The Bluebee Pals Project is an exciting educational program created by founder Laura Jiencke of Kayle Concepts. Laura envisioned the idea of placing Bluebee Pals into the hands of therapists, educators and families of special needs children and sharing their testimonials with the Bluebee Pal Community.

Bluebee Pals has partnered with various therapists, teachers, app developers, and organizations to develop an educational program that incorporates Bluebee Pals cutting-edge technology, touchpad devices and, the best learning apps available.

Bluebee Pals has donated hundreds of our huggable plush educational toys to special needs groups and families in order to collect data and feedback on the positive effects of using Bluebee Pals as a learning tool.

Please email us your feedback or any questions at: info@bluebeepals.com

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Please email us your feedback or any questions at: info@bluebeepals.com

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The following organizations are participants in The Bluebee Pals Project:

GiGi's Playhouse

GiGi’s Playhouse was created to change the way the world views a Down syndrome diagnosis and send a global message of acceptance for all. We understand that many families are first time parents and they need us. Many young parents do not expect, or know in advance of their child’s diagnosis, and they need renewed hope and genuine acceptance from day one. At GiGi’s Playhouse families are never alone. From a prenatal diagnosis to career skills, we make a lifetime commitment to remain by their side. Families are empowered with all the tools their child needs to succeed!Back in the summer of 2002, Nancy Gianni gave birth to her beautiful daughter, GiGi. She quickly realized that GiGi could do the very same things that her other children do! What began as a mother’s vision to change perception, and maximize her daughter’s successes, has evolved into a global movement of acceptance. Nancy needed to get GiGi, and her other children, ready for the world ahead – and get the world ready for GiGi!The very first Playhouse was created to be an inspirational and dedicated place for families to celebrate their child and benefit from free, purposeful programs that unleash joy, confidence and continuous improvement. More than 48 Playhouses empower children and adults to achieve their “Best of All” and to pursue their dreams.

Down syndrome is the largest chromosomal disability in our country and yet, it is the least funded. From a prenatal diagnosis to career skills, we make a lifetime commitment to remain by their side. Families are empowered with all the tools their child needs to succeed! Through free programs and through our Generation G Campaign for global acceptance, we EMPOWER families by maximizing opportunities for daily achievement and lasting acceptance. To ensure lasting acceptance, we must show the world what individuals with Down syndrome are truly capable of achieving as students, co-workers, volunteers, friends, and valued members of their communities. Our program outcomes help advance this vital social impact goal.

With over 58+ brick-and-mortar locations across the United States and Mexico and 200 inquiries to start new locations all over the world, GiGi’s Playhouse is the ONLY network of Down Syndrome Achievement Centers. Every day, we provide FREE, life-changing therapeutic, educational, and career training programs for 30,000+ individuals of all ages. GiGi’s Playhouse is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization and is solely funded by donations……..https://gigisplayhouse.org

National Office

2350 West Higgins Road

Hoffman Estates, Illinois 60169

info@gigisplayhouse.org

GiGi’s Playhouse Locations

Come Visit Us!

If you are not within driving distance of one of the playhouses listed below or are only available virtually, choose Virtual Playhouse.

Attend from anywhere in the world at the Virtual Playhouse

International

Queretaro, Mexico
San Juan del Rio, Mexico

International Day of Play

Play is much more than fun and games, it’s an important tool for children to develop essential skills. Every child should be able to experience the extraordinary benefits of play every day – especially on the International Day of Play, taking place June 11.

JUNE 11, 2024: In celebration of International Day of Play and to offer toy companies an opportunity to work together and ensure the world’s most vulnerable children have access to play; The Toy Foundation™ (TTF) is inviting companies to donate toys to The Toy Bank. The Toy Bank delivers toys to a vast network of charities, allowing small, medium, and large toy companies to create a meaningful collective impact. Donated product will be picked up quickly and delivered to children in need around the world. https://www.internationaldayofplay.org

Bluebee Pals has collaborated with the Toy Foundation and provided donations through the Bluebee Pal Project. “We are honored to be part of the International Day of Play”. This is an exciting opportunity for companies of all sizes to participate in an international campaign. It’s vital for all children around the world to have access to toys that promote play and education for future development. https://www.bluebeepals.com/about-us/

International Day of Play was recently adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to celebrate the power of play, which is a fundamental right that builds resilience, instils confidence, and helps children develop. It is a necessity to invest in diverse, inclusive, and safe play spaces, extending access to all, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized children.

Since 2003, The Toy Bank has provided play to more than 32 million children worldwide.

The Toy Foundation

As a 501 (c)3 children’s charity, The Toy Foundation’s (TTF) mission is to provide philanthropic support and the vital commodity of play to children and families under stress and in dire situations, across the country and globe. TTF’s donations represent the charitable work of TTF and the toy industry.

Since its inception in 2003, its Toy Bank has provided $225 million in toys to more than 26 million underserved children coping with serious illness, enduring temporary home placements in the foster care system, living with domestic violence, and/or dealing with natural disasters. In 2021, TTF provided $675,000 in cash grants to nearly 3 million children impacted by the pandemic.

TTF is also broadening its mission to provide grant funding to children’s hospitals to encourage healing through play and to foster a diverse and inclusive culture and pipeline of talent for the toy industry.

With the support of the toy industry, including toy manufacturers, retailers, distributors, and licensors, The Toy Bank has provided an enormous amount of toys to more than 26 million children around the globe, thanks to our generous donors.

How Do We Accomplish Our Mission?

· We provide millions of brand-new toys for children in underserved communities annually with the support of our industry partners.

· We distribute grant funding to children’s charities across the country.

· We establish partnerships with national organizations to focus on specific issues impacting children and families.

· We research and promote the benefits of play, educating the public and highlighting the industries charitable work.

TTF’s giving supports kids who continue to be impacted by COVID-19 and those who are coping with serious illness, enduring temporary home placements in the foster care system, living with domestic violence, and/or dealing with natural disasters. When children receive a new toy, they feel special. A toy reminds them that someone out there cares about them and provides a sense of hope and promise.

The Toy Foundation™ team

1375 Broadway, Suite 1001 New York, NY 10018

Main Phone: (212) 675-1141

Email: ttfinfo@toyfoundation.org

Academics West

Academics West was founded in 2011 by Dr. Jeffrey Kassinove and Dr. Evan Flamenbaum, both of whom are mental health professionals and educators. Initially, they worked together to help students who struggled social-emotionally to fit within a typical educational setting. Over time, they realized that a typical general or special education setting is not always effective, even with extensive support. This led to the development of Academics West and the Clinically Informed Academics® model. These ideas were not initially written down but were the expression of their frustration with standard educational settings and their belief that there was a better way to help those who struggle. The vision statement of AW became the foundation of their collective work, which is now the ideal that all staff embraces when working with students at AW.

Their Journey

As school-based mental health professionals for many years before we founded Academics West, we witnessed so many students who just did not “fit” into the expectations of even the most specialized schools. Over the course of a continued discussion on how best to meet both the social-emotional and academic needs of students, we arrived at some fundamental realizations that serve as the cornerstone of the Academics West philosophy and unique high support model. First, we realized that so often students who are underperforming or acting out in school are sent to residential placements. Although there are times when this is necessary, we also felt that with the correct constellation of support, many of these students might not have required a higher level of care. Moreover, family preservation emerged as our core reason to create Academics West which allows students to receive comprehensive support in the context of a day program.

It also became clear to us that a critical ingredient was missing from the interventions that our students were typically receiving. Knowing that learning and therapy rely heavily on executive functioning for students to be able to store and utilize the skills they were being taught, we were astounded that this was not an integral component of every student’s individual support plan. Clinically Informed Academics®, and integration of clinical and educational skill development, emerged from the missing piece of the support puzzle. We have been amazed at the outcomes we have observed for over a decade due to this methodology. When students make gains in therapy as well as in their ability to be successful at school, a kind of transformation occurs. A student who was struggling emotionally and felt they could never be a successful student is replaced with a hopeful, motivated learner who knows how they learn and is able to handle life’s challenges. The proof is in the pudding: 100% of our graduating students since inception have been accepted into college, a goal many students and parents felt was not attainable.

Finally, we spent a long time determining what kind of philosophy we could embrace and impart to our staff and students to energize them to support our model of change. Ultimately, the concept of the Hero’s Journey resonated with us and has been infused into the structure and culture of Academics West. Students come to us feeling worn down by the many trials and tribulations they have experienced. With sufficient support supplied by kind and supportive mentors (our amazing teaching and clinical staff) students emerge from their challenges as true heroes. The realization that struggles can breed success and resilience is the lifeblood that flows through Academics West. We invite you to participate in our amazing journey.

Students Who Benefit Most From Academics West

The central purpose of creating a high-support program with a rigorous academic component is to develop an environment capable of meeting each student’s needs. Academics West sometimes serves as an aftercare setting for adolescents who need a step-down environment capable of continuing their educational and therapeutic work or a setting intended to meet their needs without leaving home. The common denominator of all our students is that they are bright, kind, and creative and have failed to thrive in a typical educational placement. Moreover, we are proud of the diversity of our student population and staff. This diversity is represented by students of different races, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, and gender identities and orientations.

Our adolescents are best described as “internalizers” because their struggles are more inwardly experienced than outwardly expressed. Internalizers often refer to those who struggle with depression, anxiety, trauma, and other struggles that make it hard for them to attend school and benefit from positive interpersonal relationships with peers. These students often have been diagnosed with co-occurring learning weaknesses or ADHD. Our CIA® model is designed to consider each student’s social-emotional needs and remediate learning weaknesses by using each student’s learning profile to develop an intervention plan to address areas of executive dysfunction. Simply, it is our intention that all adolescents who successfully complete our program have rehearsed skills acquired through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and become strategic learners able to autonomously succeed in post-secondary education.

Like our adolescents, our younger students are highly intelligent and resourceful, but tend to externalize their behavior during times of stress. It is not uncommon for a student to start Academics West because their dysregulation was not tolerated at their previous program. As a group of behaviorists, we craft a behavior plan for each student to support their acquisition of adaptive skills to help them regulate and engage in learning and develop positive relationships with peers. Often, we have the rewarding pleasure of witnessing a once dysregulated student who has felt marginalized and misunderstood evolve into a capable student ultimately able to re-integrate into a less supportive setting. Like some of our adolescents, our younger students also need to acquire effective compensatory learning skills instructed by our special educators who are well-versed in our CIA® approach to remediation.

Academics West

37 W 65th St.
New York, NY 10023
Ph: 212-580-0800
Website: academicswest.com
Dr. Jeffrey Kassinove
Dr. Evan Flamenbaum

Parsippany Troy-Hills School District

I am an occupational therapist in New Jersey who, through my colleagues and research, discovered the Bluebee Pals Project. I currently work for Parsippany Troy-Hills School District in New Jersey, which includes ten elementary schools with various special education classrooms, ABA programs, preschool disabled programs, and many more. Our school district is currently enrolling students for in-person as well as virtual schooling. The Parsippany Troy-Hills School District is a K-12 district with fourteen schools serving approximately 7200 students in ten elementary schools, two middle schools, two high schools, and an adult education center. The community served by the district is ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse.

As a therapist, my responsibilities include treating my students both in-person and via teletherapy. I have been struggling to create new and engaging sessions for my students. After researching Bluebee Pals as an assistive technology tool to utilize in my sessions, I focused my efforts on an opportunity to receive a donation from the Bluebee Pal Project for our special needs classrooms containing a large population of children with autism. Thinking outside the box versus conventional educational channels is essential when working with special needs children at an early age. Bluebee Pals abilty to connect to children are an effective and affordable educational tools that perpetuate positive results in communication and literacy.

Last month, The Bluebee Pal Project donated 8 Bluebee Pals for our occupational and speech therapists for ten districts to implement in school and remote therapy. The Bluebee Pals website provides a host of practical resources for educators and therapists on their tutorial page and free educational materials to promote user-friendly applications. The Bluebee Pal Project collaborates with schools and organizations by requesting feedback through testimonials, blogs, videos, and photos to share with educators, therapists, and parents.

Specifically, I have started using Leo the Lion with my preschoolers with disabilities and see the incredible results with engagement in our programs. Our therapists will contribute feedback through testimonials and share it on our social media platforms in the coming months. We are honored to be a participant in the Bluebee Pal Project and grateful for this special gift to our students!

Kendall R. Edwards, MSOT, OTR/L

Occupational Therapist

Parsippany Troy-Hills School District

Follow our Instagram- @Parsippany_OT

White Plains Elementary

White Plains Elementary is a rural school and part of the Calhoun County Board of Education in east central Alabama. White Plains is a Pre- Kindergarten through Fourth Grade school. White Plains Elementary serves as a feeder school to White Plains Middle School for grades 5 to 8 and White Plains High School for grades 9 to 12. There are a limited number of businesses in the community. The White Plains Community is landlocked between other communities which limits their economic growth. The local businesses within the immediate area and even some in the Anniston/Oxford city limits support to the school. White Plains Elementary is mainly supported by the caring parents through school fundraisers and the parent teacher organization.

The Bluebee Pal Project identifies organizations in need of educational tools for early childhood children who require extra support from educators, speech and occupational therapists. Over the past five years, our organization have provided hundreds of educators and therapists with Bluebee Pal assistive technology tools to enhance education and communication. We are excited about our donation to the White Plains Elementary School and anticipate provider feedback will state positive results of their students.

“Our early childhood educators and speech therapists are confident Bluebee Pal Plush Educational Tools will engage students in promoting reading and communication. Many of my students have autism or language delays in skills that we take for granted. Our students are working on producing speech sounds to improve speech clarity, conversational turn taking, new vocabulary/concepts, providing appropriate answers and learning to ask their own questions.” Katrina Ginn-Speech-language pathologist

White Plains Elementary is proud to be a recipient of the Bluebee Pal Project and looks forward to the impact the Bluebee Pals will have on their students.

White Plains Elementary School

5600 Alabama Highway 9

Anniston, AL 36207

South Hampton Day Care Center

The founder of Bluebee Pals, Laura Jiencke, donated through the Bluebee Pal Project, a Bluebee Family Pack of Interactive Educational Plush Learning tools and three iPads to the Southampton Day Care Center (SDCC) in Southampton, NY.

As many of you know the Bluebee Pals connect to any Apple or IOS Device and pair with most apps and are a multifaceted learning tool. It now has extensive curriculum available on Google Workbench designed by the experts on the Bluebee Team. The lessons include Essential Life Skills, which are defined as behaviors that enable individuals to adapt and deal effectively with the demands and challenges of life. As well as STEM/ELA, ESL, as well as ACC support for children with special needs and more.

This was the daycare’s first introduction to any kind of educational technology in their classrooms. A sad state of affairs in 2019 and in such an affluent area of the world! Often people are not able to look beyond their own backyard to see what is going on in their community and this oversight seems to be more prevalent in resort areas. Fortunately for us, we had the newly elected mayor of Southampton participating in this event and hope this will raise awareness and encourage others to get involved with SDCC, esp. philanthropists with an interest in education.

The donation came about after I made a recent visit to SDCC and introduced the BluebeePals to the preschool-aged children. Obviously, the kids were smitten with the adorable Bluebee Pals and photos were shared with Laura.

Once she saw the reaction these kids had and I explained the lack of funding this nonprofit has, she was moved as always and offered a generous gift of all six plushies. Several days later I had the realization that this facility did not have any tablets to support the Bluebee Pals, Laura stepped up and purchased three iPads for them! (Read about the Bluebee Pal Project here) It was quite an exciting morning on the day of the donation, a quick lesson was planned of reviewing the names of the six different Bluebee Pals characters before announcing that the whole Bluebee Pal family and new iPads would be staying with them.

The energy was high and the kids were over the top once learning that the Bluebee Pal family and the tablets would be staying with them! This engaging and fun way to learn will be bringing joy for some time to come for SDCC as they also have a nursery program for younger children.

The educators at the daycare center will be assisted with ongoing professional development designed by the Bluebee Pal team to help them with this new approach to learning. The Southampton Day Care Center Director was most appreciative of the generous contribution, and the children were beyond thrilled! The BEST part, they will be all the more ready to begin school. (More on getting ready for school here) More on BluebeePals & Teachers With Apps Here

PedsAcademy at Nemours Children’s Hospital

PedsAcademy at Nemours Children’s Hospital is the world’s first pediatric school program designed to provide children in hospitals with extraordinary, research-backed educational opportunities specific to their respective disease or condition.

Building PedsAcademy has been a dream of mine since I first walked into a children’s hospital as a volunteer teacher in 2012. At that time, I became aware of an entire population of children who were, by all accounts, invisible in the broader field of education. While every child’s education is important, our aim through PedsAcademy is to reduce educational inequality by improving the quality of education available to children for whom both health and education are already severely diminished and for whom the betterment of each is an absolute requirement of justice—children with chronic and complex medical issues. Our curriculum and teaching methods in PedsAcademy are primarily based in robotics and immersive virtual reality interventions, including the development of avatars for the children and other virtual humans to address their disease or condition specific needs such as neurocognitive deficit, physiological positioning, and socio-emotional health. Our aim is to go far beyond the minimum, to provide an extraordinary education experience at PedsAcademy so that children re-enter their school with a leg up as critical problem solvers, flexible thinkers, and irrepressible learners.

As one of the largest universities in the nation, we are able to harness the power of scale to bring 54 UCF affiliated faculty and students on site to run PedsAcademy. PedsAcademy includes a semester long cohort internship for pre-service elementary teachers in order to prepare them to teach specifically to this population of students. This high impact experience intentionally combines several well-accepted high-impact practices that result in deeper learning and greater engagement, in addition to gaining real-world experience and developing professional competencies.

Beyond our pre-service teachers, PedsAcademy provides an opportunity for UCF students from all colleges to explore the possibilities of collaboration with non-traditional school settings, vulnerable populations, and healthcare providers to discover how they can align themselves and their career aspirations with meaningful work now and in the future. Students from across UCF colleges gain an immersive view of educating high-needs populations through clinical teaching experience, academic courses, individual and collaborative research projects, and educational seminars provided by UCF and Nemours’ faculty.

Thank you for your role in helping making PedsAcademy a success.

Megan Nickels, Ph.D.
Faculty Director, UCF’s PedsAcademy at Nemours Children’s Hospital
Assistant Professor, STEM Education
College of Community Innovation and Education
School of Teacher Education
Assistant Professor, STEM Education
College of Medicine
Clinical Sciences
University of Central Florida

PedsAcademy at Nemours Children’s Hospital
13535 Nemours Pkwy
Orlando, FL 32827

TechACCESS of Rhode Island

TechACCESS of Rhode Island was founded in 1991 to provide assistive technology (AT) services to people with disabilities. In 2016, we merged with HMEA to expand our mission into Massachusetts.TechACCESS believes that an informed consumer working collaboratively with knowledgeable professionals can best identify and select effective technology devices and services to improve his or her independent functioning. To achieve this, our programs are offered to assistive technology users, families, educational and therapeutic professionals, and others interested in learning more about assistive technology.

