Imagine! provides many services to people with disabilities in our community. One of the services we provide is the opportunity for individuals to learn to express oneself through arts of different mediums.
We also believe in supporting those artists who wish to take their art to a professional level.
Today we’d like to share a couple of examples of how we are doing that, and encourage you to support these artists as well.
Imagine! CORE/Labor Source Art Instructor Bridget Carroll developed a class, 'Art at Work,' where advanced artists, including Rebecca, a resident of the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome, are encourage to create, market, and sell their art to their community and beyond. The Imagine! artists have shown their art in local coffee shops and galleries and have seen great success, but they wanted to expand their audience. Like many professional artists, the Imagine! artists asked for support in selling their art through an online venue. Their art is now for sale online through an Etsy account (click here to check it out). You can search by specific artists on the top left section of the website or just skim through the page. The artists are extremely proud and they encourage you to check out their new website! Check out two of the many works available on the site below.
The artists are offering a 20% discount when you use the coupon code 'iloveimagineart' at check out to celebrate the grand opening of their online shop.
And Mandy, who lives in Imagine!’s Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder, has been self-publishing books for some time now. Many of her books are holiday themed. Click on the images below to learn more about the books (and please consider making a purchase if you are so inclined).
For more than five years, Imagine! has collaborated with the University of Colorado to create assistive technology for individuals we serve. Each spring and fall, students in Professor Melinda Piket-May's freshman engineering class work on adaptive equipment projects to meet the needs of a specific individual or individuals.
The latest batch of projects is complete, and we will be sharing some of them with you over the next few weeks.
Check out this project made by the students, a “Feel the Beat” Sound Vest, designed so individuals who are hard of hearing can experience music through a vibrating sound vest.
Did you catch the story in Saturday's Daily Camera about Imagine!’s ongoing collaboration with a CU Boulder freshman engineering class taught by Professor Melinda Picket-May? The students create assistive technology for SmartHome residents and other individuals served by Imagine!.
If you missed it, you can read the story by clicking here.
Organizations serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the country continue to look to Imagine! for advice and input on how to incorporate technology into their services. Case in point: last week, Imagine! SmartHomes guru Greg Wellems had a lengthy phone chat with Stephanie Nelson of North Dakota’s Anne Carlsen Center. The good folks there are interested in building their own SmartHome, and sought out Greg for tips and encouragement.
This week’s Technology Tuesday is another exciting edition of “Chris’s Corner,” featuring a musical update from Chris Baumgart, Imagine!’s Assistive Technology Specialist.
Chris’s Corner
Another day in the corner.
And again, welcome back, fellow corner-ians. This installment of the corner is a continuation of our exploration into the realm of MIDI technologies, and their uses. If you’re unfamiliar with MIDI technologies, and/or this is your first visit to the corner, fear not! Follow the links below to previous editions to get caught up. And don’t fret. We’ll be right here waiting for you when you get back.
Everyone here? Great!
In this week’s Tech Tuesday, we’re following up on another application for MIDI over WiFi. As I mentioned in February’s edition, one of the challenges that we may run into when using MIDI over WiFi is something we call “latency.” Put simply, latency is the delay between the time a user sends a signal (by touching a button for example), and an outcome is produced (such as an instrument sound).
There are certainly methods that we can use to minimize latency, but it is very challenging to eliminate it entirely. This brings us to a different method: samples. Instead of using MIDI signals to trigger single notes, we can use these signals to start and stop any number of rhythm loops. This is exciting, because the loops will synchronize with the MIDI clock.
More on the MIDI clock: imagine that the software receiving any incoming signals has a built-in metronome, and will only allow loops to be triggered exactly when the metronome ticks another beat. Sound exciting? It is! In this way, even if a user triggers a loop that isn’t quite on the beat (or that trickster latency causes the signal to be a bit behind), you’d never know it, because the MIDI clock is on the case! Now by employing the skills and methods we’ve discussed in previous editions, anyone who wants to be a DJ can be.
Imagine!’s SmartHomes team is always looking for examples of how other individuals and organizations are using technology to improve the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities. Recently, SmartHomes guru Greg Wellems and tech specialist Alex Andrews met with Scott Schleicher and others while touring Ascendigo’s Yellow House, a new service using innovative approaches to meet the needs of people with autism.
