, she has worked hard to connect with the people around her. Today, with the support of her family and speech therapy at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, she’s finding new ways to share her thoughts, personality and sense of humor with the world. 
“Remi is joy embodied,” says her mom, Kirsten. “She loves to laugh, make people smile and be part of the conversation.”
Remi receives care from several specialties at Rady Children’s, including rehabilitation medicine, neurology, gastroenterology and nutrition. She is followed closely by Susan Biffl, MD, in rehabilitation medicine, Soma Kumar, MD, in gastroenterology, Hannah Oppenheim, MD, in neurology and several nurse practitioners in nutrition. But some of her favorite visits are with SaraLi, her speech-language pathologist.
Remi attends weekly speech therapy sessions at Rady Children’s, where she is learning to use an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device. The device uses eye-gaze technology, allowing her to select words and phrases with her eyes and communicate independently.
Although Remi has used AAC since she was a toddler, receiving her own eye-gaze device at the end of 2025 was a turning point.
“She can express her feelings, wants and needs, and her ability to communicate keeps growing every week,” says Kirsten. “We lovingly call her ‘Chatty Kathy’ because she has so much to say these days.”
Since beginning therapy at Rady Children’s, Remi has progressed from using single words and symbols to creating sentences, asking questions and carrying on conversations. She now introduces herself to new people, tells jokes and even stops people in the hallway to chat.
“Remi has impressed me from day one,” says her speech-language pathologist, SaraLi. “She is eager to learn and so engaged during our sessions. Every week she makes meaningful progress.”
For Remi and her family, some of the biggest victories happen during everyday moments.
She can now join family dinner conversations, tell jokes to friends and cousins, and have back-and-forth conversations with her brothers.
“Watching her relationships with her brothers grow has been one of my favorite things as a mom,” says Kirsten. “They get to hear more of what she’s thinking, and she gets to be a more active part of those relationships.”
SaraLi says AAC has helped Remi become a stronger self-advocate.
“She can tell people to wait if she needs time to type her thoughts, say ‘no’ when she doesn’t want to do something, and even engage in a little friendly trash talk while playing games with family and friends,” she says.
When she’s not at therapy, Remi enjoys spending time outdoors, FaceTiming with friends and family, playing video games and competing in adaptive sled hockey with the San Diego Jr. Ducks.
Kirsten hopes Remi’s story encourages other families to keep believing in their children and advocating for what they need.
“It’s not silly to have big dreams for your kids, even when the world doesn’t always see their potential,” she says. “Never stop advocating for them.”
Whether she’s playing sled hockey, spending time with friends or telling jokes on her AAC device, Remi is showing what’s possible when children are given the tools and support they need to communicate.
And as her family will tell you, she has a lot to say.