Their services include evaluations, consultations, trainings, tech support, and professional development. Our services are available to individuals with disabilities of all ages.A big part of the identity of TechACCESS has been our annual assistive technology conference, which today is called the Assistive Technology Conference of New England. The first RI state-wide assistive technology conference, held in 1988 at the Warwick Campus of the Community College of RI, was entitled the “TechACCESS Conference”, as this was a name that embodied the two primary focuses for the conference – technology and accessibility. Fueled by the volunteer contributions of so many professionals, students, schools, agencies, companies, and parents of persons with disabilities, the first conference had a budget of less than $100. Today, it is a 2-day event attended by hundreds from all over the United States and beyond who come to see national level presenters share their expertise on current assistive technologies.

As a community resource, TechACCESS offers information on all types of assistive technology. We are the central information, resource, and demonstration site for the Assistive Technology Access Partnership (ATAP), the Rhode Island Tech Act grant. The Rhode Island Assistive Technology Access Partnership (ATAP) is designed as a statewide partnership of organizations, each with a targeted assistive technology focus, working together to improve access to and acquisition of assistive technology for individuals with disabilities.

ATAP’s main initiatives include:

Device Demonstration
Device Loan
Device Re-Use
Training, Public Awareness, Collaboration, Information & Referral

We just received our Bluebee Pals! They are absolutely FANTASTIC! We will be using them this afternoon for a speech therapy session. I can’t thank you enough!

Kelly Charlebois, ATP
Executive Director
TechACCESS of RI
161 Comstock Parkway

Life-Skills, Inc. - Central and Western Massachusetts

Life-Skills, Inc. is a CARF accredited non-profit organization providing a wide variety of services to individuals with intellectual/developmental, physical, and emotional disabilities. Life-Skills, Inc. was founded as Southern Worcester County Rehabilitation Center, Inc. in 1970 by local parents of disabled adults with an initial focus of providing community-based work opportunities to adults with developmental disabilities. By 1973 and 1976, we opened our first day habilitation program and residential program. Since that time, the organization has expanded its supports and service area to cover most of Massachusetts and parts of Connecticut. Life-Skills, Inc. provides supports to over 350 adults with disabilities in 34 programs and employs approximately 400 staff.

It is the mission of Life-Skills, Inc. to provide person-centered supports, services, and advocacy for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and to actively assist them in the pursuit and achievement of their goals and interests while encouraging independence, personal growth, and self-determination to enhance their overall quality of life.

Services:

Day Habilitation – The services of the day habilitation programs are designed to maximize a person’s independence in activities of daily living, personal health and safety, socialization, decision making, communication, recreation, community inclusion, and leisure skill building. Several full time therapists are on site to provide direct services to those clients in need of additional therapeutic supports.
Residential Services – Life-Skills, Inc. operates residential programs throughout Central, MA for adults with mild to severe intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, and adults with complex medical and/or behavioral needs.
Social Enterprises – Life-Skills, Inc. owns and operates several businesses in South Central Massachusetts. Our businesses are mission-driven and offer valuable resources to our community while providing integrated employment opportunities to individuals with intellectual, developmental, and emotional disabilities served by our agency.
Employment Services – We are an approved Service Provider which in SSA jargon is called an EN (Employment Network) for the Ticket to Work Program. If you are receiving benefits from Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Insurance (SSI) we can help you find suitable employment.

Life-Skills, Inc. owns and operates several businesses in South Central Massachusetts. Our businesses are mission-driven and offer valuable resources to our community while providing integrated employment opportunities to individuals with intellectual, developmental, and emotional disabilities served by our agency.

My name is Heather and I am an occupational therapist based out of Webster, MA. I currently work with a population of both cognitively and physically disabled adults for an adult day habilitation center. Our clients range in age from 22-80s and are spread out over 3 programs, all of which I provide both oversight and direct care. I have been investing time on research and think that your Bluebee Pals would be a phenomenal addition to the therapy programs I currently provide to the programs. We’re always trying to expand our resources in order to provide the most cutting edge and up to date products that are out on the market. If you could please let me know what kind of information you require in order to participate in this amazing opportunity I would appreciate it. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Thank you so much Bluebee Pals for responding to my email and request to be part of the Bluebee Pal Project. I really appreciate all of your help and generosity with the donation! You can mail the Bluebee Pals to: 44 Morris Street, Webster, MA and address it to myself, Heather Socha. That way they’ll come directly to me. Please let me know if you need any additional information from me moving forward. I’m eager to see the progress our therapists encounter utlizing Bluebee Pals as a assistive technology tool with all our clients.

Heather Socha, OTR/: Occupational Therapist

Life Skills Inc.

44 Morris St,

Webster, MA 0157

PH: (508) 943-0700

College Place School District- WA

College Place School District are implementing Bluebee Pals in multiple ways including as models and instructors.We paired Bluebee Pal Hudson the Puppy with a voice from the Proloquo App on the Ipad.

In the below therapy photos, we are working on the child comprehending emotions, by reading a book and Bluebee commenting on the child’s particular feeling.

The children and therapists are loving the Bluebee Pals as assistive technology tools.

College Place School District-College Place, Washington

College Place School District-College Place, Washington

We are thrilled to incorporate Bluebee Pals Educational Learning Tools into our Speech and Language Program at College Place School District(College Place, WA). Bluebee Pals were provided to our school through the Bluebee Pal Project. College Place School is a diverse population of 1300 + students from K-12th grade. The District is comprised of one high school, one middle school, and one elementary school. CPPS offers a broad range of course offerings and programs that align with Washington State Learning Goals are offered to students at all grade levels.

Davis Elementary School offers a complete curriculum with a core focus on literacy, mathematics, and social sciences. Bilingual and English acquisition courses are offered. In the 2014-2015 school year, Davis added the Highly Capable Program for gifted students to Kindergartners – 5th grade students.John Sager Middle School includes a unique learning environment for students. The middle school also offers the Highly Capable Program, special education, and elective and exploratory classes.

College Place High School will support a four-year, comprehensive program with an emphasis on Entrepreneurship and Business. Currently, the High School is serving 9-12 graders. The core curriculum, a vocational program, honors, special education, and elective courses are offered. All students will complete a Personal Finance course as a Board directed requirement. College Place High School also supports Sea-Tech and Running Start programs for students. For more information regarding Washington State, Graduation Requirements.

Camille Granitz SLP:

“After I watched the Bluebee Pal Tutorial Facebook Live Stream Video presented by University of Central Florida, I was hopeful our school would be a recipient of Bluebee Pals through the Bluebee Pal Project donation program”. We are happy to provide data and feedback from our use and successes with Bluebee Pals. Our speech therapists and educators are anxious to implement Bluebee Pals assistive technology tools into our programs.

We just received Bluebee Pals them today!! We are so excited to start incorporating them into our therapy.Thank you so much! We will update you with our successes.

Camille Granitz SLP

College Place School District

1755 S. College Ave

College Place, WA 99324

Solvay Elementary School - Solvay Union Free School District

Solvay Elementary School -Solvay Union Free School District

Solvay Elementary School part of (Solvay Union Free School District) is committed to working together to provide a safe, respectful and responsible environment for children to learn and grow. Their goal is to instill in each child a desire to learn, a sense of self-worth, and a sense of social responsibility. They encourage all parents/guardians to play an active role in your child’s education by becoming involved in our school’s programs including our PTO group.

A new special education class is being created at Solvay Elementary School. The class will consist of a kindergarten through grade two classrooms for students with autism and communication disorders. The curriculum and teaching structure will be similar to the special education class introduced in 2018 at a Mott Road Elementary (Fayetteville-Manlius School District).

Mott Elementary School partnered with Dr. Howard Shane a Harvard Medical School associate professor and director of the Center of Communication Enhancement at Boston’s Children’s Hospital along with Dr. Ralf Schlosser, a professor from Northeastern University, and other researchers, to bring Visual Immersion System. (VIS) is a unique communication method that uses visual supports – such as videos, photographs and pictures, along with technology such as iPads and Apple watches – to enhance and expand the language and communication skills of students.

The Bluebee Pal Project is honored to be part of the research projects the two districts Solvay Union Free and Fayetteville-Manlius are participating in with Dr. Howard Shane. Bluebee Pals have added a new dimension of engagement by assisting speech therapists in encouraging communication. For example, Bluebee Pals delegate specific directions when connected to a speech therapy app and also participate in reading e-books. Educators from Mott Elementary will be part of the consulting and training process for Sovey Elementary offering an extended arm to Dr Shane and his team.

Pathways Strategic Teaching Center - J. Arthur Trudeau Memorial Center

Pathways Strategic Teaching Center – J. Arthur Trudeau Memorial Center

In the 1930’s, Providence firefighter J. Arthur Trudeau and his wife Evelyn began to have concerns about the development of their son Kenneth. At the time there was no comprehensive support system for children with developmental disabilities and limited educational programs. Many were sent to a state-run institution with sub-standard conditions and very few opportunities to learn or to lead a happy existence. Parents and family members had no resources to help them cope or deal with children with disabilities.

When Arthur Trudeau started what eventually became the J. Arthur Trudeau Memorial Center, he was driven by a desire to give his son, Kenneth the resources and opportunities he needed to lead a happy and fulfilling life. While much has changed in our 50 plus years, Arthur’s mission has remained intact.

Integrity – Holding ourselves to the highest moral and ethical standards.

Innovation – Consistently developing new methods and services to meet the growing and changing needs of the individuals and community we serve.

Inclusion – Providing the resources that enable individuals to learn, grow, achieve, and lead productive lives in an inclusive community.

Today, Trudeau is one of the area’s leading providers of services for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We currently work with over 1,500 individuals throughout Rhode Island and some nearby cities and towns in Massachusetts and Connecticut.For more than 50 years, Trudeau has served as the area’s leading provider of services for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They are one of the few human service organizations that serve individuals at all stages of life. Trudeau currently work with over 1,500 consumers annually throughout Rhode Island and in some cities and towns in nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut.

What is Pathways Strategic Teaching Center?

Pathways Strategic Teaching Center is a comprehensive education and treatment program servicing children with autism and related disorders. Founded in 1998 through a collaborative effort between Trudeau and local parents of children with autism, Pathways is committed to utilizing scientifically validated teaching strategies to improve the lives of children with autism and their families. Our organization is Pathways Strategic Teaching Center, a division of The Trudeau Center. They are a school for students with special needs, aged 3-22, who are diagnosed with Autism and other related disorders. Our students are instructed based upon the principles of Applied Behavioral Analysis, and receive speech/language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, adapted physical education, and other support services as needed.

Bluebee Pal Project

The founder of Bluebee Pals, Laura Jiencke met Megan Broz (Assistive Technology Professional) at the November Boston ASHA Conference and discussed Pathways Strategic Teaching Centers participating in the Bluebee Pals Project. Ms. Broz works with children with Autism in preschool classrooms and requested the opportunity for her staff to utilize Bluebee Pals as an assistive technology tool in a variety of speech/language and occupational therapy programs.

As a school for children with Autism and developmental delays, we are always seeking new and motivating ways to engage our students. During classroom groups facilitated by speech pathology and occupational therapy, our students were all introduced to Bluebee pals – and it was a hit! Students were following directions given by Lily the Lamb, dressing her for the season, and interacting with both her and others in the classroom. Some students requested to have more time with Lily and enjoyed exploring ways to “play” with her. Students of all ages found ways to interact with Bluebee pals, many demonstrating increased motivation in and attention to the activities. Bluebee was not a replacement for the people involved, just a support to the human interactions that were already occurring. It was great, and we are continuing to develop activities to use with Bluebee pals! We are also really excited to explore the Bluebee Pal App!

Thank You,

Meghan K. Broz, M.S., CCC-SLP, ATP

Pathways Strategic Teaching Center

75 Centre of New England Blvd,

Coventry, RI 02816

Phone: (401) 615-2775401

Easterseals of Massachusetts

For 75 years in Massachusetts and 100 years nationally, “Easter Seals,” or now “Easterseals” has been changing the way the world defines and views disabilities with innovative programs and legislative advocacy. “We make profound, positive differences in people’s lives every day with our personalized programs and services that are constantly responding to the evolving unmet needs of people in the state” said Easterseals President & CEO, Paul Medeiros.

Easterseals Massachusetts focuses on the full potential of every person and is changing the way the world defines and views disability by making profound, positive differences in people’s everyday lives. They provide essential programs and services to children and adults with disabilities throughout the state. Easterseals ensures that children and adults with disabilities have equal opportunities to live, learn, work and play. Their occupational, physical and speech therapists, assistive technology specialists, as well as our youth, employment and transition teams are experts in their fields and provide services in a wide range of settings.

Assistive Technology

Easterseals Massachusetts are recognized nationally as a leader in assistive technology, their services are an excellent resource for children and adults with autism who need high and low technology solutions for home, work or school in order to increase their independence.

AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION (AAC) SERVICES

Easterseals MA Augmentative Communication (AAC) Specialists work with individuals with congenital or acquired disabilities who have difficulty using speech for communication.

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AT SCHOOL

Easterseals MA AT and AAC experts help ensure that assistive technology, including iPads, tablets, computers, dedicated speech generating devices, access equipment and low tech aids, will meet your students’ curriculum and augmentative communication needs.

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AT WORK

Easterseals Massachusetts offers Assistive Technology (AT) assessments and training that assist job-seekers to gain equal access to the work environment, increase career opportunities and maximize the job-seekers ability to perform essential skills. Examples of Technology solutions for the worksite include: assistive computer devices, communication devices, adaptive software, environmental controls, amplification accessories, time management aids, vision aids, and workstation modifications.

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AT HOME

Easterseals MA offers services that provide assistive technology in the home or community setting with the goal of improving the ability of individuals with significant disabilities to live independently.

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY REGIONAL CENTER (ATRC)

People with and without disabilities and their families can see, touch and borrow assistive technology devices to make more informed decisions regarding the technology that will meet their needs.

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY LOAN PROGRAMS

This program provides access to low interest cash loans for the purchase of assistive devices and services to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.

Bluebee Pal Project

I spoke with my team and everyone is thrilled and loved your product! If you would still be open to donating 15 we will put them to good use.Our plans is to put 2 in each AT Loan Center and then use them directly with clients and our AAC Specialists, OTs and SLPs are so excited!

Bluebee Pals will be a great communication and learning tool for all the assistive technology departments within Easterseals.

Thank you so much for your generosity and please let me know what the next steps are.

Kimberly Sokol

Vice President of Rehabilitation & Support Services-Occupational Therapist, 8824

Easterseals Massachusetts

484 Main Street,

Worcester, MA 01608

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As a speech therapist working with young children, it can sometimes be hard to find ways to keep them engaged in therapy. The Bluebee Pals is a great interactive learning tool that is a fun and engaging way for the students to work on a variety of speech and language goal areas, especially when working with groups of children who all have different goals to be targeted. The Bluebee Pals can target speech and language concepts such as making choices, categories, following directions, learning action words, expanding vocabulary, sequencing, inferencing, object function, wh-questions, articulation—the list goes on! The student’s love using the iPad and seeing the Bluebee Pals talk to them. It is another great tool to have in the tool box!

Laura N. Husted, SLP- M.S., Clinical Fellow-SLP

Donation Acceptance Letter

Easterseals of Southern Pennyslvania

Easterseals of Southeastern Pennsylvania – 3975 Conshohocken Avenue,Philadelphia, PA 19131

We are excited to welcome Easterseals to the Bluebee Pal Project and their participation in providing educators and therapists with educational technology tools that engage special needs children to learn and communicate.

Easterseals provides opportunities for people of all ages with a range of disabilities to achieve their full potential. For more than 70 years, Easterseals of Southeastern Pennsylvania has been helping people with disabilities gain greater independence. Their mission is to provide exceptional services to ensure that all people with disabilities or special needs and their families have equal opportunities to live, learn, work and play in their communities. Children who receive these services are challenged with a variety of disabilities, including autism, cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, spina bifida and physical and developmental delays.

The Bluebee Pals and have been a joy to use. They have added so much to the quality of life for our kids as well as being used as a learning tool. We have used all the features – including the phone, and are continuously amazed at the kid’s responses. We love using musical playlists so the kid’s can sing and begin to learn the sequence and rhythm of language and begin to anticipate what comes next. i.e., If you have difficulty with mobility, belting out a song or two helps to self regulate or calm kids so that they can then focus on school work. By singing, they are engaging their muscles from head to toe in small ways that have a huge impact on performance, and singing helps soothe the soul. Here is a taste of Bluebee at Easter Seals from a few of our teachers.

***Jo Booth OTR/L has been an Occupational Therapist for over 35 years, and currently practices at EasterSeals of SEPA, Montgomery County Division mainly focusing in Early Intervention. It is an APS (Approved Private School) and home outreach based setting. She has also worked in Adolescent and Adult Rehabilitation.

Gisele – I teach kids that are medically fragile and they all have varied abilities. We have “Matilda” tell the kids a story individually so they can also touch her soft fur and observe her up closely. When playing with Matilda, we noticed an improvement in visual focus and engagement. We always help the kids hold Matilda so that they can not only feel her, but also to be able to listen more closely. We’ve found Matilda excites all the senses in learning.

Lyn – My classroom contains children with multiple abilities. Many of the children have difficulty with walking and talking. “Leo” has helped the kids to broaden their ability to express themselves – and that’s not “Lion”. We always look forward to playing with Leo during circle and story time.

Laurie – I teach children with unique needs. Some children have difficulty with seeing or hearing, some have difficulty with movement, and some have a combination of both. Our “puppy” has been used for circle and learning activities. The kids love touching his soft fur and friendly face. We also like to snuggle down when reading a story with the teaching staff. We like that we can pair books that are familiar to our classroom, and have found that Amazon Audible Books to be a great resource to use with our most beloved stories.

Jenna – I have an integrated classroom, meaning I teach both typically developing children and children with varied needs. We have used “Ted” for circle and story time. The children love holding Ted and hearing him tell stories. We pair both the book on the iPad with Ted so the children can hear the story and see the words on the page.

Nicole – I have a happy preschool classroom filled with both typical kids and kids that need a little bit of extra help. The children love their “Bluebee Puppy” to tell stories and play games. We have had the puppy even begin to teach the kids how to hold a stylus and begin to write their names! Our puppy makes learning fun, and we laugh when he is talking! There are so many options to use with the puppy, he can sing songs from a playlist, talk from the phone, and play learning games too.