Imagine!’s SmartHomes team is always looking for examples of how other individuals and organizations are using technology to improve the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities. Recently, SmartHomes guru Greg Wellems and tech specialist Alex Andrews met with Alice Brouhard and her daughter Kara (pictured below). During the meeting the group discussed how Alice and Kara are using iPad technology in Kara’s home. Alice has been part of the Families at the Forefront of Technology Conference and is currently heading the “Kara’s Own Voice” campaign, a petition to Apple to restore functionality to Aida Reminder, an app that provided voice reminders.
Imagine! Behavioral Health Services (IBHS) provides evidence-based behavioral services
in a variety of settings through education and collaboration.
IBHS team members have long used the latest in technology to help in delivering meaningful and impactful services. Today, they share some online apps that they have found useful in their work.
Description:
Autism iHelp is a vocabulary teaching aid developed by parents of a child with Autism and a speech-language pathologist. Autism iHelp was inspired by the need for specific language intervention tools for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder focusing on their unique strengths and difficulty with expressive vocabulary.
Autism iHelp - WH?'s consists of questions paired with appropriate real world picture responses.
This app includes several photos and questions chosen based on established expressive language milestones.
Autism iHelp - WH?'s address a very specific area of higher level language need in the Autism population. Through routine learning, children learn labeling of concepts. WH ?'s require incorporating more abstract thought and generalization in regard to the learned concepts. Children with Autism often have difficulty with this particular skill, and Autism iHelp - WH?'s apps are an excellent way to target a vital educational benchmark in a mobile capacity.
Additionally, you are able to track your child's gains through progress reports that average the last three performances of each learning enhancement activity.
Description:
Splash Math is a collection of fun and interactive math problems. The app reinforces math concepts with self-paced and adaptive practice anytime, anywhere (works on iPad, laptops and desktops).
Description: Fun with Directions is designed to provide a fun and engaging way to practice listening, following directions, colors, spatial concepts, auditory memory and auditory processing. From the simplest of directions (“Touch the cat”) to the more complex (“With your orange crayon, color the large one that is a furry pet and likes to chase mice”) individuals can grow and learn with this game over time. Colorful, vivid art and animations against a white background combine to create a complete game experience without visual clutter. Sound effects and surprises keep the game engaging!
Included are ten concepts: Give, touch, open, close, top, middle, bottom, push, color, erase.
Features include settings for data collection, individual (up to 75users) vs. group play, automatic advance or manual advance to next direction, touch/drag OR touch/tap option, text on/off, (to practice reading vs. listening) selecting specific concepts, and the desired level of play: easy, intermediate, and advanced.
An added bonus that is included in this app is the optional “Superstar Direction” which allows additional practice for remembering (“What did you have to do?”) but also expressive language. The response is recorded and played back. Superstar Directions can be set to a variety of intervals or turned off completely.
Today’s Technology Tuesday is another edition of “Chris’s Corner,” brought to us by Imagine!’s Assistive Technology Specialist Chris Baumgart. Today, Chris introduces us to the latest member of Imagine!’s Assistive Tech team.
Chris’s Corner
Yep. Still in the Corner
Welcome back, fellow Corner-ians. For this installment of my corner, I’d like to introduce you to John Boggs, the new Assistive Technology Teacher at the Boulder hub of Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source department. You may have seen him around before, as he transitioned into CORE/Labor Source from Imagine!’s Charles Family SmartHome.
John’s background includes performance and musical composition, and he is combining his love of the arts with his passion for technology to explore the many ways those two elements can work together to improve the lives of individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Below you see him setting up Gerald’s communication device for Adaptive Orchestra (left), and working with another client during our Assistive Technology Lab with an app called OSMO.
For more information on both of those activities, check out these links:
In addition to what you see above, John will also be teaching Assistive Technology classes such as Foundations of Communication, Intermediate Communication Skills, iPad Navigation Skills, and much more. For more information on what John is doing, feel free to contact him, or check back here.
Residents of the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome and Imagine!’s Santa Fe Group Home got together this weekend for an Easter celebration! They enjoyed a feast prepared by staff members Ian and Hadley with help from Rebecca and Mandy. The food consisted of a ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cookies, etc. After eating staff and consumers did arts and crafts, went on an Easter egg hunt, and dyed eggs. Everyone had a blast! Thanks to Site Supervisor Shannon Bundy for sharing these photos.
Mandy, who lives in Imagine!’s Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome, has written another book – just in time for Easter!
“Amanda’s Easter Adventures” is a cute story about twin sisters and their Easter adventure together! Learn more here and please consider supporting this talented artist!
Imagine! has built two SmartHomes which incorporate the latest technologies to improve the quality and efficiency of service and supports for people with disabilities.
