|
This proposal is for six iPads for children to use during an Alternative and Augmentative Communication learning group and one app license for Proloquo2go per iPad (please see attached document for cost breakdown). The iPads would be owned by Marshall Public Library in Pocatello.
Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) devices are technology tools for people who cannot speak. AAC devices enable people to communicate by selecting images from hundreds or even thousands of choices. Currently, our local school district uses a low-tech version of AAC with children choosing from a selection of 3-5 paper flashcards to express what they want. For many non-verbal children in our area, this is their only option.
The apps for AAC devices, however, have hundreds and hundreds of pictures for children to choose from. This means that children can be very specific about what they are saying, and they can also create their own sentences and have conversations with each other and verbal people. It eases their frustration levels as they can communicate specifically and spontaneously, and it also increases their interaction with verbal family and friends.
This grant application is for the purchase of iPads and software to start a learning group for six children to learn to use AAC devices. The children would be identified and selected for participation by local speech therapists. This group would be structured like a traditional library storytime with storytelling, conversation, music, and dancing led by a speech therapist. As with traditional storytimes, each of these activities would help the children, caregivers, and families develop literacy and communication skills.
A committee of 6-12 people from the Rotary Club of Pocatello would manage this grant. The committee's responsibility would include prepping the iPads, including downloading the software and fixing Rotary emblems to the iPads, and attending a class to learn how to use the software. This class would be taught by Camille Ashcraft, a local woman who spoke to the Rotary Club of Pocatello earlier this year about her daughter using an AAC device.
The committee's responsibility would also include organizing and publicizing a kick-off event at the public library for the children, parents, all Rotarians, and local media. The children would take the iPads home after the kick-off and return to the library with them for weekly learning groups for six months. At the end of the six months, Rotarians would again host a special event with the children and families to communicate with the children and see how far they have come. To strengthen the Rotary club's connection with Marshall Public Library and the Pocatello community, the club members would also volunteer at a second special event to read to children; this event would be for both verbal and nonverbal children so both books and AAC devices would be used.
Part of the goal of this project is to help nearby communities create similar programs for their own communities. To accomplish this, Ashcraft, a member of the Rotary Club of Pocatello, and a librarian from Marshall Public Library would visit Rotary clubs and public libraries in surrounding towns to share information and demonstrate how AAC devices work. The iPads would also be made available for libraries in these communities to checkout from Marshall Public Library.
| 