Meadow Drive Elementary School - Mineola Union Free School District

Meadow Drive Elementary School – Mineola Union Free School District

Meadow Drive Elementary School is located in suburban Long Island. We serve over 350 diverse students in grades Pre-K through grade 2. We have had a 1:1 iPad initiative for over two years. Our school has a dual-language program on each grade level, where students learn in both English and Spanish. We have several students who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication as their primary form of communication, some using bilingual (English/Spanish) AAC apps.

We met at the ASHA Conference last week in Boston. My intern, Laura, is now featured on your Facebook page. I spoke with my principal about the Bluebee Pal Project, and she was super excited. We were thinking that the Bluebees would be an awesome addition to our Dual Language classrooms, paired with our Spanish speaking apps! The other SLP in my school was hoping to use them with our Pre-k phonological awareness groups, and I plan on continuing to use them with my life-skills students.

Please let me know what we would need to do to get started!

Barbara Peters, MS CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
Meadow Drive School
25 Meadow Drive
Albertson, NY 11507

Principal: SueCaryl Fleischmann, Ed.D.

Calvary City Christian Academy

Calvary City Christian Academy and Preschool

The Preschool provides the A- Beka and Beyond Center Time, curriculums for PK-2 – VPK. These programs are designed to develop the cognitive, gross motor, fine motor, social, emotional, speech and language of each child. Calvary City Christian Academy and Preschool strive for academic excellence and educational advancement. Simply stated, as a staff, they do all that is possible to give their best and make their students learning experience a success.

Accreditations

Association of Christian Teachers and School (National)
Membership FLOCS – Florida League of Christians Schools (State)
License by DCF – Department of Children and Families Lic# C09OR0488

Introducing Bluebee Pals at the Preschool:

Bluebee Pals were donated via the Bluebee Pal Project to assist teachers in engaging preschool children to learn while having fun.

We are confident Bluebee Pals learning companions will contribute to a positive impact on humanizing technology and motivating communication while learning!

During the school year, the school will provide feedback on the contribution of Bluebee Pals in their classrooms.

Calvary City Christian Academy and Preschool

2500 W Oak Ridge Rd, Orlando, FL 32809

Phone: (407) 581-6120

Advance Learning Academy

Advance Learning Academy is a private school in Maitland that values the uniqueness of all children.They are dedicated to creating a diverse community of learners by providing innovative, effective instruction that promotes academic excellence and social growth.

Message from the Principal

Thank you for taking a few moments to learn more about our school. I am often asked why we chose to open a school and why parents would choose us amongst a sea of so many options here in Central Florida.  Our mission is to create a diverse community of learners by providing innovative, effective instruction that promotes academic excellence and social growth. Our curriculum is flexible and adaptive to allow students to learn where they are and then advance their learning.   Simply put our goal is learning. Children should be given the opportunity to acquire knowledge a variety of ways… not just one. Learning is not one size-fits all and it may happen for a student through critical thinking, communication, collaboration or even creativity.

Our school’s focus on active learning allows for more student engagement and improves motivation. We use a variety of learning and assessment tools to ensure success. We know that part of providing a 21st century education is not only having technology, but connecting students and learning in innovative ways.  Our expert faculty develop individualized goals for every student to help create a program that is tailored to their specific needs. We provide a variety of special activities – art, music, yoga, physical education, and gaming as well as an engaging After School program.  Programs like positive behavior supports help improve behavior, develop classroom families and a positive, healthy school climate. The social and emotional aspects of learning are important elements of our educational program. We want all of our students to feel safe, respected and loved.  We are a school that treats parents as partners in their child’s education. We want you to know that we are on your team and are committed to your child’s learning and growth. Learning must occur both at school and at home. Together as a team, we provide the very best education for our students.  

Small Class size—-Innovative, Evidence Based Curriculum—-Integration of Technology

We are excited to provide scientific observations about how we integrate Bluebee Pals Learning Tools into our curriculum and how our clients responses. This is a wonderful opportunity! You can send them to our main office which is 140 Advance Point Maitland, FL 32751, attention Stacy Taylor.

Stacy Taylor, MA, B.C.B.A.
President/Clinical Director
Advance Behavior & Learning
140 Advance Point
Maitland, FL 32751

Puddingstone Place

Puddingstone Place

Puddingstone Place serves primarily individuals with autism spectrum disorders, including those who have previously received any of the following diagnoses: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder, Asperger syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). They also support individuals with complex communication needs related to other developmental disabilities, including but not limited to Trisomy 21, Fragile X syndrome, intellectual disability, global developmental delay, cerebral palsy, and Rett syndrome.

Puddingstone Place provides world-renowned programming developed at Boston Children’s Hospital to enhance communication, support behavioral changes, and improve overall quality of life for individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Their innovative, evidence-based instruction incorporates cutting edge technology and customized visual supports. They collaborate with caregivers and educators to develop personalized treatment plans for each learner, and provide training to support carryover of skills to home, school and community settings.

The Visual Immersion SystemTM (VIS) is a comprehensive framework and instructional philosophy for supporting communication and teaching language skills to individuals with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities. In addition to supporting a more traditional, spoken-language approach, the VIS also includes a strong focus on use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to help bring about measurable progress in learners with a broad range of diagnoses, profiles, communication modalities, and goals.

The Visual Immersion System (VIS) was developed at Boston Children’s Hospital Boston for individuals with moderate-severe autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As the system was refined and studied over decades of use, it became evident that the principles, techniques and tools of the VIS also offer significant learning opportunities for those with a mild autism spectrum disorder, global developmental delays, Down syndrome, pragmatic language disorders, and other related disorders.

Currently, the VIS is applied with a wide variety of individuals evidencing complex communication needs. It is continually being developed and studied in Puddingstone Place’s network of centers, in the Autism Language Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, at the Monarch School for Children with Autism in Shaker Heights, OH and in the Fayetteville Manlius School System in upstate New York. It is used at Puddingstone Place through a formal licensing agreement with Boston Children’s Hospital.

Boston Children’s Hospital & Dr Howard Shane

Howard C. Shane Director of the Center for Communication Disorders and the Autism Language Program at Children’s Hospital Boston, where he also conducts a clinical practice that concentrates on persons with autism spectrum disorders. He is an associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School and professor of communication sciences and disorders at the MGH Institute of Health Professions.

Locations:

Middleboro, MA

47 E Grove Street
Suite 102
Middleboro, Ma 02346
(800) 804-5041 / (774) 213-1032

Wellesley, MA

42 Washington Street
Suite 110
Wellesley Hills, Ma 02481
(800) 804-5041 / (774) 213-1032

Fullerton Education Foundation

Bluebee Pal Project

Bluebee Pals were donated to the Fullerton Education Foundation as assistive technology tools to motivate children through creative forms of technology.

During the year, the foundation will share feedback on how Bluebee Pal Educational Learning Tools are contributing a positive effect on education for main stream and special needs children.

Fullerton Education Foundation

For more than 14 years Fullerton Education Foundation and Fullerton Technology Foundation together have been committed to building dynamic community partnerships to support the Fullerton School District. Being a vital part of the community enables them to provide essential resources and enrichment opportunities to every student in the district. We are dedicated to creating a better future for our students and for our community.

The Fullerton Education Foundation goal is to enrich the educational experience of each child in every classroom. Through the generosity of community support, the foundation provides resources, technology, and grants to inspire learning, enhance teaching and create innovative opportunities for students to excel in the 21st century and receives ongoing support from Fullerton Cares Autism Foundation to support our special education classrooms.

Note from the President

Twelve years ago Fullerton School District, with the help of this foundation, looked to redefine education. Our district leadership planned “educational disruption”. Many thought that we were, at best foolish. Today I want to acknowledge the successes of that goal. Students have moved from handwriting to coding. They have moved from memorizing facts to having “Facetime” with classrooms around the world, and to discussing science with astronauts. Everyone has a device and staff has been trained how to effectively use the apps on those devices to personalize, enrich and promote group learning, all the while, standardized testing shows that student knowledge of the basics has increased. Fullerton School District out performs both the California and Orange County averages. The foundation thanks you for your support. There is more change coming and Fullerton will be ready to embrace changes that improve education and workplace opportunities. Applaud yourselves for embracing this bold vision and helping to make positive educational growth while advancing a relevant education. You have made a difference for our students, our staff and the future of our country!

Hilda Sugarman, President

Academy for Autism-Orlando, Florida

Established in 2005, by a parent of two children with Autism, the Academy was created to improve the quality of life and independence of children with autism by providing an affordable education alternative to all families of Central Florida. They provide a research-based special education curriculum designed to teach students with autism, developmental disabilities, and learning challenges. Their program includes an ABA approach to teaching and classrooms are set up using the TEACCH Model. Academy for Autism pride themselves in a collaborative approach in working with our parents, teachers, and therapists.

The Academy for Autism presently serves 47 school-age students at our new facility in South Orlando, purchased in the summer of 2014. Their goal is to serve up to 60 students. The facility includes an on-site therapy clinic, where students receive therapy throughout the day in addition to participating in educational program. The clinic also provides outpatient therapy. The Academy is made up of a team of professionals dedicated to the field of special education. They specialize in working with individuals on the autism spectrum.

The team has extensive training in multiple disciplines including: autism, exceptional student education, varied exceptionalities, applied behavior analysis, Speech and Language pathology and Occupational and Physical therapy. The collaborative approach is what makes their programs so effective and allows students to meet their maximum potential in academics, social skills and independence.

Kayle Concepts has donated Bluebee Pals as a assistive technology tool for parents, teachers, and therapists to utilize in home and school settings. During the year, The Academy for Autism will provide feedback on the various therapies Bluebee Pals were utilized in to engage students to learn and communicate. The academy is excited to introduce technology that will provide a broader learning base outside traditional methods.

Academy for Autism

11 E Lancaster Rd,

Orlando, FL 32809

The Arc - Indiana

Bluebee Pals were donated to the Arc of Indiana to support the special needs community in providing assistive technology tools for parents and therapists.

We share the positive impact that technology provides in opening doors in motivating learning and communication in home and school settings.

We are The Arc!

The Arc of Indiana was established in 1956 by parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) who joined together to build a better and more accepting world for their children.

With over 27,000 members and 43 chapters in Indiana, and 140,000 members in over 700 chapters nationwide, The Arc is on the front lines to:

Empower families with information and resources to assist them in their journey of raising a child with a disability to lead a full and meaningful life.
Empower people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities to be self sufficient and independent to the greatest extent possible.
Inspire positive change in public policy and public attitudes.
Prevent disabilities through education about the dangers of drugs and alcohol while pregnant and advocating for all women to have quality prenatal care.
Serve as a spokesperson and advocate for families and their loved ones.

The combined strength of local Arcs, state Arcs and The Arc of the United States makes The Arc the largest national community-based organization advocating for and serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.

On behalf of The Arc of Indiana, I would like to thank you for your very generous donation. We are in receipt 26 cartons of Bluebee Pals. We truly appreciate your generosity.

Since 1956, The Arc of Indiana has been here to help Hoosiers with developmental disabilities and their families realize their goals of learning, living, working and fully participating in the community. Our main focus continues to be providing a resource for families to come together and help advocate for a better life for their children.

Today we have 43 chapters located throughout Indiana serving thousands of individuals each year. They are very excited to receive Leo the Lion and Sammy the Bear Bluebee Pals for their children’s programs.

Thank you for helping us help others.
Sincerely,
Jill Vaught – Director of Organizational Advancement

The Arc of Indiana

143 W Market St #200

Indianapolis, IN 46204

Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute & (UCF)

University of Central Florida Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute

4000 Central Florida Blvd. Orlando, FL 32816-1250

With a commitment of equity and excellence, the Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute provides opportunities for lifelong learning and support for children and adults with exceptional needs and their families through interdisciplinary research and practice, professional development, and partner collaboration.   The Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute is tangible proof that one person, or in this case, one family, can make a difference. As their child entered the public school system, one family learned that the teacher in their son’s classroom was not certified to teach students with exceptional needs. They talked with others and learned this was not uncommon. The need to recruit, educate and retain qualified teachers had become critical. Working with their Florida state senator, the family approached the University of Central Florida College of Education and Human Performance with their ideas. A proposal to add an exceptional education component to the planned UCF Teaching Academy was submitted to the Florida Legislature. With Senator Toni Jennings’ assistance, the proposal became part of the 2000 budget. In August of 2000, at a special ceremony, the institute became the Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute in recognition of Senator Jennings’ efforts.

TJEEI Mission / Message from Director

Welcome to the Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute at the University of Central Florida. TJEEI is a dynamic collection of faculty and students guided by a goal to improve the lives of people with disabilities and their families. This is done through research, education, demonstration services and technical assistance. 

A consumer advisory council composed of individuals with disabilities, family members, and staff liaisons advises the CPD director about the Institute’s impact on systems change, advocacy, and capacity building. The council approves the TJEEI’s annual goals and regular reviews progress towards their accomplishments.

TJEEI research adds to the knowledge about disability, its causes, its diagnosis and best ways to accommodate it in daily life. Our programs pass research based techniques on to educators, families, and service providers in the community. Demonstration services further bolster training by providing a real-world environment where techniques are tried and trainees learn how to provide services in their field. The people who receive services benefit from the expertise of the institute, which provides education, evaluation, and treatment to people who need it. Technical assistance is provided to entities requiring help as they implement policies relating to disability.

The Arc Baltimore

Dedicated to providing advocacy and high quality, life-changing supports since 1949 in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, The Arc Baltimore supports more than 6,000 adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. The Arc has approximately 800 full and part time employees and provides services at eight major facilities and 100+ owned and leased residential sites located in the Baltimore metropolitan area. As one of the nation’s largest and most respected organizations of its kind, The Arc Baltimore is an indispensable resource, providing employment training and support, day and residential services, family support and education, treatment foster care, assistive technology services, respite care, public policy advocacy, and information and referrals.

The Arc is widely recognized for improving the quality of life of adults and children with I/DD. The Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations awarded its Standards For Excellence certification to The Arc. We also are certified by CARF International, a nationally recognized accreditor of health and human service organizations that meet the highest standards.
As an agency dedicated to supporting individuals with intellectual & developmental disabilities, it was very meaningful to be the beneficiary of a Bluebee Pal educational toy so thoughtfully designed with the learning needs and communication differences of kids with special needs in mind. Many of the families with whom we work do not have the means to purchase assistive technology toys and supports. Thanks for helping us expand our capacity to provide life enhancing tools to our community!

Nellie Power, LCSW-C
Assistant Executive Director; Outreach & Family Services
7215 York Road
Baltimore, MD 21212

Monarch Center for Autism

Cleveland, Ohio Autism School and Autism Resource Center

Located in Cleveland, Ohio, Monarch Center for Autism offers a comprehensive array of programs and services for individuals ages three through adulthood, with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Highlights include a preschool (three to six years); day school for children and adolescents (5 to 22 years); transitional education program (14 to 22 years); adult autism program (18 and older); autism residential treatment for children, adolescents and adults; summer and extended school year programs; family training, support and social activities; The Soap Shop; The Note Shop; VizZle™ (visual language technology); and an online autism resource center developed in partnership with the Women’s General Hospital Fund of the Cleveland Foundation. Monarch School is a chartered non-public school, licensed by the State Board of Education of the State of Ohio. Monarch is also a certified California non-public school and is Illinois State Board of Education approved.

Monarch Center for Autism is a division of Bellefaire JCB, one of the nation’s largest, most experienced child service agencies providing a variety of behavioral health, substance abuse, education and prevention services.

Monarch Center for Autism

22001 Fairmount Blvd,

Cleveland, OH 44118

Autism Society of Baltimore-Chesapeake

I just wanted to send you a big thanks for the donation of Bluebee Pals! I was expecting only one so you can imagine my surprise upon delivery! I have already shared on our Honestly Autism Day and Autism Society of Baltimore Facebook pages and tagged your site. We are so grateful! We plan to give them away all day at our event on 4/14. It’s a conference for professionals and parents and I know they will love these adorable creatures with so many exciting learning opportunities! Thank you! We would also be happy to include information in our bags for attendees if you’d like to mail us something.

Debbie Page
President
Autism Society of Baltimore-Chesapeake

The AutismSociety of Baltimore-Chesapeake (ASBC) founded in 1976, is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to acting as a voice for all people along theautismspectrum in the greater Baltimore area. We are a chapter of The Autism Society, the nation’s leading grassroots autismorganization which exists to improve the lives of all affected byautism. Most members of ASBC are parents of children and adults with autism, but our membership also includes individuals with autism, their siblings, grandparents and other relatives, as well as professionals and students in the teaching and medical fields. We exist as a resource for anyone who needs help and support with the difficult job of raising, working with and/or advocating for a person diagnosed with autism.

Teachers With Apps

TeachersWithApps (TWA) is a respected resource for educators and parents to discover exceptional tools in the digital space. We are dedicated to understanding child development and knowing the significance of all factors that contribute to a happy and healthy child, including social, emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being. Our reviews are authored by teachers, therapists, and educators with specific expertise in the different ages/content/and special areas related to what they review. TWA field-tests every app/product with a cross-section of students and teachers as part of our in-depth evaluation process. We only review materials that we recommend, eliminating the need for scores or ratings. You will only find teacher-tested technology here, removing the tedium of wading through the vastness of the ever-expanding edtech market. Remember, not all apps are created equal! …

Jayne Clare, a thirty-year veteran teacher in special education, has been a leader in introducing educational technology into the classroom. She is co-founder of TeachersWithApps, a National School Boards Association “20 to Watch;” Leader Advancing Education Technology, and weekly host of EdAppTalk, an open table Facebook Group. She has worked with Brainpop facilitating webinars, served as an educational curator for many organizations and is an avid blogger. School reform, diversity, reading readiness and teacher tools are among her favorite topics. Through her extensive work critiquing educational content for TeachersWithApps, she has created a viable and valuable resource for educational technology and anything trending in the digital space.

Jayne Clare at the Naples Village School( Naples, FL) demonstrating the new 4.0 Bluebee Pals with Life Skills/Social App…

Stanbridge Academy

Stanbridge Academy wanted to send a big thanks for the donation of Bluebee Pals! On behalf of the Stanbridge Academy community, I would like to thank you very much for the donation of Bluebee Pals to our school. We have tested several and they are working as expected, and we are now deciding how to best use them with our student population.We will will follow up in the coming weeks with feedback on the reposes to the various student populations.

Justin Silbaugh, M.Ed.

Director of Educational Technology

Stanbridge Academy

515 E. Poplar Ave., San Mateo, CA 94401

Stanbridge Academy is a K-12 school for children with mild to moderate learning disabilities located in the San Francisco Bay Area.The school and staff are dedicated to providing students with small, structured classes, individualized and differentiated instruction following a California standards-based curriculum. Our education program addresses the whole child, with focus on both academic and social growth. Our unique and effective experiential program utilizes off-campus activities to enhance and complement classroom learning and promotes student personal growth.

