An inspiring letter from a special educator who used MyVoice to transform how his students participated in their annual arts & crafts sale:
My name is Jay Arrington and I am the Head of a Special Education Department at Monarch Park Collegiate. Our Department supports students with Physical and Intellectual Disabilities, including students with mild Autism all the way to those in the profound Autism range.
Earlier this year, in December, our department hosted their 14th Annual Holiday Arts & Crafts Sale, which raises money towards a shared Holiday Party and for donations to different areas of our school.
Every year we work hard to provide augmentative supports in place, for students to use to help them connect with the customers they encounter during that sale, and have been able, with limited success to provide some limited materials, like symbol and word icons, photos, etc.; however as we annually have somewhere in the neighbourhood of 15 to 20 products, which the students produce towards this effort, we are often far too busy to create an aid for each price and sometimes only able to make a scant few. Instead we are often forced by these time constraints to rely on Person centred supports to act as mediator or supports to help most of our students to stay connected to the experience. we always managed to have a fun and successful sale, but many students were very dependent on staff to complete the experience.
This year though we used MyVoice with an iPad and all that changed.
Read more →
The Quality Services for the Autism Community Blog is shining a light on MyVoice this week:
The app provides an engaging interface that is easy to use for all ages.
MyVoice is the first app to be featured in QSAC’s new Autism App Spotlight.
Read the full review on the QSAC Blog…
I recently had the pleasure of writing an article for Rehab Matters magazine about a few of the many uses of MyVoice for people in vocational rehabilitation settings. It was published in their Spring 2012 issue (the article starts on page 9).
One of the things that has surprised me most about getting to know our users is the enormous range of people that can benefit from MyVoice. People with all kinds of different histories have challenges MyVoice helps them overcome, or skills MyVoice helps them develop.
I’m excited to be helping these folks communicate with loved ones, share their opinions, or, as in this article, find meaningful employment after a brain injury or stroke.
I hope you enjoy the article!
Your opinions are so valuable because they help MyVoice make even better products for you and thousands of other people.
This week, we want to learn more about your personal experiences through a quick, anonymous survey that takes less than 5 minutes:
If you’re someone who supports communication aid users, such as a family member, friend, teacher, SLP, or OT, please click here to take the MyVoice Supporter Survey.
OR
If you use a communication aid yourself, please click here to take the MyVoice User Survey.
Thank you so much for sharing your feedback.
Happy talking,
The MyVoice Team
After years of frustration, Tyler Austin, an incredible young man with cerebral palsy, is beginning to find his voice. In this amazing radio interview, Maureen Brosnahan talks to Tyler and his parents Eric and Pam about what it’s like to live with a speech challenge, and how MyVoice is helping them overcome it together. Please listen using the audio player below:
