FOR a 13-year-old student of Worcester's Manor Park School, a missing piece of technology has meant that her life has taken a turn for the worse.

As Ann Brant, her mother, reveals on Page 3 today, the laptop device had given the youngster, who cannot speak, the ability to "talk".

It had, she tells us, opened up a whole new world for the girl since she started using the machine in February.

We're sure readers will be able to imagine her plight now that the "lightwriter" has gone missing.

Mrs Brant thinks the gadget may have been taken by someone who mistakenly thought it was a laptop computer and is appealing for them to give it back.

It should take only a moment for whoever took the apparatus - whether accidentally or on purpose - to realise it's of no use to them.

And it should take them just one more moment to realise they need to do the right thing and give the 13-year-old back her voice.

Just pick up the phone, call Manor Park School and tell them where they can find the lightwriter. It would be a moment that could save a young girl much misery.