Stanbridge students have learning differences, such as dyslexia, language processing disabilities, ADD/ADHD, high-functioning autism, and other academic and social learning challenges. The core of Stanbridge Academy is our academic program. Small class sizes at all grade levels allow for differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all learners. California content standards form the foundation of our curriculum. Stanbridge is accredited by WASC and is a provisional member of CAIS.

The development of social-emotional, self-regulation, and executive functioning skills is embedded into our curriculum and throughout the school day. All students participate in social learning class once per week.

The Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District

Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District and Boston Children’s Hospital

Fayetteville-Manlius School District special education staff and administrators established a partnership with researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Northeastern University to introduce a researchbased, cutting-edge instructional methodology and strategies to teach students diagnosed with autism and moderate to severe communication disorders.

“Imagine a room filled with technology that has the potential to shape how children on the autism spectrum learn. Then picture a team of teachers, therapists and IT specialists driven by the singular purpose of accelerating communication and learning for these children. Well, stop imagining because that is the essence of the Mott Road program,” said Dr. Howard Shane, a Harvard Medical School associate professor and director of the Center of Communication Enhancement at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. Dr. Shane served as a consultant for F-M during the 2015-16 school year and provide training in 2016-17 to all of the district’s special education staff on his Visual Immersion SystemVisual Immersion System (VIS) is a unique communication method that uses visual supports – such as videos, photographs and pictures, along with technology such as iPads and Apple watches – to enhance and expand the language and communication skills of students.

During the 2017-18 school year, the district formally partnered with Dr. Shane, along with Dr. Ralf Schlosser, a professor from Northeastern University, and other researchers, to bring VIS to a Mott Road Elementary School class of seven students diagnosed with autism. Fayetteville-Manlius School District is the first and only school district that they have worked with. “The progress and growth of our students participating in this project have exceeded all of our expectations,” said Lisa Miori-Dinneen, F-M’s assistant superintendent for special services. “The VIS methodology has been lifechanging for our students and their families.”

Lisa A. Miori-Dinneen: Assistant Superintendent of Special Services

My favorite video is Molly using the Ipad and Bluebee. She is so engaged with Bluebeeand this was the very first day she was exposed t it( amazing)! I am going to use this video when I give my presentatio

n to the Board of Education. As I mentioned to you, I am writing an article about your generosity for our newsletter in October as well as how we have been involved with the research study and will include photos of the children using the Bluebee Pals. I will periodically send you updates with videos and photos from the class as well as other classes that are using the Bluebee Pals.

Bluebee Pals were donated to the Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District (F-M) as an assistive technology tool to engage and motivate children in their special needs classrooms. Our tech buddies provide companionship and communication when connected to Bluetooth enabled mobile/ tablet devices and paired with apps with a narrative.

The Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District (F-M) is a K-12 public school district located in the Town of Manlius in Central New York, enrolling approximately 4,800 students. F-M serves a large portion of the Town of Manlius, including the villages of Manlius and Fayetteville, as well as portions of Jamesville and Pompey. The district is partially funded by and governed under the authority of the New York State Education Department, whose standardized examinations are designed and administered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York.

The district has been recognized statewide and nationally for academic and athletic excellence. In 2015, the high school was ranked #79 in the nation in Newsweek’s list of “America’s Top High Schools”.

F-M Student Support Services

The Fayetteville-Manlius School District is committed to making sure that all students receive a quality education within the framework of their individual needs. The district provides a free and appropriate public education to students with disabilities, in the least restrictive environment, in accordance with Part 200 of Commissioner’s Regulations, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

I just wanted you to know that the other package of 5 Bluebee Pals arrived! My goodness, they are so cute! I cannot thank you enough. They really are wonderful! I have been playing all morning and figuring out how we will use them constructively, specifically I want to initially start instruction for increasing social play, pragmatics, following directives, and requesting. The opportunities for instruction are endless. Also, I cannot wait to see how the children respond. I imagine the engagement and motivation will be increased exponentially! They have responded positively to the Apple watch portion of our research. I can only imagine that working with these toys will only be more engaging. I truly appreciate your kindness, Laura!. We will share our experiences with you so that you know how they are used and what are results are.

Lisa A. Miori-Dinneen

Assistant Superintendent of Special Services

Fayetteville-Manlius School District

8199 East Seneca Turnpike

Manlius, NY 13104

Florida Alliance of Assistive Services

Kayle Concepts recently welcomed the Florida Alliance of Assistive Services and Technology (FAAST) to the Bluebee Pals Project. The regional centers received Bluebee Pals to use with clients during evaluation sessions, training activities and instructional events. FAAST is a state-funded program that provides device demonstrations and loans to help customers select assistive technology equipment that will help with activities of daily living and communication.

The Gulf Coast Regional Center is part of the Center for Independent Living (CIL) in Pensacola, Florida. LaVesta Feagin, an AT Specialist at CIL, works tirelessly to provide seniors with equipment to better access their environment and live active lives. LaVesta began working as a volunteer through a Career-Transition Program and then was hired as the AT Specialist.. She primarily works to provide the elderly with items from their “senior kit” including car canes for stability, car caddies, swivel seats, lifts, power chairs, and weighted eating utensils. However, she is faced with another crucial tasks of helping customers all over the Gulf Coast find Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC) devices that will help them communicate effectively.

LaVesta has delved into this area with a thirst for knowledge that has guided her journey as the centers only AT Specialist. LaVesta was faced with limited experience working with children and AAC devices but was up for the challenge! She has used Bluebee Pals to engage children as well as the seniors at CIL with much success! She connects Bluebee to her trial AAC Devices including the Tobii Dynavox, the iPad with Proloquo2Go Communication App, Android devices, Kindles and even smart phones! “I was excited about how they can be used with so many devices because they are Bluetooth enabled” she stated.

LaVesta hosts a “Foster Grandparents” program which connects seniors with children. Both populations benefit from the shared experience of chatting, playing games and now interacting with Bluebee Pals! “The kids and elderly loved activating the Bluebee Pals with the iPad and AAC app (Proloquo2Go)! They could talk to the foster grandparents with the Bluebee Pals and even had the grandparents using the iPads!” -LaVesta Feagin

The Bluebee Pal’s biggest fan at Gulf Coast FAAST is Hannah. LaVesta works with this 17-year-old student with Autism who without question always lets her know if she is interested in a new activity or tool right away. “She will let me know right away if she is not interested in something and she absolutely loves the Zebra Bluebee Pal that she has named June. I checked out the Bluebee Pal’s recommended apps on the website and downloaded Toca Hair Salon. Hannah loves hearing the hair salon sounds through Bluebee June and is so engaged.”

“Bluebee Pals are a good price-point for people because AAC is expensive. Not only is it an affordable price, but there are a variety of animals for kids. It offers people different choices.” – LaVesta FeaginLaVesta Feagin is an AT superstar, working hard to engaged seniors and children during FAAST activities as well as for AAC evaluations. We love that Bluebee Pals are helping her in this endeavor. We salute you LaVesta!…..https://www.bluebeepals.com/bluebee-pals-project-participants/

FAAST Gulf Coast Regional Demonstration Center
3600 N. Pace Blvd
Pensacola, FL 32505

Boston Children's Hospital

Dr. Howard Shane-Children’s Hospital Boston

In 2017, Bluebee Pals were donated to Dr. Howard Shane Director of the Center for Communication Disorders at Children’s Hospital Boston. His team is currently researching the positive effects of Bluebee Pals as an educational and communicational tool for children with Autism. The Autism Language Program (ALP) at Boston Children’s Hospital is a program specifically designed to help children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder communicate and learn more effectively. They consider all forms of communication including spoken, written, gestural (sign) and visual (use of graphic symbols). Children who visit this program are evaluated and ultimately, their families are given a communication plan with recommendations that are tailored to the child’s interests and needs, and usually include suggestions for both school and home.

HOWARD C. SHANE, PhD

Dr. Shane is the director of the Center for Communication Disorders at Children’s Hospital Boston, where he also conducts a clinical practice that concentrates on persons with autism spectrum disorders. He oversees a collaboration between Children’s Hospital Boston and the Monarch School for Children with Autism in Shaker Heights, Ohio, to create a visual-based curriculum. He is an associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School and professor of communication sciences and disorders at the MGH Institute for Health Professions. Known internationally for creating inventive communication procedures and technology applications for persons with autism as well as innovative ways to operate and control computers for persons with difficulty with motor control, Dr. Shane has received Honors of the Association from the American Speech and Hearing Association, where he is a fellow, and is the recipient of the Goldenson Award for Innovations in Technology from the United Cerebral Palsy Association. He is the author of numerous papers and chapters on severe speech impairment.

CRYSTAL ACADEMY of Coral Gables, Florida

CRYSTAL ACADEMY of Coral Gables, Florida received an early Christmas Present. Bluebee Pals were donated to Crystal Academy. They specialize in early intervention and education for children overcoming the challenges of Autism Spectrum and related disabilities.

They believe every child’s life begins with the ability and desire to communicate with the people they love. Children on the autism spectrum suffer difficulties in all areas of communication, socialization and learning. Early intensive intervention has proven critical to these children realizing their highest potential.

CRYSTAL ACADEMY’s premium therapy center utilizes a variety of evidence based and ancilary services combined in a holistic program personalized to each child. Services are focused on the childs specific needs and coordinated to optimize measurable results.

In the Primary School at CRYSTAL ACADEMY they develop and nurture the children’s unique abilities, while meeting their needs and challenges through a curriculum designed specifically for each child including academics, evidence based therapy services, and socialization with peers.

Central to their approach is the belief that the brain can be re-wired and impaired cognitive function enhanced or even fully replaced. New neural pathways can be developed through intensive intervention during the early years. They are proud to provide a variety of services that include intensive Behavior Therapy based on the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP) and Speech and Language Pathology, also incorporating Occupational and Physical Therapy, Sensory Integration, Neuro Developmental techniques, life skills, Music and Art as Therapy, Gymnastics, and socialization and play activities.

Crystal Academy programs has been developed to provide a behavior milestones and language acquisition intervention that promotes appropriate cognitive and social development, communication and language, independence and life skills.

A comprehensive evaluation of a child’s skills and developmental challenges is conducted by their staff in order to design a child’s personalized program. A program designed to provide behavior milestones and language acquisition and promote appropriate cognitive and social development, communication and language, independence and life skills. A detailed assessment of each child’s progress is provided to parents every six months. Objective measure of skills is performed every day.

Last, but certainly not least, at CRYSTAL ACADEMY believe learning should be fun and rich relationship between the child and the staff.

CRYSTAL ACADEMY Coral Gables.

Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology (FAAST)

The Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology (FAAST)

Bluebee Pals were donated to FAAST. FASST the Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology program is administered through the Florida Department of Education, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and is federally funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) under the Assistive Technology Act of 1998, as amended in 2004 (P.L. 108-364).

Assistive Technology (AT) is any item, piece of equipment, software, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the function of individuals with disabilities. Since its inception in 1998, FAAST has been and continues to be a resource to provide Floridians free access to information, referral services, educational programs, and publications in accessible format on extensive topics related to disability rights, laws/policies, and funding opportunities for assistive technology.

Regional Demonstration Centers

FAAST has six Regional Demonstration Centers that provide services to increase awareness, access, and acquisition of assistive technology for all Floridians. Regional centers are located in Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Pensacola, Tallahassee, and Tampa. Each center provides the following core services:

Information and Assistance- Each RDC program responds to requests for information and/or puts individuals in contact with other agencies, organizations, or companies that can provide them with needed information on AT products, devices, services, funding sources, or other related disability topics.

Assistive Technology Equipment Loans- Each RDC has a device loan program where assistive technology devices may be borrowed for a short period of time to assist with:

decision making
serve as a loaner while waiting for a repair or funding
provide an accommodation on a short term basis for a time limited event
conduct training, self -education, or other professional activity.

Device Demonstrations- Device demonstrations compare the benefits and features of a particular device or group of devices that address an identified need to help individuals make an informed choice.

Training- Training activities are instructional events, usually planned in advance for a specific purpose or audience that are designed to increase participants’ knowledge, skills, and competencies regarding AT. Examples of training include classes, workshops, and presentations that have a goal of increasing skills, knowledge, and competency, as opposed to training intended only to increase general awareness of AT.

Regional Demonstration Centers

Gulf Coast Florida CIL Disability Resource Center 3600 N Pace Blvd. Pensacola, FL 32505 Voice and TDD: (850) 595-5566 or (877)245-2457 E-Mail: lavesta@cil-drc.org Lavesta Feagin, Assistive Technology Specialist	Northwest Florida The Family Cafe820 East Park Ave. Suite F-100 Tallahassee FL 32301 Voice: (850) 224-4670 Toll Free: (888) 309-2233 Fax: (850) 224-4674 E-Mail: jhansen@familycafe.net Jesse Hansen, Outreach Coordinator
Northeast Florida Hope Haven Children’s Clinic & Family Center 4600 Beach Boulevard Jacksonville, FL 32207-4764Voice: (904) 346-5100 / TDD: (904) 346-5141Fax: (904) 346-5111E-Mail: EdwardM@hope-haven.org Edward Monagan	Central Florida Tampa General Rehabilitation Center 6 Tampa General Circle Room 214 Tampa, FL 33606PH: (813) 844-7591 TDD: (813) 844-7767Email: faastcen@tgh.org
Atlantic Coast University of Central Florida Communication Disorders Clinic3280 Progress Drive, Suite 500 Orlando, FL 32826Main Clinic Phone: (407) 882-0468Email: jkentwalsh@ucf.edu Jennifer Kent-Walsh, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Project/Center Director, Regional Coordinator & Main Administrative Contact	South Florida University of Miami Mailman Center for Child Development 1601 N.W. 12th Avenue Room 2018 Miami, FL 33136Voice/TTY: (305) 243-5706Fax: (305) 243-4467Email: anevares@med.miami.edu Ana Nevares, M.A., Project Coordinator

On behalf of the FAAST Board of Directors, please accept our heartfelt thanks for your donation of Bluebee Pals. Having these at our headquarters and Regional Demonstration Centers will support our mission and allow us to demonstrate technologies that build engagement and interaction. We are excited to have our staff around the state begin to use these in their demonstrations, presentations, and consultations.

Jefferson Community and Technical College

Bluebee Pals were donated to Pam Smithy, MS, OTR, OTA Program Director Associate Professor Jefferson Community and Technical College.Students will be advised to complete the feedback forms on utilizing Bluebee Pals in therapy settings.Occupational therapy is a dynamic profession that helps individuals across the life span achieve health, well-being, and participation in life through engagement in purposeful, meaningful everyday activities (occupations) at home, school, or work and in the community. Students in the Occupational Therapy Assistant program learn to implement occupation-based interventions utilizing a client-centered approaches to assist clients who suffer from physical or psychological dysfunction. The program teaches concepts and techniques that enable students to interact with clients of all ages using treatment activities that relate to self-care, work, and play or leisure activities. The OTA will be trained to contribute to the occupational therapy process in collaboration with an occupational therapist and work under the supervision of an occupational therapist.

Jefferson Community and Technical College, based in Louisville, Ky., is a comprehensive, public post secondary institution providing students access to a wide variety of programs of study including allied health, business, engineering technologies, general education transfer studies, information technologies, and trade and industry technologies. It awards associate degrees, diplomas and certificates.

Jefferson is the largest of 16 colleges forming the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. It has six campuses, three in Jefferson County, and one each in Carrollton, Shelby County and Bullitt County. It also offers programs at five Kentucky correctional facilities. Courses also are offered in Oldham County and over the Internet.

Jefferson Community College opened in 1967 as part of the University of Kentucky Community College System. It first held classes at First and Broadway in Louisville in the former home of the Louisville Presbyterian Seminary. The Seminary Building, completed in 1909 and designed by noted architect William J. Dodd, is listed on National Register of Historic Places. The Downtown Campus later grew to five buildings.

About Beyond the Spectrum

About Beyond the Spectrum

Beyond The Spectrum is a non-profit therapeutic clinic and education center for children with autism in Sarasota, FL that services all surrounding counties. The education center at Beyond the Spectrum offers educational programs that currently service children grades K-12, as well as a social skills program that services ages 4 through adult. Our student to teacher ratio does not exceed 4:1. Our goal is to provide a positive, family-friendly environment, all the while keeping services affordable to parents

Our Mission:

Our mission at Beyond the Spectrum is to serve the children and families in our community affected by autism and related disorders. By providing individualized therapeutic and educational services and utilizing the expertise of our professionally trained staff, our goal is for each child to achieve their highest potential in a safe, caring and family friendly environment.

Our History

Beyond the Spectrum initially opened it’s doors as a therapy clinic in 2007. We we found that the greater need in our community was a school for children with Autism and related disorders, Beyond the Spectrum reopened as an Education Center in the fall of 2010! Since then, our programs have grown from eleven students spanning three classrooms, to almost sixty students spanning eleven classrooms.

Our Philosophy

At Beyond the Spectrum we believe that every child deserves to be loved and accepted for who they are. We are here to support both the children and families of our community who are affected by Autism and other related disorders. Let us show how the culture at Beyond the Spectrum can change your child’s life.

At Beyond the Spectrum, our mission always has and always will revolve around serving the families in our community affected by Autism and other related disorders. Come in for a tour and let us show you the difference a culture of love can make for you and your child.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvIshry2KlU

A Message from Our Principal

Amy Labrie, Principal

Beyond the Spectrum

Education center in Sarasota County, Florida

7333 International Pl, Sarasota, FL 34240

Able Academy

Able Academy

5860 Golden Gate Pkwy, Naples, FL 34116

In 2000, two like-minded colleagues, who have the same commitment to the science of Behavior Analysis and its effective application joined ABLE in providing services to children, adolescents and adults in homes and in other facilities in Collier County. Staff meetings took place in that tiny bedroom. The materials storage was the trunks of cars. The system worked. Colleen and her colleagues focused on the success of each individual client and created a culture of celebrating change. In 2005, as caseloads grew, the team determined that in order to maximize service to clients, finding a facility would be in order.

This first location which would be called ABLE Academy, a non-profit organization dedicated to the steadfast application of the science of behavior to effect change. The growth that has occurred since the doors of ABLE Academy opened is tremendous. Services have evolved from assessments and 1 :1 services into the three tiered, research supported model that is in place today. Through national training and consultation by Colleen, this model has been replicated and recognized in other parts of the country. With a strong model and high rates of children’s progress, the number of students and staff continues to grow. ABLE Academy is now housed in a 13,000 square foot facility al lowing for greater service to children and families in need.

