May 7 – 27, 2007: COMD Students and Faculty Serve Children with Disabilities in Mexico
Two Utah State University communicative disorders faculty members and 12 students traveled to an orphanage called Gabriel House, in Maneadero, Mexico. They served the children at the orphanage for three weeks.
- The students and faculty members assessed the ability of a child to access communication boards, general vocabulary knowledge and comprehension of language.
- Assessments for 25 children with a variety of developmental disabilities were provided. The disabilities include autism, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, Down syndrome and AIDS.
- Before the students and faculty members left for Mexico, they used the Utah Assistive Technology Program’s Assistive Technology Lab, part of the Center for Persons with Disabilities at USU, to design and make a wide range of adapted communication systems, toys, games and books.
- A mobile bath chair was built out of PVC pipe at the AT Lab. The chair was left at the orphanage for the caregivers to use.
- Everything made at the AT lab was made possible by donations from the community and private foundations to purchase materials.
- While in Mexico the students worked all day providing assessments and then in the evenings and late into the night specializing necessary assistive technology devices - talking computers, communication boards and software. These devices have enabled the children to communicate with the people around them.
