Caledonia — On a sunny fall day at recess, special education teacher Lexi Peters asked first-grader Miles to tell her how he was feeling.
Miles, a student with autism, approached one of two outdoor communication boards on the Emmons Lake playground. He surveyed the board and then pointed to the box with a smiling face and the word “happy.”
All five Caledonia elementary schools plus the Early Childhood Center now have communication boards on their playgrounds to help students share their feelings and identify their needs, which is especially helpful to non- and minimally verbal kids.
Each school’s board has most of the same images and words, with some specific to each playground or students’ needs at that building.
Tammy Geene, a young fives teacher at Caledonia Elementary, said she first noticed a need for a communication board when she taught at the ECC. Students who used talkers, or speech tablets for communication, couldn’t really use them at recess.
About 40 elementary and ECC students use tablets in their classrooms to communicate with their teachers and peers, according to the district.
“We saw many students without a voice come to the playground and had to leave their talker (tablet), their voice, behind in fear of breaking or leaving them on the playground,” Geene said.
After she transitioned to Caledonia Elementary, Geene said special education teachers and their students ran into the same problem.
“The tablets are their voice, and communication does not stay in the classroom,” she said. “The same way that other kids can easily access their words from their mouths, our (nonverbal and minimally verbal) kids shouldn’t have to lug around their big, bulky devices.”
Geene reached out to Project Jade, a Michigan-based nonprofit that provided communication boards at schools, parks or playgrounds that have a need. The organization helped find enough donors to cover the cost of each sign and installation. Grant funds from the Caledonia Education Foundation contributed and local developers Eastbrook Homes, North Cove Builders and Whitmore Homes provided installation.
Geene added: “Whatever we have to do to make it more accessible, that’s what we’re going to do.”
Accessible & Inclusive Communication
Caledonia Elementary special education teacher Ani Vardanian explained how the images on the playground boards are, for the most part, similar to the ones on her students’ tablets.
“Some of our students use different communication applications on their talkers, so the images on the boards may be different,” she said. “They’re smart cookies and they figure it out.”
Emmons Lake Elementary speech pathologist Katee Aubil said using talkers works “beautifully” within the classroom, but when students are outside, they need more playground-specific language.
“The boards incorporate their core words that are really important, but also words like ‘play,’ ‘up,’ ‘down’ and words for safety needs,” Aubil said. “It gives (students) the opportunity (to communicate) in an environment where they typically didn’t have communication available.”
Students can make connections between the words and visuals, which helps them learn and process language. Vardanian said the boards create a more inclusive setting on the playgrounds for all students.
Geene said the boards are also more inclusive for families and substitute teachers, for whom technology presents a learning curve.
“Since we had (the boards) installed, students are able to advocate for themselves and it’s not limited to just our kiddos who are minimally verbal; they are for everyone,” Aubil said.
Adults and peers modeling how to use the boards also encourages students to use them, the educators said.
Aubil added: “Kids are so curious and are so much more naturally flexible and resilient. Here at Emmons, all they’ve known is including students with autism. I feel like they’re growing up in a world where they see us accepting everybody, so it’s cool to be kind.”
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