Friday, February 27, 2015

Good News Friday!

You know that Imagine! does amazing things for its community, but did you know that it is also an amazing place to work? Check out the very short video below created by Imagine!’s Human Resources department to share that message with potential employees.

 
Can’t see the video? Click here.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Out & About With . . . Erie Community Center

Imagine!’s Out & About department was created in 1997 in response to the requests of community members with disabilities and family members who care for those with disabilities to have more options for community-based recreation services.

That “community-based” element is key - rather than scheduling activities in a segregated setting, you will find Out & About participants (both adults and children) utilizing recreation centers, bowling alleys, movie theaters, museums, and even amusement parks.

Of course, Out & About wouldn’t be able to provide those services without the support of the many, many community organizations that collaborate with Out & About to ensure that participants are able to receive positive instruction, within a therapeutic framework, to encourage growth, learning, community participation, socialization, health, safety, and the achievement of individual goals.

Today, I’d like to acknowledge Erie Community Center for its support of Out & About. Out & About’s Catalog program utilized the Erie Community Center’s community room and recreation center for its Healthy Living class last spring.

Thank you, Erie Community Center, for your support of your community and all of its members.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Technology Tuesday

This week’s Technology Tuesday is another installation of Chris’s Corner, brought to us by Imagine! Technology Specialist Chris Baumgart. We’ve already shared ways that Imagine! is using technology to help individuals we serve make beautiful music on their own. Today, Chris talks about the next step he’s exploring: how to use multiple iPads to make the experience of creating music more interactive among several musicians. 

Chris’s Corner 

Welcome back, fellow Corner-ians! At the beginning of the year, we showed you some of the amazing adaptations you can make to an orchestral setting using MIDI technology. If you missed that post, have no fear! You can simply check it out here!

Not to give too much away, but we’re just now beginning to take this one step further. By capturing MIDI signals sent over a WiFi network, we are now turning iPads into accessible musical instruments. Depicted below, you will see a couple of participants, including our good friend Robert, using iPads as instruments that feed into the live mix.




The app depicted above is a free app (Fiddlewax Blue) which allows individuals to either play the instrument locally (choosing from all types of instruments, guitar, piano, etc.), or to enable MIDI output so that the user can play as a member of a group (band, orchestra, jam session, etc.). But this app also has its limitations. The layout can’t be changed, and for some users, there may simply be too many options. We started working with a different paid app (Beatsurfing) which allows us a fully customizable layout (pictured below).
 
Now, instruments can range anywhere from the simple:


To the slightly more complex:


To the outright chaotic:


Quickly and easily depending on each individual’s needs, target skills, and/or preferences. Haven’t seen enough yet? Check out this demo video! (Please note: If you must critique on the musical content of the video, please do so gently, for I do not consider myself a musician by any means). Enjoy! And, as always, stay tuned for more to come!

Can’t see the video? Click here.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Good News Friday!

Today I’d like to offer my congratulations to Bridget Carroll and Thupten Dawa, two Imagine! employees who were honored Wednesday during Alliance’s Annual Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) Awareness Day in Denver. The two are pictured below getting an ovation from a packed house at the Denver Art Museum, which hosted the event.


Bridget and Dawa were among a select group of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) from across the state who were recognized by Alliance for their excellent and dedicated work on behalf of individuals with I/DD.

The recognition was well deserved. Bridget and Dawa, on behalf of all of us at Imagine!, thank you for all you do!

Check out a few more pictures from the celebratory event below.



Thursday, February 19, 2015

Out & About With . . . West View Recreation Center

Imagine!’s Out & About department was created in 1997 in response to the requests of community members with disabilities and family members who care for those with disabilities to have more options for community-based recreation services.

That “community-based” element is key - rather than scheduling activities in a segregated setting, you will find Out & About participants (both adults and children) utilizing recreation centers, bowling alleys, movie theaters, museums, and even amusement parks.

