New addition to Tuscora Park: Communication signs put up to help non-verbal kids, adults
NEW PHILADELPHIA ‒ When non-verbal children and adults visit Tuscora Park this summer, they will have a much easier time expressing their wants and needs to their parents or caregivers with the erection of two communication boards.
The boards have pictures that they can point to if they need to use the bathroom, want an ice cream cone or if they're feeling scared or tired. The signs are located at the younger children's playground and by the carousel. One side is in English, the other side is in Spanish.
There is nothing like it in any other park in this part of Ohio.
"What the board does is it allows them to come over and touch the place that they want to go in the park or to touch where it says what they need or what they feel," said Lacey Herbert-Stephen, owner of the Lacey PAC Adaptive Movement Center in New Philadelphia. She spearheaded the project.
"The pictures that I used are pictures that you're going to see in a lot of these children's and adults' communication devices that they use in school or that they use daily. So, it's going to resonate with them and connect to them easily."
While some communication boards are generic, these boards are geared specifically towards Tuscora Park. They have pictures and rides of all the attractions at the park.
How it got started
Herbert-Stephen was inspired to do the project because of her son Cash, 5, who is non-verbal.
"We go to the park a lot, and we love the park, especially in the spring and summer. He gets very overwhelmed, and mostly because he's not able to communicate what his wants and needs are. So, he doesn't like to take his speaking device with him. It's heavy, and he has to lug it around," she said.
The Starlight School in New Philadelphia has a communication board in its playground, and Cash has used it in the past.
"Sometimes I avoid the park like a lot of families do, because you don't know what it is they need or that they want," Herbert-Stephen said. "We can say, I want an ice cream cone. We get frustrated whenever we're not getting it because we're hungry and it's hot out.
"Same thing with this little boy. He wants an ice cream cone, but he can't tell his mom that directly. So this is a way for him to take me by the hand, bring me over to the communication board and point to what it is he needs, wants or feels. So, we can communicate a little easier and enjoy the park better."
A lot of assistance
She worked with Lightning Signs & Decals of New Philadelphia and the company's owner, Chris Call, on the project. The Lacey PAC Adaptive Movement Center paid for the signs, and Lightning Signs did the work at a discounted price. The company did the production and installation for free. No tax dollars were involved.
Herbert-Stephen said she had several people look at the signs to provide input, including Farrah Raines, head specialist at Lacey PAC. Eva McClave, works for Help Me Grow, a free service for children 3 years and younger with delays and special needs, and Erika Metzger, one of Herbert-Stephen's friends, checked to make sure the Spanish was correct.
Mayor Joel Day is supportive of the project. He was on hand for the unveiling, along with state Sen. Al Landis, R-Dover, and members of the city's park board, which approved the project.
"This is a great addition to Tuscora Park," Day said. "It makes the park a lot more handicapped accessible. It was needed, there's no doubt about it, and I'm so appreciative of Lacey and her team coming up with the idea and Lightning Signs for making it happen."
Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Communication boards added in New Philadelphia's Tuscora Park
