LuBird’s Light Playground Communication Board
I recently had the opportunity to collaborate with an amazing family and a local non-profit organization to create a communication board. Per their website, LuBird’s Light Playground in Aurora, CO, is “the first inclusive playground in Denver and Aurora.” It has “state-of-the-art handicapped accessible swings, spinners and slides, musical sensory play equipment, smooth barrier-free surfacing and more.” See their website for more details! https://lubirdslight.org/projects/
It’s seriously so cool. The surface makes me want to bounce. There is really nowhere on the playground that a wheelchair, stroller, or wagon can’t go. It has places for music, swinging, bouncing, spinning, constructive and pretend play. So much learning and language development happens here!
Naturally, I thought of one of my little friends who loves to play but doesn’t yet have the clearest speech. And also doesn’t want to use a communication device if it gets in the way of her plans for play. So, I set out to find a way to build her expressive language while making communication and play functional and practical.
One of the problems with speech-generating devices (SGD’s) is that they can be cumbersome and unnatural. How could we incorporate communication into the playground environment?
As communicators, we all default to whatever is easiest. So a frustrated toddler is more likely to go into tantrum mode than to walk over to a communication board or device and point to a picture that says “Help, please.” But that phrase may be exactly what they need to avoid the meltdown! Why not bring the words to them?
So, this board is digital. It can be as close as a picture on your cellphone! It can be printed and put into a low-tech binder; pictures can be cut into strips with velcro and used as part of a visual schedule. You can take it with you to discuss your adventures at the playground after you leave, or to plan your next visit.
If you’ve been around augmentative/alternative communication at all, you’ll notice that this board does not fit the norm. Here’s why:
Functionality over form. When it’s time to play, statements and choices need to be easy, natural, and quick!
Real pictures are easier for early language learners than symbols or line drawings. (It’s also really complicated to find a symbol to differentiate between 3 spinning toys!)
Language and literacy development at a range of skill levels can be targeted in natural phrases and sentences, rather than single words.
Black-and-white and high-contrast images are easier for people with visual impairments to see.
Without further ado, here is the current version of the LuBird’s Light Communication Board (as of March 11, 2023). It’s a work in progress, so please send me your feedback! Once we have an optimized version, the hope is to have it posted at the playground as well. For now, while we’re testing it out, you can click on the image below and save it to your phone or tablet to use while playing. I am also working on a way to download it to a personal speech-generating device for a real high-tech option. More to come!