Of course, Out & About wouldn’t be able to provide those services without the support of the many, many community organizations that collaborate with Out & About to ensure that participants are able to receive positive instruction, within a therapeutic framework, to encourage growth, learning, community participation, socialization, health, safety, and the achievement of individual goals.

Today, I’d like to acknowledge West View Recreation Center in Westminster for its support of Out & About. Last summer, Out & About rented out a space at West View Rec Center for their Summer Camp Art Exploration class. The folks at West View were very accommodating and open to Out & About doing an potentially messy art project in their space.

Thank you, West View Recreation Center, for your support of your community and all of its members.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

No End Of The Road

“You’ll never see the end of the road when you’re travelling with me.” 
- Crowded House, “Don’t Dream It’s Over” 

Can't see the video? Click here.

I was reintroduced to the song above recently, and a line jumped out at me that I hadn’t really noticed before. The idea that “You’ll never see the end of the road when you’re travelling with me” really resonates with me, both in my personal life and in my work experience.

I won’t bore you with the personal stuff, so let me talk a little about the work part.

One thing that I have always appreciated about Imagine! is the number of people who have worked here, are working here now, and who I have no doubt will continue to work here who are never satisfied with the status quo. They are always looking two or three steps ahead to see what can be done better or more efficiently.

I wish I knew exactly how this very distinct aspect of Imagine!’s culture came to be. It may be a result of a highly educated staff. It may be the result of being part of a community that has always prided itself on being different and ahead of the curve in its thinking. But whatever the reason, the results are undeniable. Imagine! stands out locally, state-wide, nationally, and even internationally as an innovative leader in providing services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Because of this culture at Imagine!, nobody here ever expects to see the end of the road as we continually move forward. Of course, we establish sign posts and move toward those, but they are only temporary stops. We are always exploring, and the path we are traveling twists and turns, and then there are side roads to discover. We don’t want to “arrive” – because then what? There is always something else that can be learned from the continual move forward. Stasis equals stagnation. If we think we’re “there,” then we will miss what’s next.

So today I’d just like to offer a simple “thanks” to my co-workers, or more appropriately, my co-travelers at Imagine!. Thank you for letting me explore with you. Thank you for blazing trails. Thank you for learning every step of the way, and for sharing what you’ve learned with others. I hope to travel with you for many more years, and I hope we never arrive . . . together.

Then again, what do I know?

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Technology Tuesday

For today’s Technology Tuesday, we thought we’d share some brief information about a brand new
collaboration Imagine! is undertaking with the University of Colorado to help address issues around new technology we develop to help assist those we serve.

A group of four undergraduate seniors from a variety of disciplines (including a journalism major, and advertising major, a Micro, Cellular and Developmental Biology major, and a business major) are teaming up to undertake a case study as part of a Leadership Studies Capstone course. The University reached out to Imagine! to see if we could help provide a real life case study that the students might be able to tackle, and the group chose this one:

Two ‘SmartHomes’ have been developed by Imagine! to explore the use of technology to aid people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. There is now a partnership with the University of Colorado School of Engineering as a result of Imagine!’s efforts in this area. Imagine! brainstorms ideas based on the needs of individuals served, then presents these ideas to a freshman level engineering class. The engineering students design the ideas as part of a semester-long class project. Who owns these ideas and projects? This is a question of intellectual property. How are these concepts, projects, and products managed? What about collaborative efforts? How should Imagine! and CU address this issue, such that these relationships can continue to grow? 

This is a vitally important case study, as we have seen many viable products come out of our collaboration with the engineering students, and we want to explore how to take the very best of those products to see if we can produce them on a larger scale so more people may use them. But we need to make sure we are doing that appropriately, and this case study should help guide as moving forward.

Thanks to students Alyssa Proctor, Jessi McArthur, Vanessa Harmoush, and Cassy Olson for agreeing to take on this case study and assist Imagine! as we continue to look for the most efficient and effective ways to incorporate technology into the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities so they may engage in their communities in meaningful ways that benefit us all.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Good News Friday!

Today, I’d like to welcome Bella, who recently became a member of the Imagine! Board of Directors.

