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June 28 is LGBTQ+ Pride Day. The first pride march happened in New York City 52 years ago, on June 28 1970. The 51-block march ended in Central Park and commemorated The Stonewall Riots that had taken place a year earlier.

A group of Bridgeway staff, board members, and friends participated in this year’s Stonewall Columbus Pride Parade on June 18, 2022. We were excited to be able to participate in person this year. In case you missed our Virtual Pride Parade video from last year, you can check it out HERE.

Bridgeway Academy was invited by Ernst & Young (EY) to join their group for the 2022 parade march. We are grateful for the opportunity to join EY, who also supports the work of Bridgeway Academy throughout the year with financial sponsorship. Additionally, Michelle Umali, Associate Director – Global Solutions Manager at EY, serves as a volunteer leader on our Board of Trustees.

Bridgeway’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Task Force hosted a Pride shirt sale for the second year, and we thank everyone who purchased a t-shirt. Although shirt sales are closed, we will plan to hold the sale again next year. Proceeds from the shirt sale benefit Bridgeway Academy’s DE&I Task Force Fund to provide materials for staff to support DE&I initiatives in the classroom.

We asked Megan Schuster, co-leader of Bridgeway’s LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group, to share a few thoughts for the purposes of this blogpost. Megan has been a Lead Teacher in the Preschool Program for many years and will begin a new position as a Training Specialist at the beginning of the new school year.

She provided the following answers to the questions below:

Q. Bridgeway Academy is participating in its first-ever Pride March this year, how does that support from the staff make you feel as an employee at Bridgeway?

A. I couldn’t be more thrilled that Bridgeway participated in the Pride parade this year! I hope this is the first year of many to come. 

Q. What is the importance of having a safe and accepting work environment as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community?

A. It is so important to work in a safe and accepting environment, both for staff and for students who identify as LGBTQIA+.  The fight for equality for the LGBTQIA+ community is still a very real issue in this country and across the world.  We need safe spaces, like Bridgeway Academy, where people who identify as LGBTQIA+ can exist without fear of being persecuted or harmed based on their sexual identity.

We know Megan will have so much expertise to share with staff in her new role. Congratulations, Megan!

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” Edgar Degas 

If you’ve visited our building recently, you’ll notice a new sculptural piece hanging in our lobby. This project was made possible by a generous grant from our partners at Art Possible Ohio. Bryan Moss was selected as the project’s teaching artist.

I got to spend some time with Bryan throughout his creative process for the purposes of writing this blog post. Bryan wanted to create something that mirrored the passion & creativity of our learners from their perspective as students with autism and other developmental disabilities. As a long-time friend of Bridgeway Academy, he knew he needed to observe and get into the minds of our students. We took Bryan on a tour of our new facility; he got to sit in on classes, talk with our therapists, and even visit our sensory rooms. He also sat down and chatted with our co-founders and Executive Directors Abby David & Erin Nealy, to learn about our history, and their vision for Bridgeway Academy. It was very important for him to understand our mission, plans for the future, and expectations for his piece.

On Bryan’s first day of residency, I sat down with him to discuss what ideas he had come up with, and what the first steps of this project would look like. All around the room were colorful elements; streamers, disco lights,  hula-hoops, and many different sketches of what looked like giant squids! He told me he really wanted the kids to be a part of this project, so he planned to organize opportunities for the students to come and create their own art pieces that would eventually be added to the sculpture. To do this, the craft had to be simple and yet universal for students of all ages to engage with and understand.

Over the next few days, Bryan met with all of the classrooms at Bridgeway Academy, so that everyone would have the opportunity to participate. Each student created tie-dye patches, first by drawing on them with markers, whatever they like, and then drip-dyeing them in cups. This allowed the students to learn to follow steps, complete a task, and make choices that would create something unique for them. I can honestly say that the entire staff was very impressed by what Bryan was able to do with the kids.

It was amazing to see how much the students enjoyed it, and the individual and creative things they designed!

Once all the students were finished, Bryan intended to sew the patches together to create the cover for the “exotype skeleton” he was making, with hula hoops and wire as the anatomy of the sculpture. After the mainframe piece was hung up, the fun part began! Bryan utilized hula lei’s to create the tentacle-type mechanisms along with the arms of the sculpture, then started dressing it in the sewn fabric that the students had dyed. He also added detailed components using pipe cleaners, cotton balls, streamers, and lights that created a colorful, fun, and playful look!

Finally, it was time to add the sound. Bryan was really inspired by the idea of our sensory elements throughout the building, seeing as they play such an important part in our students’ journeys and curriculum. So, he embedded a Bluetooth speaker on the inside of the sculpture that allows us to play calming rhythms or ASMR sounds that the students like. Our staff, students, and parents were very proud and pleased with the final result, and hope to have more opportunities like this in the future.

This piece really highlighted the values we hold not just as an organization, but for our students and clients as well. The kids get to see this every day, enjoy the sights and sounds, and even get to see the little piece they made as well. Our staff, students, and parents were very proud and pleased with the final result, and hope to have more opportunities like this in the future. Thank you, Bryan and Art Possible Ohio for bringing this piece to life!

