Contact: Maridith Geuder
Nearly a dozen youngsters with communication disabilities are "talking" up a storm this week at a special Mississippi State camp.
Sponsored by the university's T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability, Camp Jabber-Jaw provides recreational and learning activities for children who must use augmentative communication devices to "speak."
Established in 1996, the Martin Center works to lessen the impact of a range of disabilities through assistive technology. Major funding is provided by the state Department of Rehabilitation Services.
Camp director and speech pathologist Janie Cirlot-New said activities began Wednesday [June 9] with a visit to the MSU Agricenter for horseback riding, a petting zoo and other activities. They also are rehearsing for a play titled "Mystery in Dodge City" to be presented Friday [the 11th].
Now in its second year, the camp involves three staff members from the University of Southern Mississippi's Children's Center for Communication and Development.
"Most programs that serve children do not incorporate augmentative communication into programming because of the time and money needed to plan and implement such strategies," Cirlot-New said. "The children's center at USM has made a real effort to increase the use of augmentative communication in the intervention process with children who are nonspeaking."
To enable the kindergarten- and elementary-age students to interact, augmentative communication employs equipment from low-tech photo boards to high-tech computer-based communicators that "speak" as the user types the words.
"Through Camp Jabber-Jaw, we want participants to have fun while learning how to improve their abilities to communicate interactively," Cirlot-New said.