Bella lives with her parents and pets in Boulder. She graduated from Fairview High School in 2012 and the Boulder Valley School District’s Transitions Program in 2013. She volunteers at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley and the YMCA of Boulder Valley. Bella plays ice hockey and enjoys horseback riding, swimming, theater, scrap-booking, art, and travel.

You can see how busy she is, so we're so lucky she has agreed to set aside some time to serve on our board!

Bella, I am looking forward to your contributions and input, and your assistance in directing Imagine! so that we may continue to providing meaningful and impactful services that provide opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to fully participate in their communities.

Thank you in advance for your service!

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Out & About With . . . Parlando School for the Arts

Imagine!’s Out & About department was created in 1997 in response to the requests of community members with disabilities and family members who care for those with disabilities to have more options for community-based recreation services.

That “community-based” element is key - rather than scheduling activities in a segregated setting, you will find Out & About participants (both adults and children) utilizing recreation centers, bowling alleys, movie theaters, museums, and even amusement parks.

Of course, Out & About wouldn’t be able to provide those services without the support of the many, many community organizations that collaborate with Out & About to ensure that participants are able to receive positive instruction, within a therapeutic framework, to encourage growth, learning, community participation, socialization, health, safety, and the achievement of individual goals.

Today, I’d like to acknowledge Parlando School for the Arts for its support of Out & About. Parlando, housed at the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder, hosted three music classes for Out & About’s Summer Camp last year. They provided the classes free to Out & About. The classes were facilitated by Elle Tyler, piano facility member at Parlando. Out & About’s “Music and Movement” section of Summer Camp was definitely enriched thanks to Parlando!

Thank you, Parlando School for the Arts, for your support of the community and all of its members.

Bonus Parlando support of Out & About!

Out & About’s Centre Stage 2015 program is well on its way and the big performance is coming up! This year, the play is being directed by Kristel Brown of Parlando School of the Arts.

What: Centre Stage 2015 Production
Where: Broomfield Auditorium, 3 Community Park Drive, Broomfield
When: Friday, February 27th, 7:30pm

Not sure what Centre Stage is all about? Click here for more details

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Imagine! Work Space Renovation

Imagine! is renovating its main administrative office building, located at 1400 Dixon Street in Lafayette, CO., starting February 23.

The motivation behind the renovation is so that we can create workspaces that will better serve our needs, and more importantly, the needs of those we serve, moving forward. We are excited about this renovation, but it will mean some temporary and minor disruptions.

We wanted to let our stakeholders know what to expect for the next few months:

Accessing Imagine! Employees 

All phone lines and email address of Imagine! employees will remain active.

Accessing Imagine! Meeting Space

If you have a meeting that was scheduled at Imagine!’s Dixon Street building or in the John Taylor Conference Center anytime from February 23 through June 1, the person(s) who scheduled the meeting will contact you with the new location. If you are not contacted or not sure who to contact, just call Imagine!’s main phone number at 303-665-7789.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Technology Tuesday

A little more than a month ago, we let you know that students of Sri Kurniawan, Associate Professor at the Baskin School of Engineering at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC), are collaborating with Imagine! by having some of her students help to create apps for Imagine! clients as part of a student project.

This is Imagine!’s second app development project with UCSC. Go Banana Slugs!!

Today, we’d like to share some specifics about this semester’s projects. This year we will be working with two teams to develop five HTML5 applications for people with cognitive disabilities. The general purpose of these applications is to provide access to, and teach basic educational/communication skills to, adults with disabilities in a way that is age appropriate and customizable to the interests of the individual. One of the goals of this project is to develop a database for each game to track the progress of the user over time. The apps will be developed to incorporate an errorless learning approach (meaning, users will always select the correct answers before moving on to the next question). Each application with have two different modes of operation, a teaching mode and a testing mode. The teaching mode is a practice mode where the user gets to play freely but is still within the errorless teaching approach. The testing mode is password protected and needs to be facilitated by an administrator. This mode records the user's results which can be stored, and then accessed and compared for data analysis at a later time.