Today, ABLE Academy provides many other programs, including a full time school program for children preschool through high school aged, social skills classes and an early intensive intervention clinic where preschool-aged children receive intensive, course altering therapy.

On a daily basis at ABLE Academy, opportunities are provided that help to change the trajectory of a child’s life.

Bierman ABA Autism Center

Bierman ABA Autism Center

Bierman ABA was established in 2006 with a simple focus on providing great therapy for children with autism and on building a unique, awesome and friendly work culture. Since then, it has been truly gratifying to have helped so many children and to have watched their progress with things such as signs, speech and behavioral development. As we’ve grown, we’ve kept a laser sharp focus on our mission and founding principles.

We work with children with autism spectrum disorders up to the age of 13. We specialize in providing early intervention, personalized and intensive Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) programs. Our early intensive intervention programs (EIBI) are designed to help children learn skills across many different developmental domains in order to be happy and successful in any environment, whether that be in the home, community or the classroom. Whether your child was just recently diagnosed or has been in a traditional school setting but unable to make adequate progress, we deeply believe every child is capable of learning with the right programming in place. We are positive our dedicated and talented team can make a difference

ABA therapy is a type of therapy that focuses on improving socially significant behavior. It is based on the science of Behavior Analysis, which is scientifically derived and its principals can be used to understand and change behavior.

ABA therapy is the most effective evidence-based treatment for Autism and is recommended by physicians, the American Psychological Association, and the US Surgeon General.

What makes Bierman ABA different?

Precision Teaching is used to ensure we meet our learners where they are at with all skills, and systematically increase the complexity of the instruction as the data shows they are ready. Fluency Based Instruction is used to promote high rates of responding which leads to fluency across skills and efficiency in teaching. Naturalistic Teaching is used to make teaching and learning fun as well as imbed teaching trials into natural environment activities

Our goal is to create a disproportionately large impact and to solve real problems of those whom we work with. We realize that we have a limited window of opportunity to help each child make the maximum possible progress. We believe it’s our responsibility to push ourselves, to constantly evaluate every little thing we do…. to challenge and disrupt conventional wisdom.

Princeton House Charter School (Autism)

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Princeton House Charter School
Charter School
Address: 1166 Lee Rd, Orlando, FL 32810

Princeton House Charter School is a public non-profit charter school in Orlando, Florida devoted to serving children with Autism in PreK-5th grade. They provide cutting-edge education and therapeutic intervention for all their students via a multi-disciplinary team approach and active parent involvement.

Representatives from the school attended an assistive technology conference where they met Bluebee Pals for the very first time. Their director, Kim Gelalia, was immediately intrigued by the Bluebee Pals and insisted on purchasing some for her school. Princeton House Charter School has since become a part of the Bluebee Pals project and recipient of over 14 donated Bluebee Pals!

Laura Jiencke, president of Kayle Concepts, accepted an invitation from Princeton Houses’ speech-language pathologist, Punam Desormes, to visit and observe teachers/therapists in their classrooms integrating Bluebee Pals in their lesson plans.

“It was an inspirational day watching children engaging with Bluebee Pals while connected to a range of music, voice recordings and AAC apps. iPads are a leading tool for teachers applying assistive technology in their classrooms. Bluebee Pals enhance the educational value by creating a tangible manipulative in a learning setting where children are encouraged to interact.”

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So impressed with their quick integration of Bluebee Pals into education and treatment of their students with Autism, Ms. Jiencke, returned two weeks later to participate in a training and brainstorming session with 15+ Princeton House ESE teachers and therapists. Teachers and therapists at Princeton House Charter School will evaluate the Bluebee Pal Pro in their classrooms and plan to document and measure the results in the coming school year.

“This is a very special school dedicated to children with Autism who’s teachers are determined to apply creative forms of technology in their classrooms. Teachers and therapists collaborate on the various applications to integrate Bluebee Pals. We are thrilled to have the participation of these dedicated professionals and anticipate the results of their work.”
– Laura Jiencke, CEO of Kayle Concepts and founder of The Bluebee Pals

FACE Autism Center Of Excellence

The Florida Autism Center of Excellence (FACE) offers successful educational programs for children and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The center’s innovative collaboration with the public school district is bringing new choices for families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

With the rate of autism diagnoses on the rise – current numbers estimate that one in every 88 U.S. children is on the autism spectrum – the Florida Autism Charter School of Excellence (FACSE), a Florida nonprofit entity, was awarded a grant by the Florida Department of Education to open FACE in 2007. FACE exclusively serves children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and offers educational solutions for student’s ages 3 to 22 in pre-k through 12th grade and beyond. Located at 6310 East Sligh Avenue Tampa, FL 33617, the school is available to families in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, Manatee and Sarasota counties.

The program at FACE focuses on developing the appropriate paths of learning to meet the specific individual needs of each student in all areas of functioning. At FACE, students gain the academic, social, language, behavioral, vocational and life skills they need to help them become more independent later in life. FACE uses the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) – an effective, research-based strategy that has been proven to be effective for teaching students with autism.

As of 2017, they have 145 students across 13 classrooms and an ever growing waiting list! FACE provides academic, social, language, behavioral, vocational and life skills education via the principals of Applied Behavioral Analysis. Students are instructed in small group ratios to achieve their highest potential wether working on a special diploma via Access Points Curriculum, state standards or vocational skills.

Annie Russell, Principal of FACE, was introduced to Bluebee Pals at a trade show years ago and was instantly intrigued. FACE again connected with Kayle Concepts at an autism conference and subsequently had a visit with Blubee Pals creator, Laura Jiencke. Laura, with her endless generosity, donated multiple Bluebee Pals to FACE this Summer! Principal Russell and FACE lead BCBA Tawnya Hanlon welcomed Bluebee Pals into their school once again this Summer as they began to discover all the possibilities of its use. ESY (extended school year) students greeted Sammy the Bear with bright smiles and even a little shyness. They listened to a short story, engaged in conversations, used a text to speech app to make Sammy talk and danced the afternoon away! The FACE staff were amazed with the enthusiasm their students had upon meeting Sammy the Bear and loved seeing them engaged! The FACE school has big plans for implementing the Bluebee Pals in the coming 2017-2018 school year. They are eager to use the Pals to teach language skills such as prepositions and answering “Wh” questions, increase appropriate transitioning, and provide instruction during discrete trials. We are thrilled to see what the future holds for Blubee Pals and FACE! Thanks to FACE staff and students for being part of the Bluebee Pals Project!

The Autism Program at Boston Medical Center

The Bluebee Pals Project donated Bluebee Pals to the Autism Program at Boston Medical Center. The center plans to offer parents of children with Autism a Bluebee Pal. Bluebee Pals support communication and education while providing children companionship. In addition, parents will provide testimonials on their children’s reactions and responses when interacting with their Bluebee Pal.

The Autism Program at Boston Medical Center assists and empowers autistic individuals and their families through direct patient support, provider education, and community-based outreach. They strive to meet the needs of the community in Boston and its surrounding areas in a culturally competent manner by offering high quality and comprehensive care to all.

At Boston Medical Center, all are welcome and treated equally. When you come to BMC, they provide not only the traditional medical care you might need to get you healthy, but also the programs, services, and support that will help you stay well.

Everyone has the right to health and wellness, no matter who you are, where you live, what you do, or where you’re from. As the largest safety net hospital in New England, they are dedicated to providing accessible care for everyone, whether at their private, not-for-profit, 514-bed, academic medical center located in Boston’s historic South End or out in the communities where patients live.

Nearly 75 percent of our patients come from underserved populations, such as the low-income and elderly, who rely on government payers such as Medicaid, the Health Safety Net, and Medicare for their coverage. In addition, more than 27 percent of patients do not speak English as a primary language. As part of their dedication to serving everyone, they offer medical care and services in over 263 languages through our Interpreter Services program.

ACDS

ACDS was originally founded in 1966 by a group of parents on Long Island who were seeking services for their young children with Down syndrome. Since then they have grown and evolved into a lifetime services agency that serves families of children and adults with a wide range of disabilities that include; Down syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Speech and Language Delays, and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD).

ACDS programs are delivered in a variety of settings, beginning with our educational center and flagship preschool in Plainview Long Island. Our recent expansion has included a special needs preschool in Westchester County and two adult Day Habilitation programs in Plainview and Merrick LI. They also continue to provide high quality services in the family’s home, in community based programs and in Individualized Residential Alternative group homes (IRAs) with a current capacity to serve more than one thousand people across all of our programs.

The continuity of service offers ione of the unique characteristics of ACDS. A great percentage of teens and adults started with ACDS in early childhood in classes that were staffed by teachers, assistants and therapists, many of whom are still with ACDS to this day. These dedicated individuals are committed to our mission in a way that is best appreciated by visiting our facilities and observing the patient, caring, nurturing approach with which our staff and administration conduct themselves.

Regardless of the program type or size, the services are designed with the individual in mind. All of the activities; educational, recreational, therapeutic, and social, focus on the unique characteristics and abilities of the person we are serving. There is one goal and that is to help that individual develop to their full potential. ACDS brings a wealth of experience, developed over nearly a half century, to the job every day.

ACDS is a 501(c)(3) corporation that relies primarily on government funding. However we remain dependent on private support to fill the gap between public funding and our operating budget – and that gap is ever growing in the face of federal and state budget cuts.

School Programs and Executive Offices

LONG ISLAND
4 Fern Place
Plainview, New York 11803 516-933-4700
info@acds.org

Administrative Offices for Adult and 5 Plus Programs
665 North Newbridge Road
Levittown, New York 11756 516-605-2391
info@acds.org

The Wilson School District

In August of 2023, a large donation of Bluebee Pals were donated to the Wilson School District as an assistive technology resource for educators, speech/occupational therapists and counselors.

DISTRICT VISION: TO CREATE A PLACE WHERE STUDENTS LOVE TO LEARN, STAFF LOVE TO WORK AND PEOPLE LOVE TO LIVE.

Welcome to Wilson! Located in beautiful West Lawn, Pennsylvania on the outskirts of Reading, we serve approximately 6,400 students with over 1150 staff members. Our district is comprised of five elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school.

Our staff is dedicated to improving student learning and achievement. We pride ourselves on creating opportunities for students to succeed in and out of the classroom with our extensive course offerings, extra-curricular activities, and a climate that is conducive for learning.

WILSON SCHOOL DISTRICT SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAM INFORMATION

The Department of Special Education administers the delivery of educational evaluation, identification, placement and program to students with disabilities and/or gifted ability under the mandates of the federal and state guidelines. The School District, in conjunction with the Berks County Intermediate Unit and approved private schools in our area, offers a continuum of services to meet the individual needs of all identified students.

PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

In compliance with state and federal law, notice is hereby given by the Wilson School District that it conducts ongoing identification activities as a part of its school program for the purpose of identifying students who may be in need of special education and related services. If your child is identified by the district as possibly in need of such services, you will be notified of applicable procedures. Individualized services are available to meet specially designed instruction needs due to the following conditions:

Autism
Deaf-Blindness
Deafness
Emotional Disturbance
Hearing Impairment
Intellectual Disability
Multiple Disabilities
Orthopedic Impairment
Other Health Impairment
Specific Learning Disability
Speech or Language Impairment
Traumatic Brain Injury
Visual Impairment
Mentally Gifted

PROGRAMS AND SERVICES OFFERED BY THE WILSON SCHOOL DISTRICT

It is through a combination of programs and services that the District provides to special education students a Free and Appropriate Public Education

Notice of Special Education Services

Aviso de Servicios de Educación Especial

PROGRAMS

Learning Support
Life Skills Support
Emotional Support
Autistic Support
Multiple Disabilities Support
Deaf and Hearing Impaired Support
Blind or Visually Impaired Support

SERVICES

Speech & Language Therapy
Physical Therapy
Occupational Therapy
Audiological
Vision
Orientation and Mobility
Early Intervention
Pragmatic Language
Health Services
Counseling Services
Social Skills Training
Behavior Support Plans
Educational Needs Assessment
Transition Planning
Psychological Services
Psychological Assessment
Parent Involvement

PARENT RESOURCES

Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) – Special Education section of PDE
PA Training and Technical Assistance Network
Parent Training – Berks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU)
Office for Dispute Resolution (ODR)
Berks County Intermediate Unit

Phil Cogdill: Supervisor of Special Education

Wilson School District

(610) 670-0180 ext. 1043

Address: 2601 Grandview Blvd, West Lawn,

PA 19609, United States

Phone: 610-670-0180

Website: https://www.wilsonsd.org/about/

Valley Collaborative

Valley Collaborative was established in 1976 to meet the special education needs of the students and adults of its nine member districts and surrounding communities. We currently serve over 400 K-12 students and 225 adults with a dedicated staff of 250 teachers, education specialists, therapists, paraprofessionals and adult support professionals. Valley also provides Social Security Administration (SSA), Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS), Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB) and Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) programs for Individuals over the age of 18 with special needs.

Valley provides a robust pathway for students to continue their careers beyond high school by providing high quality academic, therapeutic, and vocational services to individuals referred by both local school districts and SSA, DDS, MCB and MRC. We provide programming so students and individuals with special needs can reach their educational and/or occupational goals. By sharing its resources with multiple school districts and social service agencies, Valley is able to provide programming of superior quality at reasonable costs to all those it serves while meeting or exceeding state standards

The Elementary program prides itself on providing an enriched school experience while supporting our students with the tailored therapeutic environment they require. All students have access to writing, reading, language arts, math, science and social studies instruction along with social and life skills programming. Students access this curriculum throughout the school day via multi-modal approach. Our program is rich in trained professionals, supports, and technology specific to our population. Students participate in Physical Education, Art Education, and Music Therapy throughout the school week.

The community engages in school-wide events according to monthly themes. Students help to plan and participate in our annual Science Fair, Thanksgiving Dinner, Halloween Dance, Holiday Fair, etc. One student is awarded “Student of the Month” each month. Community outings are common for all programs and allow students to generalize their skills to other settings. The classrooms are equipped with technology such as smart boards, iPads, and Chromebook to engage and enhance our curricula. The elementary school supports a greenhouse where students learn about gardening, the compost and can sampling herbs and vegetables after growing. In addition, we have a STEM lab that gives students a virtual reality learning experience using our zSpace desktops and V-R goggles along with educational content using our LEGO kits, Dash and Dot Robots and 3D printer.

The program has a wealth of therapists to assist our students and train our staff in the most current research-based intervention strategies. Our integrated therapy approach provides Board Certified Behavior Analysts, Speech/Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Music Therapists, and Social Workers that work with the classroom staff to ensure the child’s range of needs are met.

Testimonials

Feedback from Parents:

“I wanted to share we had a parent advisory meeting today. The Bluebees have been adopted by a classrooms at Valley Collaborative and are being used for reading, apps and the kids absolutely love them. I believe the classes are primarily 1st and 2nd graders.”

“They are utilizing Bluebee Pals with their reading, apps math and other subjects. While not in use, they sit on the windowsill and look adorable in the classroom.”

Feedback from a Classroom Teacher:

“It was nice to have a variety of animals to choose from the family of six Bluebee Pals. One student loved Parker, the monkey, and would choose to use him for reading and trade-in. Another student liked to sit with all the other animals in a tent during trade in.”

“At first, having so many Bluebee Pals, it was hard to pair one animal with each iPad since they showed up as the same name on Bluetooth. However, once we renamed each to their animal’s name, it was easier to pair. I found it convenient that the Bluebee Pal would tell you when its battery needed to be charged. The students think the Bluebee Pals Life Skills App is very cool.”

Osceola School District

Osceola School District

The Osceola School District is located in the heart of Central Florida, and provides academic instruction, rigor, and support each school day to more than 72,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade in 60 schools. The Osceola School District is in the heart of Central Florida, with schools in Celebration, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, Poinciana, Harmony, and Kenansville. The district has 25 elementary schools, 9 middle schools, 10 high schools, 7 multi-level schools, 2 adult education schools, and 26 charter schools. Osceola students represent over 100 different countries and speak over 100 different languages.

The Speech and Language Program at the School District of Osceola County provide a host of services. Speech Language Pathologists and Therapists evaluate, diagnose, and treat a variety of communication disorders. These services are provided in the classroom setting, in designated therapy rooms, as well as in locations all across campus, promoting communication in all environments.

Allison Cusumano, a speech therapist, was first introduced to Bluebee Pals while working at Princeton House Charter School for students with autism. The teachers and therapists utilized Bluebee Pals to interact with AAC Devices, modeling use of devices and communication core boards, reading stories, singing songs, and engaging in social communication in various settings. As the new Program Specialist at Osceola School District, Alison received an overwhelmingly positive reaction to a Bluebee Pal demonstration at an SLP professional development event.

Subsequently, Allison contacted the Bluebee Pal Project to donate and partner on a pilot program they are working on this year, with speech therapists providing group instruction in the elementary school settings and pre-k classrooms. The pilot program will share feedback from the Osceola School District and the response to integrating Bluebee Pals assistive technology tools into their speech programs.

We are grateful for the donation of 22 Bluebee Pals supplied by the Bluebee Pal Project. I look forward to our SLP’s implementing Bluebee Pals in our county programs. Especially, therapists who will be engaging with students in small and large groups in the elementary school settings and preschool classrooms.

Allison Cusumano, MS Ed., CCC-SLP

Program Specialist for Speech-Language Pathology

Exceptional Student Education

Osceola School District

Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center

scottishrite_medium

Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center

Katie R. Lambert, M.S., SLP LIC-CCC
Speech and Language Pathologist

Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center
Sacramento, CA 95819

www.ssrlc.org

TESTIMONIAL

As a speech and language therapist working with young children with language delays and disorders, I find myself looking for ways to engage them in therapy. They LOVE playing on my iPad, but they often become “lost” in the screen and want to push all the buttons vs. doing speech and language therapy. As soon as I saw the Bluebee product I knew instantly that this was something I could easily incorporate into my therapy sessions!
I LOVE that the children are engaged in what the bear is doing! They attend to its mouth while it is moving; this is exciting for a speech and language therapist because it can be tricking getting young children to understand the concept of “look at my mouth moving” one of the key ideas in communication! Also, they are not focused on the screen of the iPad or the novelty of pressing buttons just to press them, they are using their language to navigate their world by telling me (or even the bear) what they want or the answers to the prompts within the apps. My clients have begun talking along with the bear! They are even asking for the bear to read them a story;huge success just in requesting!
I would recommend this product to any speech and language therapist who would like another trick in their bag to engage children in therapy sessions. I am very happy with this product and hope to have two or three in my therapy room!
– Katie R. Lambert, M.S., SLP LIC-CCC

(UM-NSU CARD) for Autism & Related Disabilities University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center

Bluebee Pals were donated to University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism & Related Disabilities (UM-NSU CARD). Individuals with autism and related disabilities frequently require specialized services and supports.