By Emily Walker, RBT – Transition Specialist, Applied Program

As our students at Bridgeway Academy get older and are ready to expand upon their employability skills, they can participate in the Community-Based Job Training (CBJT) program to gain real world experience at a job site. Transition Specialists work to find community partners that are willing to have students at their business to complete job tasks that their employees typically do. This is on a volunteer basis, so the students are not paid, but they gain valuable experience that is not available in the classroom.

Working in the community allows teachers and staff to see how students respond to a new environment and interact with unfamiliar people. Community-Based Job Training gives many opportunities to practice soft skills, such as problem solving, social skills, and employability skills. Our community partners are valuable because they give students many opportunities to increase their skill set and gain real work experience that will aid them in future employment.

One of the businesses that is currently partnering with Bridgeway Academy in the CBJT program is a bookstore Cover to Cover, an independent bookstore in Upper Arlington, Ohio. Their mission is to inspire children to become lifelong readers, and they have been serving customers of all ages and abilities since 1980.

The store itself is colorful and organized, which helps shoppers and employees find items easily. Melia Wolf, the owner of Cover to Cover, has been actively supervising Teagan, one of our CBJT students, since October of 2021. Melia has experience mentoring students with autism, and has done a fantastic job collaborating with staff to adapt the jobs at Cover to Cover to help Teagan learn new skills.

Teagan first started stamping bags, which was a great way for her to adjust to the environment of the store. There were less people, and less distractions so she was able to stay on task. Once this skill was mastered, Melia added a new objective for Teagan – putting stickers on bags, greeting cards, and then organizing the cards by occasion, such as Birthday, New Year’s Day, or Christmas.

Now, Teagan is starting to alphabetize and organize books by author! By steadily adding skills as they become mastered, students are able to grow and not become overwhelmed by tasks that can be considered a challenge.

Bridgeway Academy values these relationships with our business partners, especially those that have a passion for our students’ growth and development.

We hope to continue expanding this program and gaining more partnerships in the future to allow more work opportunities for students. If you know of any businesses in the local community that may be a good fit for this program, please email Emily Walker at ewalker@bridgewayohio.org.

Introducing Valemee®!

Bridgeway Academy has begun a new program called, Valemee®! This new program was made possible because of a generous grant from Autism Speaks.

What is it?

Valemee® is a personal fitness program that many of our middle school and high school students are participating in on a weekly basis. The physical therapy department at Bridgeway Academy began partnering with Peggy Mills, founder and owner of Valemee® (formerly UFIT) in January of 2020. A pilot program began with 4 students, with the hopes of expanding services to all students in our middle school and high school programs. In July of this year, three staff members from our secondary program were trained and became certified instructors: Whitney Williams, PT, DPT (PT Department Manager), Leslie Murdock, MOT, OTR/L (Secondary OT Department Manager), and Emily Walker (Applied Program Transition Specialist).  After a successful pilot program and thanks to the support of our funding partners, Autism Speaks, in July, Bridgeway Academy purchased the Valemee® Fitness Visual Training System and set up a permanent gym space, called BridgeFit, in our new building at Alum Creek! 

Who is using it?

Currently all middle and high school classrooms in the Academic Program and several classrooms from the Applied Program are participating 1x/week for 30 minutes. The goal is to expand this to ALL middle and high school students and classrooms in some capacity by January 2021. The program is also being used by several therapy only clients in a 1:1 capacity with their therapists. 

How does it work?

Each student builds his or her own visual schedule from a large white board that contains pictures of several different options. They choose from 1 of 4 cardio exercises (Treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike, or arm bike) and then 3-4 strength training exercises. These exercises rotate every 1-2 weeks, so they are always able to learn and explore new types of exercises with different equipment. They spend half of their session on a cardio machine and half of their session on the floor doing strength training. Staff members are there to provide demonstrations, help with selecting exercises, etc. 

The goals of the program are as follows:

1. To expose students to a gym setting and exercise equipment in a safe and supportive environment. 
2. To help students learn new exercises with proper body mechanics and form.
3. To promote  lifelong fitness and making healthy choices.
4. To teach students strategies to self monitor and reflect on their effort and adjust their participation levels accordingly.

Did you know…

…that scientific research takes place within the walls of Bridgeway Academy? Staff members Lindsey Paden Cargill, CCC-SLP and Samantha Lyle, CCC-SLP were recently published in The International Journal of Speech Pathology. This research was done in collaboration with Allison Bean and Alison Baker from OSU Department of Speech and Hearing Science.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose: Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) provides an alternative means of communication for individuals who are unable to effectively communicate using spoken language. The present study seeks to investigate the role of proximity in facilitating AAC (specifically Speech Generating Devices; SGD) use in a homogeneous population: ambulatory school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Method: Twelve school-age children with ASD who use an SGD as their primary mode of communication participated in the study. The percentage of time the child was within the proximity of their device was calculated over nine videotaped sessions and data logging provided information regarding device use over an 18-week period.

Result: Children were in proximity to their device 65% of the time. There was a significant positive correlation between percentage of time in proximity to device and the average minutes of device use on the day video recorded. Exploratory analyses revealed that communicative abilities may be more connected to proximity than school context.

Conclusion: These results support the importance of developing a program for assuring device proximity in order to encourage consistent device use in minimally verbal ambulatory school-age children with ASD.