This year we are working on a "concept" game, a basic sign language game, a "Simon" game for the visually impaired, and a basic object identification game.

In the "concept" game, users will be tested on their knowledge of which is amount is bigger, which is smaller, longer, shorter, fuller, emptier, etc.

The basic sign game will incorporate videos of basic sign language and asked the user to identify the correct photo/icon equivalent.

The object identification game will teach and test users on their environmental knowledge.

The Simon game will allow folks with visual and cognitive impairments to play games independently.

Imagine! is very grateful to the University of California, Santa Cruz for all of their work on these projects and for the development partnership to create solutions for the cognitively disabled. We’ll be sure to keep you posted on the progress!

Friday, February 6, 2015

Good News Friday!

Yes, February just started, but that’s not too early for the fine folks who work for Imagine!’s Out & About department to begin preparing for this year’s Summer Camp.

The video below will give you a preview of things to come.

Can’t see the video? Click here

Out & About’s Summer Camp Program is designed for school aged kids with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Summer Camp offers ten weeks of full days, from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM Monday through Friday, and is available to children ages 7 - 21.

Activities include fishing, equine assisted opportunities, art exploration, swimming, movement, sports and games, gardening, as well as lots of scheduled field trips to local venues such as Water World, Elitch Gardens, and the Wildlife Experience. The goal of Out & About’s Summer Camp is to provide a sense of acceptance and self among peers, to enhance participant’s quality of life through the development of socialization skills and coordination skills, and to promote community integration.

For more information, please email Elena Ciaravino at eciaravino@imaginecolorado.org, or call her at 303-926-6457.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Out & About With . . . Growing Gardens

Imagine!’s Out & About department was created in 1997 in response to the requests of community members with disabilities and family members who care for those with disabilities to have more options for community-based recreation services.

That “community-based” element is key - rather than scheduling activities in a segregated setting, you will find Out & About participants (both adults and children) utilizing recreation centers, bowling alleys, movie theaters, museums, and even amusement parks.

 Of course, Out & About wouldn’t be able to provide those services without the support of the many, many community organizations that collaborate with Out & About to ensure that participants are able to receive positive instruction, within a therapeutic framework, to encourage growth, learning, community participation, socialization, health, safety, and the achievement of individual goals.

 Today, I’d like to acknowledge Growing Gardens for its support of Out & About. Out & About has been partnering with Growing Gardens for many years to host a facilitated gardening class. Participants learn about all things gardening, including composting, bugs, planting, and eating fresh veggies. Participants always seem to be smiling at Growing Gardens, and they have fun while learning.

Thank you, Growing Gardens, for your support of your community and all of its members.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Time To Celebrate?

This past Sunday, 114.5 million viewers watched one of the most exciting Super Bowls in history. In the midst of the drama, there was a lesson to be learned.

When the Seahawks had the ball on the 1-yard line of the Patriots with about a minute left in the game, a touchdown and a victory for Seattle seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Television cameras looking at both sidelines appeared to confirm this – the New England sideline looked stunned and morose while the Seattle sideline was jumping up and down joyously.

But sometimes in sports, celebrations take place a little too early.
  Can’t see the video? Click here.

If you don’t know by now what happened next during Sunday’s game, then here’s a hint: when the final whistle blew, it wasn’t the Seahawks who were celebrating. They got a little too excited a little too early.

The tendency to celebrate prematurely isn’t only something that happens in sports. We all probably have a memory of our lives of when we got excited about something before it actually happened, and the lingering memory of how crushing it felt when it didn’t come to be.

It happens at organizations like Imagine! as well. Because of the nature of what we do, however, we must be extra vigilant in guarding against the thinking that something is completed when it really isn’t. We offer services for real people with real challenges, and we can’t afford to celebrate success too early.

Whenever we implement a new program or change the way we do things, we must make sure we “close the loop.” We must review what we have done and explore what we still need to do. We need to continually ask questions such as “Is this the best we can do?” or “What have we learned?” or “What needs to be adjusted?” or “What’s new and better?”