CARD, The Center for Autism & Related Disabilities, is a network of state-funded outreach and support centers based at universities around the state. In South Florida, the main center is at the University of Miami (UM-NSU CARD).

The center at NSU(Nova Southern University) is a satellite of UM-NSU CARD and was established in 1999 to serve the community in Broward County. They are housed in the Department of Speech Language Pathology (SLP) in the College of Health Care Sciences at Nova Southeastern University and collaborate closely with the main South Florida CARD Center at the University of Miami.

Dr. Carole Zangari serves as Executive Director of the NSU Satellite and met with Laura Jiencke(founder of Bluebee Pals) to discuss and confirm the Bluebee donation to various offices and branches of UM-NSU CARD. She is a professor of speech-language pathology (SLP) at Nova Southeastern University. In addition to autism and other developmental disabilities, her areas of interest include augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), assistive technology, and literacy.

What is CARD? CARD stands for the Center for Autism & Related Disabilities. Our center, based at the University of Miami and Nova Southeastern University, is one of seven state-funded, university-based outreach and support centers in Florida dedicated to optimizing the potential of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), dual sensory impairment, sensory impairments with other disabling conditions, and related disabilities.

In addition to ASD, CARD also serves a variety of related disabilities including deaf-blindness, sensory impairments with other disabling conditions, developmental delays in children under 5 who also present with autistic-like behaviors, and genetic disorders that may co-exist with autism symptoms (e.g., Fragile X Syndrome, Rett Syndrome, Tuberous Sclerosis, Angelman Syndrome, among others). Over the years, CARD’s constituency has grown from 88 families in 1993 to over 9,000 families today in Monroe, Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

CARD services are designed to build on the capacities of state and local resources, not to duplicate or replace them. CARD provides families with resources specific to their needs. Some of the services that CARD provides include:

Individualized Client and Family Support
• Family and Professional Training
• Public Education and Awareness and Community Outreach
• Programmatic Consultation and Technical Assistance

University of Miami – Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism & Related Disabilities (UM-NSU CARD)

CARD Main Office

University of Miami

5665 Ponce De Leon Blvd.

 P.O. Box 248768 Coral Gables, FL 33124

CARD Satellite Office

Nova Southeastern University

6100 Griffin Road Davie, FL 33314

CARD Branch Office

Homestead

By appointment only.

CARD Branch Office

Miami Lakes

5801 NW 151st Street Suite #201

Miami Lakes, FL 33014

CARD Branch Office

Miramar

By appointment only.

Apple Patch Therapy

Apple Patch Therapy is a family & therapist-owned private practice based in Orlando, Florida offering comprehensive services to children & adults with a wide variety of communication disorders, including speech, voice, language, feeding & swallowing impairments. Our licensed professionals value collaboration across disciplines, utilization of evidence-based practices, & application of multi-sensory strategies to target & achieve functional goals.

Apple Patch focuses on quality-personalized treatment via in-home 1:1 sessions, group therapy & training in the classroom/clinical setting, family consultations and bilingual therapy.Focused on innovative treatment, they are currently developing an app called SLP Assistant to facilitate in the treatment of various modes of speech and language. The SLP Assistant app is an Android app in Beta and as such the developers are open to suggestions on improving and adding content! Apple Patch also provides a series of slide presentations via SlideShare on their website at www.applepatchtherapy.com. Simply click on Resources—>Activities—>”Shining the Light on Speech” for this awesome therapy resource!

Apple Patch Therapy
1858 North Alafaya Trail, Ste 207
Orlando, FL 32826

Autism Early Enrichment Services (AEES)

Autism Early Enrichment Services (AEES)

Bluebee Pals were donated to AEES to participate in the therapy of children with Autism.

Autism Early Enrichment Services (AEES) is a New York City based Early Intervention program that is rooted in Applied Behavior Analysis and incorporates strategies from various development models to serve the needs of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD’s).

The AEES program uses an interdisciplinary approach, where teams of special instructors, speech therapist’s and occupational therapists consistently work together over long periods of time. AEES strongly believes in cultivating synergistic relationships among therapists so that they may over time, be well practiced at tailoring their intervention to the specific needs of families they serve.

The AEES program adheres to core principles of the national Early Intervention Program for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families, based on Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Intervention is provided to the maximum extent possible in natural and inclusive environments and integrated throughout typical everyday experiences, where parents play a primary role in their child’s learning. www.aees.us.com

TESTIMONIALS

“The Bluebee pal has been a great additional tool for our ABA teachers to use to encouurage communication and language with our little learners diagnosed with autism. Finding new and exciting toys that are also educational AND motivating is not always easy. We are so grateful to have such an invaluable toy as part of our teaching tools.” – Mariann Lai, M.S.Ed, S.A.S., BCBA Program Director at Autism Early Enrichment Services
“The addition to the Bluebee Pal Teddy Bear into our home has been a very exciting and creative learning experience for both my children; ages 3 and 6. Being able to incorporate their favorite stories and songs with the interaction of the Bluebee Pal has not only captured their attention, but has enhanced their individual learning experiences.” – Danielle, Parent
“It is a great toy and educational tool. My son is in love with the lion. He will sleep only if the lion tells him a story. Love it!” – Dave, Parent
“My 3 year old daughter loves it, she will play with the Lions tail and sing along to lullabies. She also likes when I am able to call her through it, and when it reads her stories. She loves to hold on to it when she goes to sleep. As nice as the Blubees are; I wish it had a longer battery life. All in all a good product.” – Sheikh Moonis, Parent
“The Bluebee was a huge hit, in a room full of 2 and 3 year olds! They were completely engaged while the lion was telling a story, and didn’t want him to stop! Adorable.” – Jennifer B. – Parent/Early Intervention Recruiter
“Bluebee Pals are great! My seven year old loves to have a bedtime story read to him every night by his lion. It is easy to setup and they are many apps that can work with it. The speaker sound is great and clear. This is easily a five star product.” – Mark, Parent
“The Bluebee Pal is not only able to captivate my 3-year old, but has allowed for a very engaging and exciting learning experience. He really enjoys stories being read, as well as dancing to his favorite music with his bear. A product that I will definitely be recommending to other moms of preschool age children.” – Jaime, Parent
“My daughter absolutely loves when we she is able to hear my voice through her Bluebee Pal. She takes her Sheep to bed with her every single night, and has been able to put herself to sleep knowing that she is able to hear my voice or her favorite lullaby if needed.” – Jessica, Parent
“My 10 year-old daughter loves using her reading apps on her Lion Bluebee Pal. She also loves listening to music and using her Bluebee as a speaker. She really enjoys calling her friends as well, especially since she can talk to them directly through her Bluebee Pal.” – Luisa, Parent
“I love the Bear Bluebee for my girls. My 4-year old uses it for reading her a stories and my 7 year old enjoys using it to listen to her music. Thanks for creating such a great toy that can be used for all age levels.” – Amy, Parent
“My students love when we incorporate the Bluebee Pal into our daily story time. They get extremely excited and are more attentive as a result. I am happy to have a product that engages my students and allows them to have fun while learning!”
– Janice, Kindergarten Teacher
“The use of the Bluebee during ABA sessions has served as a reinforcing tool that actively engages the children that I work with. Being able to work on a variety of skills by incorporating the Bluebee Pal has been a fantastic motivator. Children love to engage with their favorite apps, as well as practice on telephone skills with familiar family member. I will definitely continue to incorporate the Blueebee Pal into ABA sessions. – Michelle, ABA Provider

Sweetwater County Child Developmental Center

Sweetwater County Child Developmental Center

The Bluebee interactive pal has been able to open up a new way to communicate with children with developmental disabilities.

As a SLP in the field of preschool for 10 years, I am able to engage and entice many children that were not motivated without this visual talking friend. Many children will come greet and imitate Bluebee the lion that would not do so for the slp alone or with a ipad. They are able to recall his name from time to time he visits their class and is able to sit and attend for longer periods of time due to being engaged. The children are able to learn academic language and new communication words or routines such as repetitive songs such as head, shoulders knees and toes, while moving and imitating peers and this friendly lion.

Many students are able to make requests for what to do next with bluebee, label items and ask him questions that they would not do with an adult teacher. He is a great addition to my therapy materials repertoire and one the kids look forward to and ask for.Janelle Smith M.S. CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
Sweetwater County Child Developmental Center
4509 Foothill Blvd.
Rock Springs, WY 82901
307-352-6871

Morris-Union Jointure Commission

Morris-Union Jointure Commission, BOE Office –

340 Central Avenue, New Providence, NJ 07974

Dear Bluebee Pals Project,

I am assistant superintendent of schools for the Morris-Union Jointure Commission (MUJC), which is a regional collaborative public school comprised of 29 member school districts in the state of New Jersey. The MUJC provides special education services to students with autism ages 3 – 21 through its Developmental Learning Center (DLC) schools and outreach services. Our DLCs are publicly recognized in the state of New Jersey as state-of-the-art schools for students with autism. As you know, technology provides students with autism the ability to communicate more effectively and learn a number of educational skills that are difficult to teach through mainstream teaching material. Our students may frequently display aggressive behaviors due to the simple fact that they do not have the ability to express themselves verbally. Our oldest school, the DLC – New Providence, is being refurbished and redesigned as a school for elementary age students beginning in September 2017. I have seen the effect technology has had on our students’ learning. For our restyled DLC – New Providence, I want to employ the most current and effective technology throughout the building. One way to do this is to have a media center. I envision the media center to have state-of-the-art technology to engage young students.

You can only imagine how happy I was to come across Bluebee Pals. I can see where our young children will become engaged, attached and increase their social interaction through a “friendship” with Bluebee Pals. I would invite neighboring district general education students to demonstrate and teach our students how to interact with a Bluebee Pal. The ways to increase socialization, communication, and appropriate behaviors through using Bluebee Pals as a teaching tool appears endless. Our related service providers including speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, behavior specialists and adaptive physical therapists will all employ Bluebee Pals in their instruction to our young students.

Sincerely,

Denise Smallacomb,

Assistant Superintendent

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Truman Primary School in Norman, Oklahoma

Truman Primary School in Norman, Oklahoma – Truman Primary 601 Meadow Ridge Road Norman, OK 73072

Elizabeth Briley is a resource teacher at Truman Primary School in Norman, OK. She contacted the founder of the Pal Project asking for donations for her special needs class. Truman Primary School opened in the 2010-2011 school year when Truman divided into two schools. Truman Primary serves students in Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade, while our sister school, Truman Elementary, has Trailblazers in 3rd, 4th and 5th.

The class Elizabeth Briley teaches is a special education class for children identified as severe/profound with multiple disabilities. Most of the children in her class received their disabilities from traumatic brain injuries as a result of a family member. They started off with 5 students 6 years ago and have now grown to a class of 12 students with 3 more students scheduled to attend next year. The age group of her students are 3-13 years. There is no middle school program so they go directly from her class to high school. Elizabeth Briley was on Pinterest the and saw the Bluebee Pals. She reviewed the Bluebee Pal Website to check out the products and noticed that Bluebee Pals have a program to donate to special education programs (Bluebee Pal Project).

I know that my students would really love interacting with a Bluebee Pal. Unfortunately, most of my student’s disabilities limit them in what they are capable of doing but almost all of them can activate and ipad. They become engaged whenever they are using an ipad and this would be just the thing to grab their attention and keep it for awhile. I hope you will consider donating a Bluebee Pal to my class.

Bluebee Pal Sammy Bear participated in engaging children to read, learn and communicate at Truman Primary School. The kids are thrilled to have Bluebee participate in their lesson plans….They love them. Thank you again

Elizabeth Briley- Resource Teacher (Multi Room)

Riverside Middle School, Grand Rapids, MI

Riverside Middle School, Grand Rapids MI

Bluebee Pals were donated to Riverside Middle School in Grand Rapids, Michigan after receiving this email from Ms. Bull.

My name is Staci Bull I am a self-contained ASD teacher Riverside Middle School. Riverside is part of the Grand Rapids Public Schools in Grand Rapids, MI. We are an inner city school that teaches underprivileged students. I just found out about your bluebee pals this morning. Our speech path won one at a conference and she tried it out with my students. Today was the first day that the students were engaged the entire speech time and they answered all of their questions and completed all of the activities cooperatively. It is amazing what a talking stuffed animal can do for students with a disability! I saw that your organization partners with some nonprofit organizations. What does it take to become part of the bluebee pal project? After seeing how it motivated my students this morning I am very interested in finding out more.

I have a B.S. in psychology and a minor in sociology. I have a master’s degree in learning disabilities and another master’s degree in psychology. Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) is Michigan’s fifth largest public school district and the third largest employer in the City of Grand Rapids, serving nearly 17,000 students with 2,700 employees, including 1,400 dedicated teachers. The student population represents 55 countries with 54 different languages spoken, creating a value-added educational experience and benefit that is above and beyond a basic education. Our special education mission is to meet the unique needs of students with individualized education programs (IEPs) by providing instruction and training to enable them to meet the district’s rigorous Academic Plan.

For our building we could use four-six Bluebee Pals. We have a couple of classrooms that are self-contained ASD classrooms that have very low functioning students.Our students got to experience a Bluebee Pal for the first time this week and their eyes just lit up! It is amazing how motivating a talking stuffed animal is. We had students doing academic tasks independently for the first time and students were on task for longer periods of time. All of the students loved the Bluebee Pal!

Thanks again!……..Here are a couple of photos. The kids absolutely love the Bluebee Pals!!! Thank you again for the very generous donation to our classroom. I will be sending you more pictures and hopefully a video next week.

Staci Bull M.Ed-ASD Teacher

Riverside Middle School

265 Eleanor N.E.

Grand Rapids, MI 49505

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Saks Elementary School

MRS. WAGNERS SPEECH THERAPY CLASS – SAKS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Helen H. Wagner, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
Saks Elementary School
Anniston, Alabama

Bluebee Pals were donated to Mrs.Helen Wagner’s Children’s Speech Therapy Class in Aniston, Alabama.

My name is Helen Wagner. I am a Speech Language Pathologist working in public schools in Alabama. With over 30 years of experience, I have used lots and lots of materials!!! I have embraced the use of technology in my speech therapy classes because I have seen the difference it has made with engaging and motivating my students! I love using the Bluebee Pals in therapy!!! The kids enjoy them and I keep coming up with ways to incorporate these furry friends into my students’ goals. In my room, we also call them our communication partners because they help us work on a variety of speech skills.

I have all of your You Tell Me Stories, and my kids ask for them over and over! I used our Bluebee Pals along with your stories and the kids went crazy!! They loved reading along with Lion, Bear, Zebra and Sheep! I noticed increased active engagement during our lesson! This translated to improved retell skills and improved memory for main idea and comprehension of important story facts. The REAL joy of the lessons was when the students recorded and retold the story, in sequence! The Bluebee Pals were talking in THEIR voices!!!! They were sooooo excited! Oh! How they love recording and listening to themselves!!! They were eager to email their own recorded narratives to our speech room, their teacher and their parents!

Together, they are powerful motivators for my early learners!– Helen H. Wagner, M.S., CCC-SLP

More Feedback from Helen

Bluebee Pals are an excellent tool to use with Tell Me A Story apps!.. In addition, I have been using our Bluebee Pals with the Speech Tutor app to practice sound production skills. Our Pal becomes the teacher along with the training video on the app, and the students have fun imitating the Pal’s productions! Our Pals inspired us as we played Toca Hair Salon! Leo the Lion got a new hairdo! We have had fun working with our Bluebee Pals to learn shapes and numbers with Tiggly! We also sing along with our Pals during music!

Bluebee Pals are great to use during articulation therapy! We have used Voice Recorder Free and several specialized articulation apps, such as Communication Station Pro, to practice sound production skills! With these apps, students record themselves producing targeted sounds in words, phrases or sentences. During playback, the Bluebee Pals “say” the words in the child’s voice, with the child receiving auditory feedback on his/her own productions! The students are much more motivated to self-monitor their speech productions! Listening to their own auditory feedback helps my students collect and track their own data.”

“I have found my students to be much more highly engaged and motivated to practice their communication skills with the addition of Bluebee Pals in my therapy classroom!” – Helen H. Wagner, M.S., CCC-SLP

Hasbro Children’s Hospital

Hasbro Children’s Hospital is deeply committed to advancing medical knowledge and improving patient care for children through the latest research. Their clinical research has garnered national and international recognition, including an estimated ten new awards per year for the last five years.

Marianne T. Cooney, CCLS Providence, RI

www.hasbrochildrenshospital.org

Jessie Baker School

Jessie Baker School

Sharon Stanley SLP

Jessie Baker School – Elk Grove, CA 95624

Bluebee Pals were donated to The Jessie Baker School in Elk Grove, California. Jessie Baker School is the first public school in California dedicated to teaching students with severe disabilities.

Jessie Baker School is a public special education school located in Elk- Grove, CA. It has the distinction of being the first public school in California dedicated to teaching students with severe disabilities. The school was started by its namesake 53 years ago. Jessie Baker was the mother of a student with Down Syndrome who fought vigorously for the rights of students with special needs to receive a free and appropriate education. Today, the passion to educate students with severe disabilities is reflected in the 50 teachers and paraprofessionals who serve to mentor, coach and educate approximately 180 students ranging in age from 5-22. Sharon Stanley is the speech and language pathologist (SLP) at Jessie Baker. Her motto is “Communication for All” and she advocates for the rights of all children, regardless of their disability or level of functioning, to receive access to high-tech communication devices. Bluebee Pals supports Sharon’s mission and has provided her with 26 Bluebee Pals to help motivate and encourage her students to communicate to the best of their abilities.

Check back often for stories of how the Bluebee Pals are making a difference in the lives of her students.

