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Happy Halloween!

Mandy's Halloween Poem

Yesterday, Imagine! Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Mandy visited the preschool class of Site Supervisor Chantelle Tweten’s daughter to read a special Halloween poem to the kids. Mandy wrote the poem herself. Mandy said, "The Halloween poem was for a preschool so I had to make it not scary but as entertaining as possible."

Below is her poem. Great work, Mandy!

"On Halloween the children dress and go Trick or Treating.
Some of the children see how much candy they can eat before they go to sleep.
The children walk up and down Trick or Treat street.
When they run out of candy the Children were not happy.
Then all the children lined up on the sidewalk and people who work at Hammons candy factory would fill the top of this special electric truck that only came out on Halloween.
Someone who worked at the factory would program it to go to their address and they would program it to go back to the candy factory."

Technology Tuesday

A couple of weeks ago, we shared some popular apps that may benefit individuals with a variety of intellectual and developmental disabilities. While these apps are indeed helpful, they have mainly been designed and developed for kids to use, and aren’t always age appropriate for adults with cognitive disabilities.

Imagine!’s tech guru Alex Andrews has set out to create apps that can teach basic skills and concepts around numbers and letters, but are more suited for adults. A chance meeting (guided by James Sandstrum, MA, CCC-SLP of University of Colorado, Assistive Technology Partners) at The Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities’ Annual Conference has put this project on the fast track.

During the conference, Alex began discussing his desire to create the more age appropriate apps with Sri Kurniawan, Associate Professor at the Baskin School of Engineering at the University of California Santa Cruz. Professor Kurniawan agreed to collaborate by having some of her students help to create the apps as part of a student project.

The two have set an ambitious goal of designing 25 apps and coding 15 of them by January. Alex is doing the designing, and the students will assist with the coding. In addition to catering to a more adult sensibility, the apps will be designed to track and store data on individual users, allowing support staff to track progress and see how individuals are improving.

We offer our sincere thanks to Professor Kurniawan and her students, and we’re looking forward to seeing the final products! We’ll keep you posted.

Thank You, ANCOR

The ANCOR Foundation has provided Imagine! with a grant of $6,000 for flood relief! The ANCOR Foundation is dedicated to expanding the commitment and capacity of providers and communities dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with disabilities. Imagine! is a longtime and proud member of ANCOR (The American Network of Community Options and Resources) and we are so pleased that they are helping to support us in our time of need.

Below, Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome resident Gerald offers his personal thanks. His home was severly damaged during the floods.

Thank You For Your Support!

Imagine!’s crowdfunding campaign for flood relief came to a conclusion last Friday, and we are very pleased with the results. We raised $18,197, 91% of our ambitious goal of $20,000. This total doesn’t include grants from the St. Vrain Flooding Relief ($10,000) and the ANCOR Foundation ($6,000). Thanks to all of you who donated or shared the campaign with your friends and family – we couldn’t have done it without you!

John Updates Us On His Life

This post came to us during a visit to the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome Monday night. John is talking about going to the circus earlier this month on October 5th.

It was really good. There were elephants, clowns, trapeze, and a girl inside a rocket who was shot off into a net. That was unbelievable. Even the juggling people did their thing, and the music was really cool. There was a circus band. It was a whole lot of fun.

The next Saturday I went to the IMAX. There was a movie about a furry animal that lives in a hole and digs. It's a little bit bigger than a rabbit, but I don't know its name.

 I'm looking forward to Halloween. I'll make some cards with pumpkins, black cats, witches, and ghosts.

My IP (Annual Planning Meeting) is next month, so it's time for me to think about what goals I want to have for next year.