This process needs to be built in whenever change is occurring, and it needs to be continuous. In our field, very little remains static, and the answers to questions such as the ones above questions will likely change over time. If we’ve already celebrated, we may miss those shifting answers and environmental factors, to the detriment of our organization and those we serve.

 Time will tell if the Seahawks will recover from their heartbreaking defeat, or if they will heed the warning about jumping the gun when it comes to celebrating. There’s no reason we at Imagine! can’t learn and apply that lesson immediately, however. We just need to be careful not to host any congratulatory parties when we do.

Then again, what do I know?

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Technology Tuesday

Leah and Alex
Today’s Technology Tuesday is going to be a little different than some of the others in that, rather than focusing on specific technologies, we’d like to share information about an individual working for Imagine! who is truly blazing the trail when it comes to incorporating technology into our services to improve the self-reliance of the individuals we serve.

More than seventeen years ago, Alex Andrews brought his curiosity and creativity to Imagine! to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to achieve their full potential. Long before technology was viewed as a viable support in our field, Alex was using his knowledge to wire devices to teach basic principles of cause and effect, so that individuals with significant disabilities could control and manipulate lights and sound by simply tapping on his or her chest, or by brushing his or her fingers up and down the front of his or her body, taking that critical first step toward independent decision making. Since then, Alex has pursued grant opportunities to improve and increase the access to technology so that individuals can learn, live, play, and work in their communities.

Today, as a Direct Support Provider (DSP) and technology architect, Alex is working locally and nationwide to create assessments and screening tools to assist people experiencing a disabling condition to identify technological solutions to increase independence, health, and safety throughout the community, at home, and at work. Alex’s latest venture has brought his knowledge into his home, where he and his wife support Leah as host home providers. Through a combination of low and high tech solutions, Leah uses an iPad to complete activities of daily living, and to prepare her for what she loves, which is heading out to her job in the community.

Here’s what Leah’s dad, Doug, had to say about the progress she has made since Alex began providing services, and how technology has played a role in her successes:

Alex’s work with assistive technology is being applied to Leah’s living situation. Alex remodeled a portion of his house to provide for Leah and future client(s). He has wired the environment that Leah now lives in to support her specific needs (with ‘sound prompting’ and communication systems). In only a few weeks, Leah is now waking up, starting her morning routine, contacting Alex and Diana when she completes her routine all without any personal contact. The same applies to her routine when she comes home from her ‘day program’ and for her evening routine. She is also learning to pack her bag with appropriate clothes and items she needs to visit us on weekends. All of these are first time events! 

Alex has devised a method that allows prompting and supervision to be applied less and less as Leah progresses toward the goal of handling tasks without any prompting or support. She has already made measurable improvement toward performing daily routines independently. In addition, at her recent IP, Leah’s attending support group watched a video of Leah working with a prompting system to make oatmeal for herself in a microwave oven with no help. These professionals, (not to mention Leah’s parents), were overwhelmed to see Leah demonstrating such independent skills. It was clear to all that Leah was so proud of what she had accomplished. 

Although Leah has a wonderful support group, it is without question that Leah’s growth, independence, and joy has advanced due only to Alex’s exceptional vision and caring. His drive to never stop looking for solutions and his knowledge of how to approach these challenges using any and all simple manual solutions or technological solutions is known to many. I personally have seen the effect that his effort has had on my daughter and it has been significant and has been witnessed by everyone that works with Leah. 

Leah is showing an ability to provide for herself in many ways that would not be possible without Alex’s influence. I no longer allow thoughts of what Leah can’t do thanks to Alex. Also, my wife and I have both learned a great deal from Alex about how to be consistent in our support for her. He is always willing to share his knowledge without hesitation. He has greatly improved my life and the life of my daughter. 

Imagine!’s well-deserved reputation as a leader in incorporating technology in services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities is largely due to creative and dedicated employees like Alex. Thanks, Alex, for your efforts!