JessieBakerWalk.blogspot.com

TESTIMONIAL

Every teacher knows that the end of the school year can be a challenge! The kids are ready to start their summer vacation and aren’t as eager to listen to the teacher. We received a donation of Bluebee Pals at just the right time. One of our teachers, Nikki Castaneda, connected her Bluebee Pal Lion to her iPad with Speak for Yourself. Using the Hold that Thought feature, she programmed several routine directions into her iPad as well as some fun phrases, such as “Are you kidding me?”; “Hahaha.” “Awesome!”. When students needed to transition to the next activity, she had the lion, give the direction and the praise. The kids loved it! – Sharon Stanley SLP
I work with a young student with autism who is non-verbal and uses a communication device with Speak for Yourself to communicate. Like most children he learns best when he is motivated and engaged, but he needs lots of repetition to learn, and can easily get satiated on the same toys and games. Two of his favorite things are animals and technology, so I was excited to try the Bluebee Pal zebra with him. I connected the Zebra to my iPad and used the Speak for Yourself app to talk to him and ask him questions. He loved it! He was laughing and smiling, used his talker to communicate with his pal and followed simple “Give me ________” directions given by the zebra. The next time he came to speech, the first toy he requested was the Zebra. – Sharon Stanley SLP

Mighty Oaks Children's Therapy Center

mighty_oaks_0b65101f-f9a2-4ce0-a7ca-66193bcc4d1b_compact

Heather Mackey, MS, CCC-SLP
Executive Director
Mighty Oaks Children’s Therapy Center

Albany, OR 97322

In 1983 a need was identified for local, medically-based, pediatric therapy services to help children with special needs on the quest for greater independence. Parents and therapists united in a coalition, and Mighty Oaks Children’s Therapy Center was formed. Founded upon the belief that all children deserve a chance to fulfill their potential for independence and success Mighty Oaks Children’s Therapy Center offers comprehensive, family-centered therapy provided by experienced, licensed, and dedicated pediatric specialists for children with all types of disabilities (developmental, physical, cognitive, injury-related such as car accidents, neglect/abuse, drug/alcohol effects, etc.).

Mighty Oaks has a long history of strengthening families. In addition to the therapy services we offer we also provide advocacy, parent trainings, and educational resources to help parents and caregivers acquire the needed skills and information to nurture their children with special needs and help them reach the greatest possible level of independence.

In September, Mighty Oaks will be opening a developmental preschool for special needs children. The inaugural class will consist of 69 toddlers from ages 3-6.

www.mightyoakschildren.org

TESTIMONIAL

“I am absolutely thrilled to use Bluebee Pals in this program. I have been with Mighty Oaks for over 11 years and have recently taken over the executive director position. I am so excited to share these with all of our families and therapists in all of the various disciplines. I cannot thank you enough from the bottom of my heart. ”
– Heather Mackey, MS, CCC-SLP

QSAC

Bluebee Pals were donated to QSAC to participate with therapists as a learning tool for children with Autism. They are a highly respected and dedicated organization with 1700 support agencies.

QSAC is a highly respected https://bluebeepals.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1033&action=edit#and dedicated New York City and Long Island based nonprofit with 1700 support agencies. QSAC supports children and adults with autism, together with their families, in achieving greater independence, realizing their future potential, and contributing to their communities in a meaningful way by offering person-centered services.

Rocio Chavez is currently the Assistant Director for the Quality Services for the Autism Community’s (QSAC) After School Programs.

She also facilitates a social skills group for children with high functioning autism and a sibling support group. Rocio holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Behavioral Applications from Queens College, and a dual master’s degree in General and Special Education, Birth-Grade 2 from Touro College. Rocio is also a licensed behavior analyst. She has provided clinical consultations in school and home based settings, and most recently provided consultation for the Broadway play The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Nighttime. Rocio has also assisted in designing staff training and student curriculum and has co-authored a chapter in the book Behavioral Detectives: A Staff Training Exercise Book in Applied Behavior Analysis. She has presented on various topics including stimulus-stimulus pairing and reinforcer assessments at The New York State Association for Behavior Analysis (NYSABA) convention as well as The Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) convention. Rocio has conducted research on self-management training in preschoolers with autism and stimulus-stimulus pairing. She has worked with children and young adults on the autism spectrum for the over ten years. www.QSAC.com

“We used the Blue Blee Pals (BBP) to introduce some activities that we would normally implement with a direct instructor, but used the Blue Bee Pals instead. We tried using BBP to help a student generalize instructions delivered from the BBP instead of the instructor, and also to recognize body parts. Using the Proloquo2go program, which is a communication app, we typed out directives (e.g., touch nose) and the student was able to generalize the instruction and touch the Blue Bee’s nose once he heard the directive. Children with autism often have difficulty discriminating across people, instructions, settings, etc. and seeing this student generalize the directive, not given by an instructor was wonderful. We also used BBP for story time activities. The students were interested in the Blue Bee Pal “reading” the story and were curious to touch it. Overall, using BBP was a different spin on how we would normally teach our students. It is a fun tool to use!” – Rocio E. Chavez and Dita DeSena

QSAC pics in classroom

AblePlayTM and The National Lekotek Center

AblePlay^TMand The National Lekotek Center

The National Lekotek Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting play for children of all abilities. Lekotek believes play is the way kids learn, develop skills and reach milestones. The Lekotek mission is to make the world of play accessible to all children, especially those who have special needs.

Toys and play empower children to reach their potential and increase inclusion within their families and communities. Lekotek has a network of 17 affiliates across the United States dedicated to working with children by utilizing toys and play to grow, learn and thrive.

Lekotek has combined experience working with kids and families, child development expertise and knowledge of toys and play products to develop AblePlay—a national outreach to provide information and evaluations on the developmental potential of toys and play.

AblePlay^TM is a toy rating system and website that provides comprehensive information on toys and play products for children of all abilities. AblePlay was created so parents, friends, family members, educators, therapist’s and others can make the best decisions when purchasing products for children in their lives, especially children with special needs.

www.ableplay.org and www.lekotek.org

TESTIMONIALS

“The National Lekotek Center is a network of 17 sites across 9 states—each site received a donation of 2 Bluebee Pals to add to their lending libraries. Lekotek was thrilled and grateful to receive such a generous donation of products that will benefit kids with special needs and their families!” – Jean Bailey, Director of the National Lekotek Center
“Bluebee Pals provide kids with auditory, tactile and visual sensory experiences during play—snuggly soft fur to touch, friendly face to see and inviting voice to hear.” – Megan Murphy, Developmental Therapist
“Bluebee Pals enable experiential learning. The plush is inviting and begs for speech and language involvement through pretend play, story time or connecting with someone on the phone.” – Hayley Anderson, CTRS
“Kids quickly warm up to Bluebee Pals and mimic their actions. Pretend play is a beneficial influence on social/emotional development—Bluebee Pals help kids be self-confident to be self-expressive.” – Ahren Hoffman, CTRS
“Mixing traditional toys with apps is a great way to add more play value!” – Gerardo Perez, CTRS
“I love reading stories with my brother using Bluebee Pals!” – Rebecca A., Chicago, IL
“We enjoy using Bluebee Pals to talk to Grandma and Grandpa in Florida. The lion keeps Abbie engaged longer because there is a visual representation of the conversation and something for her to play with!” – Carrie G., Chicago, IL

NWO Apraxia Support

NWO Apraxia Support

Beth McIntosh
President
NWO Apraxia Support

Bluebee Pals were donated to NWO Apraxia Support to be put into the hands of those impacted by apraxia and other invisible disabilities. The Bluebee Pals will be used in therapy and at home to enhance the therapy experience and increase the engagement of the child.

NWO Apraxia Support is a 501(c)(3) regional nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families impacted by and raising awareness about Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) and other invisible disabilities (including, but not limited to SPD, anxiety, epilepsy, non-specific learning disabilities, ADHD, dyslexia, autism, tourette’s syndrome, and other speech and language disorders), as well as providing grants to fund supplemental therapies, treatments, activities, or equipment that will enhance the lives of individual children impacted by CAS and other invisible disabilities. We seek to provide information and resources for all families impacted by CAS and invisible disabilities, but focus funding those close to home in Northwestern Ohio and Southeastern Michigan. We are an all volunteer organization made up of parents, grandparents, caregivers and professionals working together to make a difference one family at a time.

Since December of 2012 NWO Apraxia Support has provided $94,000 in grants for therapeutic summer camp, equipment and other activities to impact more than 293 area children, teachers, therapists and therapy facilities. They have connected with more than 200 families from Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan. NWO Apraxia Support has helped them to network, share resources, and obtain funds necessary for appropriate treatment. NWO Apraxia Support continues to build a meaningful network of parents, therapists, teachers and businesses to help their superheroes!

www.nwoapraxiasupport.org

TESTIMONIALS

Follow the adventures of Kari, Karys and Kai Sherwood – “I’m not a rockstar but I am a single mom, which is basically the same thing. I have two on the Autism Spectrum. I work as an Instructional Designer and reside in Port Clinton, Ohio.” Mommy first, rockstar second
Bluebee Pals and NWO Apraxia Support thank you for my lamb!!! I love it!!!!!! I can’t wait to see the potential that this lamb has in therapy and in my life! I’m very willing to let lambie speak what I tap or type on Proloquo2Go

The J. D. McCarty Center

The J. D. McCarty Center

The J. D. McCarty Center for children with developmental disabilities is Oklahoma’s “center of excellence” in the care and treatment of children with special needs. At the McCarty Center, they help children with developmental disabilities learn to move, eat, play and communicate better. The J. D. McCarty Center was founded in 1946, by a veterans group called the 40 et 8 of Oklahoma. The 40 et 8 was an honor society within the American Legion.When the McCarty Center first opened its doors to patients they only treated one diagnosis – cerebral palsy. Today, They have treated more than 100 different diagnoses in the developmental disability category.

Children that are referred to the hospital are first evaluated by our team. Our staff of pediatricians, pediatric specialists, registered nurses /LPNs, direct care specialists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, dietitian, clinical psychologist, psychology clinicians and social workers focus on getting a child to their highest level of functionality and independence.

Angela Moorad,
Speech-Language Pathologist at J.D. McCarty Center

Angela Moorad is the founder of OMazing Kids, LLC and is an ASHA certified & licensed pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist with over 25 years experience working in a variety of settings (early intervention, schools, teletherapy & a nonprofit pediatric rehab hospital for children with developmental disabilities). She is an app beta tester for educational & therapeutic app developers and also utilizes Bluebee Pals in her work as a SLP at the center.

www.jdmc.org

Soldier Creek Elementary

Soldier Creek Elementary

Julie Fox
1921 SE 15th
MidWest City, Ok 73130

Julie is a ASHA certified speech-language pathologist working for the Mid-Del school district in Oklahoma City. She currently works with 30 students who have the diagnosis of autism. Julie is also on the district assistive technology team working with teachers across the district to support children with special needs.

Julie Fox has a Master’s degree in Communication Disorders from Wichita State University and has been practicing for 26 years. Nine years she began working on an Assistive Technology Team where she worked in Texas. While there, Julie provided assistance to IEP teams working on implementing and assessing the need for AT. Julie moved to Oklahoma due to a job change for her husband and began working for Mid-Del. Julie loves what she does, giving a voice to students who don’t have one.

TESTIMONIAL

“There is nothing like seeing joy in the eyes of a child who has never been able to tell someone what they need or want, that moment of joy is indescribable” – Julie
“Our classroom has just begun using our new BlueBees. The kids love using Storytime Online having books read to them. Before the BlueBees the kids liked the stories but since we have added the animals they sit up and pay much better attention. As a speech pathologist, I have also used BlueBees with the app Language Acquisition through Motor Planning, LAMP, it is an augmentative communication application. I hook the BlueBee up and have the animal talk to my student via the app. The kids really take to the animal and interact with it more than they do with me. There is something less threatening I guess. They love it!” – Julie

Explorer K-8/Hernando County Public Schools

Explorer K-8/Hernando County Public Schools

10252 Northcliffe Boulevard
Spring Hill, FL 34608
Hernando County School District has earned full SACS accreditation. Distinction as a SACS accredited district means that all 23 public schools in Hernando County will be fully accredited until 2020.

Martha Myers M.A., SLP
Martha Myers is a speech therapist from The Explorer K-8/Hernando County Public Schools in Spring Hill, FL and is taking part in the Bluebee Pals Project.

TESTIMONIALS

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Martha has provided us with informative “Assistive Technology App” recommendations to engage her students as well as feedback on the outcome of utilizing Bluebee Pals in her classroom as an educational learning tool.
Here are the different ways Martha Myers has utilized The Bluebee Pals in her classroom.
Recently, I have been using them to read aloud TarHeel Reader stories that have been imported into Pictello. The students are now able to sustain attention to the entire story whereas before, they would disengage after a page or two. I attribute the increased attention/engagement to the addition of the Bluebee pals. The kids are fascinated by the animal’s moving mouth.
I have one student who loves to listen to music, but he is unable to stay seated whenever I play music (he’s all over the room). If I give him one of the pals to hold during our music activity, he will remain seated and then is able to access his communication board to request more, or state preferences (“I like it” or “don’t like it”). This has been a huge breakthrough for him in recognizing the power of communication.
I use several AAC apps (Speak For Yourself, PQ2G, Aacorn, Avaz, etc.) during my therapies. The pals say each word and give the kids directions, make comments, answer questions, etc. which is very motivating for my nonverbal students. The kids are much more likely to program 2+ words into the device in order to make the animal talk so the animals are helping to expand utterances via AAC.
In addition, there are Bluebee Pals in three of my Pre-Kindergarten disabilities classes and the teachers will be using them with the students and providing feedback. I imagine they’ll be even more creative than I am and will come up with even more ways to use them. We also have 3 therapists now at my school and The Blueee Pals are available for their use along with the other therapists in our district. We’re all excited to have the opportunity to use them to enhance our programs.
The Positive Results:
I have a student who has refused to come with me for therapy all year (she’s missing the “circle/music” time in class) and it’s been a huge challenge getting her out the door. The last two sessions, she has jumped up and walked right out with me. As soon as we get to my room, she requests one of the Pals. I absolutely know that the Pals are the reason for her willingness to come now. Problem solved!
Yesterday (same student), we used the lion and placed “a call to Santa” (it’s an app). She carried on an extensive conversation with Santa via the Lion Bluebee Pal and I’ve never heard her produce more than 2-3 syllables/words…ever! Most of what she was saying was unintelligible, but OMGosh! She was talking! A lot! We had a great time!
www.edline.net/pages/HCSB_EK8
Terry Kappe SLP
Director of a private practice clinic in California
Speech & Language Therapy Services
I am a proud owner of 3 Bluebee pals. As an AAC/AT specialist and a practicing speech language pathologist, they have become important therapy tools and partners in my assessments. I spend a lot of time in different special education classes doing evaluations and enjoy the students’ reactions when I come in with one of my “friends”. Even better when my pal starts talking using my favorite AAC app. When I do a class lesson, I have one of my pals join me and they help to engage the students. These pals are great ways to integrate technology with social interaction, and I am just beginning to explore their possibilities. As an AAC/AT specialist, I also appreciate the ease with which they work and the clear and simple video instructions provided on the website.

Middle Ridge Elementary School

Middle Ridge Elementary School offers a meaningful learning environment derived from research based strategies, focusing on higher level thinking in order to construct triumphant visionaries that can succeed in the 21st Century.

Middle Ridge Elementary School

Special Education Classroom:

Total 10 students and 3 Paraprofessionals
5 mostly non-verbal – 5 verbal
All students receive Speech and Occupational Therapy
3 Students receive Adaptive PE
2 Students with seizures

Middle Ridge Elementary School

Principal

Dr. Forehand
Covington, GA 30014

Shanna Powell
Certified Special Education Teacher
Self- Contained Classroom K-5
Mindset Instructor
“Sprouting New Root” Outdoor STEM Lab Coordinator

TESTIMONIALS

“Teaching these kids is my passion and my destiny. Reaching them in a way that “they learn” is what I strive to do. I don’t not hold them back from anything, they CAN and they WILL learn in my class.”
– Shanna Powell

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The Soifer Center

The Soifer Center is a multi-disciplinary child development center providing assessment, therapeutic and advocacy services for children who are struggling with language and speech, literacy and learning, social and emotional, or other academic challenges.

Additionally, The Soifer Center offers a complement of classes designed to give the necessary tools to both educators and parents so they can answer the question, “Who Is This Child”?

The Soifer Center
White Plains NY 10604

www.soifercenter.com

McLean School

McLean School was established by Lenore and Delbert Foster in 1954. McLean School has been transforming lives for sixty years. McLean’s original mission was to provide a learning environment that would serve the needs and gifts of all kinds of students. After the Fosters retired in 1978, a group of dedicated parents, faculty, and staff formed a nonprofit corporation and relocated McLean to the current Lochinver Lane campus in Potomac, Maryland.

McLean School transforms lives. McLean is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school for bright students in kindergarten through grade 12. We welcome both traditional learners and those with mild to moderate learning differences—including ADHD, executive functioning, anxiety, and language-based differences, such as dyslexia and dysgraphia.

Sara Hines
Head of Lower School
McLean School
Potomac, Maryland

Sara has a Ph.D in Special Education:Learning Disabilities, and for the past twenty years, she has been turning her passion into action—as a teacher, supervisor of teachers, program administrator, and college professor. Sara brings to McLean a long list of professional achievements: among others, classroom teacher and Director of Tutor Training at the Lab School of Washington; elementary school Learning Specialist at Sidwell Friends School; college professor and researcher in special education at Hunter College in New York City.

Sara has published numerous studies of early childhood literacy development and techniques of classroom support for students with learning disabilities.

www.mcleanschool.org

Green Acres Elementary School

Green Acres Elementary School

Sonya Hostetter
Special Education Teacher with a Master’s in Special Education.
District Level Basic Skills Elementary Program for the Lebanon Community School District.

Sonya’s class serves students with severe autism, down syndrome, medically fragile students, and students with severe behavioral or communication needs. The students in her classroom are students who need an increased level of support that cannot be met at their home school. Sonya’s classroom has a high adult to student ratio, is very structured and provides direct instruction in a 1:1 setting. Also assisting in this class are skilled Personal Care Assistants that are trained in medical care as well as de-escalation strategies, augmentative communication, physical therapy and occupational therapy programs overseen by the OT and PT.

“This is my 5th year teaching and I absolutely love my job and especially this population in which I am able to work with.” – Sonya Hostetter
www.lebanon.k12
Story Time at Green Acres Elementary School

“One of our students loves to dance and play with her Lamb Bluebee Pal. She feeds it and shares her juice with it while it sings her favorite songs to her. It has been an amazing calming tool for her.”
– Sonya Hostetter

Tech Kids Unlimited

Tech Kids Unlimited

Tech Kids Unlimited is a not-for-profit technology-based educational organization for kids ages 8 to 18 with special needs, which empowers and inspires the next generation of digital natives to learn, create, develop and share the tools of technology.

Tech Kids Unlimited is designed for children ages 8-18 years of age who have been diagnosed with learning and emotional disabilities such as ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, Auditory Processing Disorder, Anxiety, OCD, Executive Processing and Dyslexia. Students don’t need any previous tech knowledge to attend. TKU students usually attend private schools for students with disabilities, are home-schooled, go to non-public schools as well as the NYC Department of Education’s ASD NEST program. Most students have an IEP or a 504 Plan. Students should be able to function in a classroom-like environment and work mostly independently. We understand that TKU students will need additional help and support, and we have a high counselor to student ratio as well as a social worker in all of our classes.

