Akron Zoo adds communication boards for nonverbal, English learning visitors
The Akron Zoo is adding new augmentative and alternative communication, or AAC, boards for visitors who are nonverbal, minimally speaking or language-learning to use to communicate.
The board was designed specifically for the Akron Zoo by Inspire Connections Therapy, a Twinsburg-based company that provides speech therapy services to pediatric clients. Visitors use the board by pointing at icons to communicate with others.
The icons includes animals, areas in the park, frequently asked questions, frequently used phrases, letters, numbers, colors and short words, all with images that match the words.
Visitors can access the board for free by requesting a copy at the ticket counter or viewing it on the zoo's website. A board will also be available in every sensory bag at the zoo.
To view or print the board, visit akronzoo.org/sensory-inclusion, scroll down and click on the turquoise "Akron Zoo AAC" button.
The Akron Zoo launched its sensory inclusion program in 2017 and was the second zoo in the country and first in Ohio to become certified sensory inclusive.
The zoo has weighted lap pads and sensory bags available for checkout at its Welcome Center reception office at no cost by leaving a form of collateral. The sensory bags have fidget tools, noise-canceling headphones and the AAC board.
The zoo also has designated “Quiet Areas,” at the Andean condor habitat, outside the Galapagos tortoise habitat, at the Grizzly Ridge overlook and at the Lehner Family Zoo Gardens terrace, and “Headphone Zones" that are usually noisy or crowded, including Madagascar Circle, the Carousel plaza, the Komodo Kingdom Education Center, the otter slide area, the Pride of Africa train depot and area near the lions and misters and the Wild Asia plaza and treehouse area.
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Contact Beacon Journal reporter Emily Mills at emills@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter @EmilyMills818.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Zoo adds communication boards for nonverbal, English learning visitors
