It’s exciting to see a new innovation that helps someone. Sometimes an invention comes along and I think to myself, “Wow, why didn’t someone think of that sooner?” I remember arriving at our city park one day and seeing a swing for kids in wheelchairs. It was thrilling to see the joy on a child’s face when they got to try it out.
I was recently introduced to another one of those inventions I was surprised we haven’t seen sooner. Maybe you’ve seen a child at the pool or at the park who desperately wants to play with other children but who is unable to verbally communicate that to other kids. A communication board could make a world of difference. A communication board is a sheet of symbols, pictures or photos that a child will learn to point to in order to communicate with those around them.
Ellen Spear, SLP and co-founder of Resources at Lakeshore Speech Therapy, is working to spread communication boards around the world. “By pointing to the pictures on the outdoor communication board, individuals with communication differences can clearly share their intended message free of frustration and misinterpretation.” She explains that these products not only meet the communication needs of an individual but augment the ADA compliance of a park or playground.
Outdoor communication boards can also be helpful to those who use augmentative communication devices such as a tablet. Spear explains that “the boards can replace the need for a child to carry a cumbersome device while playing at the playground.”
When my kids were young, we had a poster of different emotions on a wall. Not because they couldn’t talk, but because often finding the word for a feeling is really difficult. Seeing the face of someone who is sad on the wall and being able to recognize it as the feeling you are having was really helpful for my children.
I feel these communication boards will operate the same way. Even kids at a park who don’t have verbal communication issues may find them helpful. If you’d like to learn more about communication boards, please contact our friends at Resources at Lakeshore Speech.
