Communication Stations coming to Lester B. Pearson elementary schools
Posted June 20, 2023 11:12 am.
Last Updated June 20, 2023 6:38 pm.
The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) is planning to install Communication Stations at all of its elementary schools – a first for a Canadian school board they say.
A communication station is a form of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). It includes all forms of communication that are used to express needs, wants, thoughts, feelings, and ideas.
AAC includes facial expressions, gestures, symbols, pictures, and written language, as well as specialized communication apps and devices that provide speech output.
“So basically, the communication station is just made up of a small set of words that can be used across context to communicate for a variety of different reasons,” said Alyssa Ohberg, an LBPSB speech and language pathologist. “So students can point to pictures, they can read the words on the pictures in order to request, ask for help, to make a comment, to be silly.
“I’m super excited that all students now have the opportunity to be able to express themselves even when they are outside playing with their friends.”
The Lester B. Pearson School Board has installed Communication Stations at elementary schools. (Swidda Rassy/CityNews Image)(Swidda Rassy/CityNews Image)
Different types of communication boards can help autistic children as well as other children who struggle with communication.
The initiative helps to remove the stigma for children with special needs.
“And this low-tech initiative is just a really nice example of how we’re trying to make modifications to the environment and (take away) the onus on the child,” said Katherine Cohene, an LBPSB autism consultant.
“Kids with special needs, regardless of what their abilities are and their needs, are integrated into the regular system.”
The Communication Stations were unveiled in outdoor play areas by the LBPSB’s Centre of Excellence for Autism on Tuesday.
Verdun Elementary School and Beechwood Elementary Schools are the first schools to welcome the boards.
“Part of our goal is to have the tool out in the yard so it’s accessible for all the students to use,” said Ohberg. “And it makes it something that’s just part of our playground.”
#WATCH: The Lester B. Pearson School Board in Montreal is installing Communication Stations in its schools to help children diagnosed with autism communicate with confidence and clarity.
READ: https://t.co/9THQM7Rg7D pic.twitter.com/LyTc5TylGD— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) June 20, 2023
