Communication Boards Aim to Empower Students and Foster Inclusive Play

A new tool, recently unveiled at Bedford Village and West Patent elementary schools, is helping to bring students together while forging ahead on Bedford Central School District’s goal of advancing inclusive systems of student support.

The tool is a large sign, or “communication board,” posted on playgrounds that aims to prioritize communication for every student. One side of the sign features letters that students can point to in order to make words. It also features pictures and words related to playground activities and social language in both English and Spanish. The other side has a RULER meter, something which students are very familiar with as it’s used regularly in classrooms and during social-emotional learning activities. This side also includes a QR code that links to a video showing how to use the board, ensuring that parents and caretakers who bring children to the playground after school hours can utilize it as well.

“This has been a passion project for many members of the Augmentative and Alternative Communication team for years,” said BCSD Speech and Language Pathologist Jamie Marro. “We have followed and met with speech pathologists who have implemented this in their own districts, collaborated with a speech pathologist from Boston Children's Hospital, and followed best practices to promote inclusive spaces for all children.”

“The idea came up naturally as we have already been following best practices and wanted to begin creating more accessible environments for all students,” Erica Rogan, BCSD’s Universal Design for Learning Coordinator, added. “Ensuring opportunities for communication, learning, linguistic accessibility, social-emotional well-being, and spreading friendships as well as advocating for awareness and inclusion of every student is our number one priority and the goal of this project.”

Thanks to the team’s vision and planning and a grant from the Foundation for Bedford Central Schools, students are using the first of these communication boards to enhance their experiences on the playground.

“We are excited to have the new communication board installed on the playground,” said Bedford Village Elementary School Principal Gina Smith. “During its unveiling, the board was introduced to first graders and students from Ms. Gillespie's and Mrs. Grella-Smith's classes. Students were immediately drawn to the colorful and engaging icons. They practiced building phrases and sentences. All BVES students will benefit from this communication tool.”

When the boards were unveiled, students excitedly began pointing to different words with a pointer that helps them reach words that are higher up.

“Public communication boards help to facilitate equal access,” said Assistive Technology Specialist Margaret Browning-Barnickel. “This opportunity can empower children, including those with diverse communication needs, to express themselves and make their needs known, fostering inclusive play. These boards help to not only reduce communication breakdowns but also create opportunities to come together. The goal is to provide an additional tool to ensure that all students are able to work together, share their thinking, advocate for themselves and others and play.”

In addition to making communication more accessible for all students, the boards are also aimed at enriching learning experiences.

“Students develop literacy skills, expand their vocabulary, and embrace diversity by engaging with the pictures, letters, symbols and Mood Meter,” Rogan said. “We have already witnessed students enjoying learning new ‘feeling words’ to match the Mood Meter, trying it out in English and Spanish and building sentences using the pictures. This normalizes multiple modalities for all to communicate.”

So far the boards have been welcomed with open arms! The team hopes to install a board at Mount Kisco Elementary School next and other buildings in the future.

Thank you to the members of the Augmentative and Alternative Communication team, whose passion helped drive this project and bring it to fruition.