Communication boards installed at Tuscora Park

Two new communication boards installed at Tuscora Park were unveiled recently by Lacey Herbert-Stephen and her 5-year-old son Cash Stephen, who is nonverbal. The boards feature photos and drawings to help people who are nonverbal.

The signs are printed in English on one side and Spanish on the other. They are located near the playground by the main parking lot and by the merry-go-round.

“Cash and I frequent the park a lot. And we had started to notice that he was having meltdowns and not able to really communicate to me what it was he needed or what he wanted to do next,” Herbert-Stephen said.

Herbert-Stephen learned about communication boards placed at other parks. They used generic photos and drawings, but she wanted to make one that was specific to Tuscora Park.

“I went ahead and started brainstorming about making one,” Herbert-Stephen said. “Cash uses a talking device, a tablet. He points at the button that he wants, and it speaks for him. I thought it’d be so cool if we had something like that here because I knew some other parents who didn’t even bring their kids to the park because of the communication barrier and it being so much.”

Herbert-Stephen began putting the boards together, and she met with members of the Tuscora Park board who agreed the communication boards would be a welcome addition to the park if funding could be found.

After contacting Chris Call, owner of Lightning Signs in New Philadelphia, he offered to reduce the price of completing the signs and split the costs of funding with Herbert-Stephen. Had he not been willing to help, the cost of the two signs would have probably been around $5,000.

“It’s very expensive. And it’s a lot of material, a lot of time. It took me about 2 1/2 months to get all the pictures I wanted on there,” Herbert-Stephen said. “After I got the pictures I wanted including going and taking some of the pictures at the park, I wanted it to be relatable. I wanted the kids to be able to say, ‘I want to go to the ducks.’ It’s all pictures of the park; it’s all specific to the park.”

Assisting with the project were Farrah Raines and Shelby Montgomery, who helped determine which activity and other selections would be most important to have on the board. Jenny Miller of Lightning Signs created the layout of the boards.

Future plans are to help people who are nonverbal with making other selections.

“We’re also going to be doing ones for the food stand so that they can go up and pick what they want and point to the food they want,” Herbert-Stephen said. “This was the first step.”

Herbert-Stephen is pleased with the way the board design turned out.

“It is beautiful, and if you look, there’s an arrow at the bottom that explains that the Spanish version is on the other side,” Herbert-Stephen said. “We wanted to make sure that we got the English and Spanish versions so that we could (include) everybody — all ages, all adults, all ethnicities — and try to make sure that the park is a welcoming place for the nonverbal community as well.”

The boards will allow families that include people who are nonverbal the opportunity to enjoy their visits.

“Now we’re going to have more fun at the park,” Herbert-Stephen said of her park visits with Cash.

It’s only been about five months since Herbert-Stephen opened the Lacey PAC Adaptive Movement Center in downtown New Philadelphia for children with disabilities.

“It is growing, and we are currently looking to expand,” Herbert-Stephen said. “And we’re hoping to (expand) sooner rather than later. We have a list of kids from (the Tuscarawas County Board of Developmental Disabilities) that want to attend.”

Plans are to renovate and move the AMC to the second floor of the building that currently houses the Lacey PAC dance studio in downtown New Philadelphia.

With Raines the AMC provides a variety of events like Elvis Week and celebrating holidays like New Year’s and the Chinese New Year with activities that keep the participants moving.

“It’s not just somewhere they go sit and do crafts. They’re up; they’re active. They play kickball,” Herbert-Stephen said.

They exercise and have even started to do some yoga. The center serves people with disabilities of all ages, but they have found many of the participants utilizing the center so far are in the 3- to 5-year-old age group.

Donations for the center, its expansion and in-kind donations to help with construction work to complete the renovation of a new AMC will be accepted. Herbert-Stephen is thankful for the help she has received so far from the community and hopes to have a new AMC open sometime this year.