Eric Maiello
Integrated Digital Media Program
Tech Kid Unlimited
NYU’s Media and Games Network
Brooklyn, NY 11201

www.techkidsunlimited.org

North Naples Speech and Language Services

North Naples Speech and Language Services, Inc. 6734 Lone Oak Blvd. Naples, FL 34109

The mission of North Naples Speech and Language Services, Inc. is to help children communicate and express themselves while supplying parents and teachers with the tools to help facilitate carry over of learned skills into their natural environment.

At North Naples Speech and Language Services Inc., we believe that each child needs to possess the tools for effective communication.

Effective communication is essential in a child’s ability to develop friendships, solve problems, seek information, and express their feelings, wants and needs. The use of competent speech and language skills influence a child’s success in academics as well as interpersonal relationships.
Lori Tinney, MA, CCC-SLP- Owner/Director of Clinical Services

The Village School of Naples

The Village School of Naples

We are excited to have the Naples Village School, Naples, Florida as part of the Bluebee Pal Project.

The Naples Village School was accredited by The Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS) in 2006. FCIS is a professional education association founded in 1954 with its main purpose to establish high standards for nonpublic schools. At the same time, the Preschool was accredited by the Florida Kindergarten Council, which was founded in 1968 dedicated to maintaining high standards in preprimary schools and kindergartens throughout the state of Florida. The Preschool was established as “The Caring Place” at the North Naples United Methodist Church as an outreach mission in 1985. It began as a mother’s morning out The Naples Village School was accredited by The Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS) in 2006. FCIS is a professional education association founded in 1954 with its main purpose to establish high standards for nonpublic schools. At the same time, the Preschool was accredited by the Florida Kindergarten Council, which was founded in 1968 dedicated to maintaining high standards in preprimary schools and kindergartens throughout the state of Florida. The Preschool was established as “The Caring Place” at the North Naples United Methodist Church as an outreach mission in 1985.

It began as a mother’s morning out The Naples Village School was accredited by The Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS) in 2006. FCIS is a professional education association founded in 1954 with its main purpose to establish high standards for nonpublic schools. At the same time, the Preschool was accredited by the Florida Kindergarten Council, which was founded in 1968 dedicated to maintaining high standards in preprimary schools and kindergartens throughout the state of Florida. The Preschool was established as “The Caring Place” at the North Naples United Methodist Church as an outreach mission in 1985.

It began as a mother’s morning out program and has since developed into a preschool program providing extended child care for children ages infants through pre-kindergarten. As the name implies, the main purpose of the Preschool is to provide loving, quality care to pre-school children of the community. The school enrolls children from many backgrounds. In early 2006, the Preschool and The Village School became one entity using the name The Village School to represent all children from infants through the 8th grade. The Naples Village School received a generous donation of Bluebee Pals Pro- an educational learning toy that pairs with any electronic device using Bluetooth technology. Today, the Junior Kindergarten classes are already enamored with their new “friends…. Kathy Sweet Preschool/Lower School Principal | The Village School Naples, Fl 34109

Creating Pathways Pediatric Therapy

Creating Pathways Pediatric Therapy

Shay Copple
M.S., CCC-SLP
Creating Pathways Pediatric Therapy
Keizer OR 97303

Creating Pathways Pediatric Therapy is an Oregon Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) offering pediatric occupational therapy and speech-language services to children birth to 18 years of age in the Keizer/Salem Oregon area. Our mission is to provide high quality, accessible, and effective pediatric therapy to the community that fosters a child’s ability to learn, play, and reach their developmental potential.

“I’m always eager to find new and creative ways to help little ones with functional communication. I think this just might be the ticket! Many of my clients are medically fragile or struggling with communication due to moderate to severe communication disorders and would warm right up to the idea of talking to a stuffed animal. Our clinic is small but mighty with almost 100 clients.” – Shay Copple, Pediatric Speech/Language Pathologist

http://www.creatingpathwaystherapy.com/

MF Therapy Group - Naples, FL

We like to welcome the MF Therapy Group of Naples, Florida to the Bluebee Pal Project. The MF Therapy group are dedicated and caring occupational therapists who specialize in pediatric therapy servicing newborn to high school children.They will be implementing Bluebee Pals as a assistive technology tool as part of their therapy. An occupational therapist is a trained specialist who helps people learn to carry out everyday activities. Occupational therapists work with people of all ages and with various challenges. When they work with children who have learning and attention issues, they help with a variety of issues. Occupational therapy addresses skills like fine motor, gross motor and cognitive skills (thinking and organizing) involving physical space and objects

MF Therapy Group provides occupational therapy and specialty training for children and adolescence with academic concerns (public & private schools) and for challenged individuals such as Autism, PDD, Down Syndrome, Developmental Delay, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, ADD, ADHD, Behavioral problems, Auditory Processing Deficits, Fine Motor Delays, and other medical diagnoses in a clinical based facility.

Owner Mary Fellenz, OTR/L, a graduate of Mount Mary College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has 20 years of clinical experience in pediatrics. She is trained in a variety of treatment modalities such as Interactive Metronome (IM), Sensory Integration (SIPT), Myofascial Release & Craniosacral Therapy, Listening Fitness (LiFT), Handwriting without Tears and Therapeutic Listening Programs.

Morris-Union Jointure Commission (DLC)

Students at the Developmental Learning Centers have become fast friends with Riley the Zebra, Sammy the Bear, and Leo the Lion. These are names of a few of the Bluebee Pals that were generously donated to the Morris-Union Jointure Commission Developmental Learning Centers by Kayle Concepts. These interactive Bluetooth enabled plush animals are used by teachers and therapists to develop and enhance students’ abilities to play, communicate, attend, and interact with others. Through use of an ipad, students listen and watch their favorite animal sing a song, read a book, or interact using a variety of other educational apps. Therapists have incorporated the use of Bluebee Pals during individual and integrated therapy sessions and teachers are using the adorable plush animals during morning and afternoon circle time. The generous donation will allow the Developmental Learning Centers to incorporate their plush animal friends into the new media center that will be open for the 2017-2018 at the Developmental Learning Center in New Providence.

a.c.t. Apps, Consulting and Training

a.c.t. Apps, Consulting and Training – Jackie Bryla

Jackie Bryla founder of a.c.t. – Apps, Consulting and Training is a speech language pathology assistant (SLPA) in California. Her experience includes working with transitional kindergarten through high school age students as well as students with special needs within the functional skills and autism classrooms. She is highly experienced in technology and has creatively used apps with dozens of students.

Are you a parent, educator, app developer, or product designer for tablets (IOS or Android)?

a.c.t. may be just what you are looking for:

Customized “app use” trainings to meet your needs; parent teacher groups, preschool, home school settings, school districts, university and college speech/language or early childhood educational programs
Beta Testing for new app development – test on ‘live’ users
App Reviews
Creative ideas for using apps within educational settings
Market your product in a ‘real world’ training setting (ie: tablet case, stand, accessory)

Individualized app information, ideas and customized educational workshops brought to you. Researching the hundreds of thousand apps that have been developed is a monstrous and time-consuming task. Take the guesswork out of choosing quality apps and let a.c.t. help you. Customized workshops focus on educational features of apps and how to integrate them into speech and language therapy and other educational settings.

www.actbyjackiebryla.com

TESTIMONIALS

“Over the past few weeks I have been using the Bluebee Pals during therapy. WOW, what a game changer for some of the most-challenging kiddos. I have found them to be engaging, enticing and a true source of enjoyment. Every so often there is the student that just doesn’t seem to be motivated or interested; he or she may just be completely content to have no interaction. BUT, helping facilitate communication is my job and when my new little pals accompanied me I saw a change with a couple of kids. I now had joint attention, big smiles, engagement and interest. In just a matter of a couple of speech and language sessions, one student is commenting and requesting with her AAC device, “bear soft”, “I want zebra”, “Zebra sing”.
I also had the pleasure of demonstrating the use of the Bluebee Pals during a recent Language and Literacy workshop. I enabled the Bluetooth on my ipad, opened the Weesing 123 App and passed the lion around the room. The attendees loved it.
All the students love the Bluebee Pals. One 5^th grade boy asked if he could take it back to the classroom! We have had a blast practicing articulation therapy by using the recording feature on one of my favorite articulation apps, Articulation Station PRO by Little Bee Speech. The students now come to the speech room and ask if they can use the animals while they practice reading and recording their articulation stories.” Just all around fun! – Jackie Bryla
Autism Language Program – Boston Children’s Hospital
“Howard Shane’s research focus is on children with complex communication impairment related to autism and other developmental disorders. Currently he is studying the use of technology and visual supports to improve communication and learning in persons with autism. He is keenly interested in the development of a visual language system to both improve and augment the spoken language system for persons with autism who have difficulty processing spoken language.
Dr. Shane’s earlier research focused on the development of augmentative and alternative communication systems for persons with neuromuscular disorders.” – Dr. Howard Shane, PhD, CCC-SLP

North Naples Speech and Language Services

North Naples Speech and Language Services, Inc. 6734 Lone Oak Blvd. Naples, FL 34109

Bluebee Pals bring a fresh new spark to our therapy sessions. Whether we are working on articulation of speech sounds, following directions, building basic concepts, or working on expressive language skills, Bluebee captivates the child’s interest, holds their attention, and motivates them to perform and interact. It is wonderful to watch their faces light up as Bluebee gives them their instructions or models their speech-language targets. Bluebee palls are easy to use and a great way to engage the child with familiar tasks in a new and exciting way. (Lori T, CCC-SLP)

Imagine my excitement when I heard “Bring Bluebee?” spoken with a big expectant smile from a little boy who doesn’t usually have a lot to say! When I arrive for a speech therapy session, my students look to my speech bag to see if I have Bluebee with me. Bluebee makes our speech sessions sail by and the kids faces sparkle! (Danielle C)

Lori Tinney
Speech language pathologist
North Naples Speech and Language Services, inc

Unity Charter Schools - Cape Coral & Fort Myers

Unity Charter School of Cape Coral & Unity Charter School of Fort Myers

We are excited to introduce two charter schools in Southwest Florida to the Bluebee Pal Project. Both charter schools plan to implement Bluebee Pals educational learning tools in both K-3 mainstream and special needs classrooms to motivate reading, communication social skills . In addition, Cape Coral and Fort Myers will provide quarterly feedback and photos on the positive impact Bluebee Pals provide in the classrooms.

At Cape Coral, we believe that creating an excellent learning environment requires a strong and unwavering commitment to quality. Unity Charter School of Cape Coral is a learning community that offers a safer and conducive learning environment because students feel included, nurtured, and connected to caring adults. We believe that all students will thrive at our school and rise to meet the high expectations that are set on a daily basis.

I am excited to celebrate another year as principal at Unity Charter School of Cape Coral. I have been in education over 14 years working as a teacher in grades K-8th for 7 years and at the administrative level at the state, district, and school level for the other years in grades pre-K-12th. My goal is to ensure that all students move to higher levels of achievement and towards readiness to compete academically, socially, technologically, and globally, so that all students are career and college ready. My extensive experience as an educator, administrator, and teacher leader have given me a high degree of knowledge in multiple facets of education ranging from curriculum development in all subjects; professional development, teaching, and administration. My experience also includes teaching and working with many types of students, including but not limited to struggling learners, students in poverty, gifted and talented students, students with disabilities, and English learners. I believe in using best practices that are scientifically research-based and proven by data analysis and review to be effective in increasing student achievement.

Mrs. Jennifer Fowler, Ed.S.-Principal
Unity Charter School of Cape Coral
2107 Santa Barbara Boulevard
Cape Coral , FL 33991

University of Montevallo

University of Montevallo Speech & Language Center – Serving Individuals with Communication Disorders and Preparing Professionals-Montevallo, AL

We very excited to welcome the Speech and Language Center at the University of Montevallo to the Bluebee Pal Project. Kayle Concepts was contacted by Savannah Gardner a graduate student at the Speech and Language Center requesting samples of Bluebee Pals to introduce to their program. The 25 1st year and 25 2nd year graduate students will be utilizing Bluebee Pal as an Assistive Technology Tool during speech therapy sessions.

Melissa A. Cheslock Clinic Director (MS, CCC-SLP) and a clinical supervisor at the University of Montevallo’s Department of Communication Science and Disorders approved this request for students to incorporate Bluebee Pals as speech tool to work with young children. She supervises first and second year graduate students enrolled in the master’s in speech-language pathology program who provide both diagnostic and intervention services for children with a range of communicative needs. She received her undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of South Alabama in Mobile The University of Montevallo’s Speech and Language Center is a training facility for graduate students studying Speech-Language Pathology. All services are provided by graduate students under the direct supervision of licensed Speech Language Pathologists who hold the Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing-Association (ASHA). All CSD faculty members hold the CCC and supervise cases in our Center.

Speech and Language Center Department of Communication Science and Disorders University of Montevallo

Feedback from Speech Students at Speech and Language Center
Department of Communication Science and Disorders
University of Montevallo

They have used Bluebee Pals so far with their clients who have Down Syndrome and Autism. Specifically with the young client who has DS, it really encouraged him to increase his mean length of utterance during sessions. In general, Bluebee Pals have been a great motivator in therapy for the clients and I have only received positive feedback from the students! When I walk through the student break/planning area, I’ll see some Bluebee Pals sitting on the tables, so I know students are thinking of others ways they can be used in the speech/language sessions.

Thanks again for your generous donation! Our summer clinic session begins June and our fall session begins September.

“I enjoyed using Bluebee Pals as a motivational tool for my clients! When they noticed a Bluebee Pal in the therapy room, they quickly got started on their other tasks in order to get to their favorite activity of the day (which I typically saved for the end of the session).”

Melissa Cheslock, MS, CCC-SLP
Clinic Director
Speech and Language Center
Department of Communications

I used the Bluebee with my client as motivation and reinforcement. This is a breakdown of what our sessions looked like this semester:

My client named the Bluebee Bo.

We played with Bo at the beginning of the session working on spatial concepts. (This was one of my client’s goals)

I also recorded myself asking “wh-what” questions through a voice recording app and then played that back in the sessions sometimes so that Bo (bluebee) could ask my client some of the questions. (answering “what” questions was another one of our goals)
We would work on our other goals throughout the session and play with Bo at the end.
At the end of our session, Bo would sing a variety of songs (Old McDonald, The Wheels On The Bus etc.)
My client loved the Bluebee more than any other toy/game I brought in to facilitate different aspects of treatment. The use of the bluebee pal definitely effected our sessions in a positive way in a variety of contexts.

Thank you for the donation. We are forever grateful.

Savannah Gardner

Hope Haven - Where Hope Transforms Families

Hope Haven was founded in 1926, near the height of the tuberculosis epidemic in America, with a mission to serve malnourished and tuberculosis-infected children. Though it opened with just three patients, it quickly outgrew its original facility on the Trout River and, in 1940, moved to a large, white brick hospital on Atlantic Boulevard that quickly became a community landmark.

As modern medicine brought tuberculosis under control, a new public health threat emerged – poliomyelitis, one of the most feared diseases of the mid-1900s. At its new hospital, Hope Haven shifted its attention to treating children afflicted with polio. By the 1960s, when the Salk vaccine began to stem the tide of polio victims, Hope Haven had treated more than 20,000 patients.

As community needs continued to change, Hope Haven continued to adjust, providing general medical and surgical care for children. In 1980, with major changes occurring in the health care system, Hope Haven limited itself to outpatient services. In 1990, it sold the landmark hospital on Atlantic Boulevard and moved to a purpose-built facility on Beach Boulevard, where its staff treats children and families with a range of educational, developmental and mental health concerns.

Today, Hope Haven is recognized as one of the community’s leading nonprofit providers of specialized services for children and their families, and has earned the highest respect from its peers. It serves more than 5,000 families each year.

Hope Haven
4600 Beach Blvd.
Jacksonville, FL 32207
Phone: 904-346-5100

University of Central Florida - Communication Disorders Clinic

The Bluebee Pals were gifted to the Clinical Instructor at the University of Central Florida Communication Disorders Clinic. Graduate student clinicians will use the Bluebee Pals during their treatment sessions to engage clients and assist them in meeting their communication goals. Bluebee Pals interactive plush animals are affordable assistive technology tools that engage children to communicate while providing comfort and companionship.

The UCF Communication Disorders Clinic provides speech-language evaluation and treatment services to individuals across the lifespan with a variety of communication disorders. UCF’s Communication Disorders Clinic offers cutting-edge diagnostic and treatment services to people of all ages with communication and hearing challenges. The clinic treats clients across the lifespan — from toddlers developing speech and language to adults who have lost speech, language or swallowing due to disease or trauma. .They are proud to have nationally and internationally recognized clinical educators who are committed to preparing the next generation of speech-language pathologists. Communication Disorders Clinic – UCF College of Health Professions and Sciences

Punam Desormes, M.A., CCC-SLP, ATP

Faculty Clinical Instructor & Undergraduate Program Co-Director
School of Communication Sciences and Disorders
University of Central Florida

punam.desormes@ucf.edu

https://healthprofessions.ucf.edu/csd/

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The following organizations are participants in The Bluebee Pals Project:

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International

International Day of Play

The Toy Foundation

Academics West

Their Journey

Students Who Benefit Most From Academics West

Academics West

Parsippany Troy-Hills School District

White Plains Elementary

South Hampton Day Care Center

PedsAcademy at Nemours Children’s Hospital

TechACCESS of Rhode Island

Life-Skills, Inc. - Central and Western Massachusetts

College Place School District- WA

College Place School District-College Place, Washington

Camille Granitz SLP

Solvay Elementary School - Solvay Union Free School District

Pathways Strategic Teaching Center - J. Arthur Trudeau Memorial Center

Easterseals of Massachusetts

AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION (AAC) SERVICES

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AT SCHOOL

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AT WORK

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AT HOME

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY REGIONAL CENTER (ATRC)

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY LOAN PROGRAMS

Easterseals of Southern Pennyslvania

Meadow Drive Elementary School - Mineola Union Free School District

Calvary City Christian Academy

Accreditations

Advance Learning Academy

Puddingstone Place

Middleboro, MA

Wellesley, MA

Fullerton Education Foundation

Academy for Autism-Orlando, Florida

Academy for Autism-Orlando, Florida

The Arc - Indiana

Bluebee Pals were donated to the Arc of Indiana to support the special needs community in providing assistive technology tools for parents and therapists.

We are The Arc!

Toni Jennings Exceptional Education Institute & (UCF)

The Arc Baltimore

Monarch Center for Autism

Autism Society of Baltimore-Chesapeake

Teachers With Apps

Stanbridge Academy

The Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District

Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District and Boston Children’s Hospital

Florida Alliance of Assistive Services

Boston Children's Hospital

CRYSTAL ACADEMY of Coral Gables, Florida