James Flynn

Module 8-Final Assignment

Autism iPad Project Grant

Needs Assessment
Dale Cassens Educational Complex is an Alternate school campus located in the school
district of St. Lucie County. St. Lucie County is located in the southeast section of
Florida and the county is comprised of two cities, Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie. The
school board maintains 47 schools that contain almost 47,000 students. The
Exceptional Student Education Department (ESE) serves almost 7% of those students.
Dale Cassens is a relatively small campus located in the inner city section of Fort
Pierce. According to the January 2014 count, the student population was 285 students,
and of that 285, 59% of whom are designated ESE. Ten of those students have a
categorization of Autism Spectrum Disorder. These ten students are all in the same
self-contained Autism classroom. They also require more services and support than all
the other students on the campus do. Only two of the ten students in the class have the
ability to answer basic yes/no questions. The other 80% of the class have either no
verbalizations or limited functional communicational skills.
According to John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, communication and
language delays are the primary reasons for referral of children for initial autism
evaluation. They also state that less than 5% of these individuals remain non-verbal
into their late teens. Without alternative methods to facilitate their communication, these
individuals only option to communicate is by behaviors that may put them at risk for
legal and ethical issues outside of the school setting. Since all of the students in the

classroom are already over fifteen years old and 80% of the classroom lives in a group
facility, it is imperative that these students receive a final chance to find their voice.
Alignment of Need to School Improvement Plan
One of the school and the districts current target goals states:

Target 3: The achievement gap between students who are economically

disadvantaged or disabled and those who are not will narrow while all students
continue to make academic progress.

The projects aim of adding the use of IPads to the Autism curriculum as a supplement
aid will help meet both the district and school target goal by:

Increasing disabled students academic progress by offering additional

curriculum and curriculum modification tools.

Allow for increased progress monitoring with specialized data software and the
ability to track student work.

Increase student communication in all areas that will allow student to function in
a more independent and socially acceptable manner.

The students increase in communication level will allow for more independent
and spontaneous participation within the school campus and community setting
which will facilitate active learning.
Goals and Objectives

Primary Focus
The primary focus of this project is to increase the communication ability of ten students
in grades 7- 12. The students will receive an IPad to use that has been equipped with

software and apps specifically aligned to their specific communication and academic
needs.
Goals and Objectives of Project
In order to achieve success with this project, the following goals and objectives need
implementation:
Goal 1:

Autistic students will use the IPad, apps, and software as an assistive
communication device that will aid in increasing their communication
ability.

Objective 1:

To utilize the technology requirements of this project, the students will use
the Apple 32GB IPad and through direct instruction will become proficient
IPad users within the first 8 weeks of the school year.

Methods 1:

To meet this objective, the district will purchase ten IPads for student use
and two IPads for classroom staff. During pre-service week before school
resumes in August, teachers will attend three teacher trainings.
Classroom staff will learn how to navigate the tablet, teach the software to
students, and track student progress.

Goal 2:

Special needs students will have communication skills to express their

wants and needs in a variety of settings.

Objective 2:

The Autism IPad Project will use the Proloquo2go software program to
increase students self-help request from present level (zero) to five basic
requests by the end of the first year of the project.

Methods 2:

In order to meet this object, the project will purchase the Proloquo2go
software program. This software will aid students vocalizations by turning
familiar Pecss symbols into voice commands with a touchscreen. The
developer of the software is offering our school site a discounted rate of
$1000.00 for 15 licenses. This is more than the needed number based on
the students involved in the project but it would allow for teacher and staff
training of software.

Goal 3:

Students maladaptive behaviors will decrease when they are able to

communicate in a socially acceptable method.

Objective 3:

All students in this project will use an assortment of social,

communication, and behavior apps to increase by 25% over current
baseline, one social/emotional goal listed in their Individual Educational
Plan (IEP) by the end of the first year of the project. Increase will be
charted and measured by individual weekly data tracking sheets and daily
point sheets

Methods 3:

In order to meet this objective, the students would need specific apps that
will help them in their success. Each of these apps are for the academic
classroom or within the speech therapy program. The premise of the
applications is to facilitate communication skills but each uses a different
method or skills range. These can include Pictello-10.00 per license
(x10), Grace- 5.00 per license (x7), AutismExpress-Free (x10), and
Stories2Learn-5.00 per license (2), Innervoice-10.00 (x7) and
VisualTokens-2.99 (x10). Each student will use the app that best suits his
or her individual needs.

Anticipated Project Outcome:

This project will take two school years to show full growth, however, there are several
anticipated results after the 2014/2015 school year. First, student communication skills
will increase by 25%. Second, behavioral outbursts will decrease by 15-25%. Finally,
academic, or other therapy skills, will show a positive gain based on alternative
assessment techniques.
Ability to Achieve Success:
This projects focus is the Autism classroom, which consists of ten boys in grades 7-12.
The students have been in the classroom together for several years and some have
lived in the same group homes for periods. They are familiar with each other and are
accustom to the other students behaviors. The classroom staff is composed of two
behavior aides, two self-care aides, and a classroom teacher. A speech therapist and
an occupational therapist consult weekly. The staff works well together and all express

a desire to help the students. All of the staff is willing to work in extra trainings to learn
the tablet and the software. The school leadership staff is working with the district to
expand the number of Wi-Fi drops in the classroom and update the teachers computer
to be compatible with the new software. The ESE department chair and behavior
analyst are working with classroom staff to implement new behavioral strategies
centered on the IPad functions. After the fourth month of project implementation,
parent(s) and group-home trainings will commence.
Budget
Available Resources:
1. Classroom teacher and staff are already on campus for preschool week so there
is no additional monies needed.
2. Majority of staff is familiar with iPads and applications.
3. School Administration is excited and willing to help with project.
Needed Resources:
1. Will need to locate a building/location for training so that Autism classroom can
be set-up for start of school year.
Budget Breakdown
iPad an APP Specific Expenses
12 iPads (10 students and 2 teachers/staff)
ProLoquo2go software App w/ 15 licenses
Pictello (10 licenses)
Grace App (7 licenses)
Stories2Learn (2licenses)
Innervoice (7 licenses)
VisualTokens (10 licenses)
Subtotal

Amount
$4,800.00
1,000.00
100.00
$35.00
10.00
70.00
29.99
$6,044.99
6,044.99

Classroom and Staff Training Expenses

2 hours paid to speech therapist not
working pre-school week

Amount
$125.00
$125.00
$6169.99

Subtotal

Classroom Materials Needed for Project Amount

Otterbox or like protective equipment for 12
$350.00
iPads
Gel pads for desks to secure from
movement
50.00
Velcro rows to secure iPads and include
daily schedules
35.00
Subtotal

$435.00
$6604.99

Student Specific Materials Needed for

Amount
Project
Touch pad gloves
$100.00
Stylus
110.00
Headphones
75.00
Subtotal

$285.00
$6889.99

Support Therapy Materials Needed for

Amount
Project
Speaker
$59.00
Subtotal

$59.00
$6948.99

Caregiver Trainer Seminar

Transportation to school
Food and drinks
Printing
Printed materials
Staff salaries (administration will offer comp.
time)
Total

$195.00
$7143.99

Amount
$100.00
$75.00
0.00
20.00
0.00

Evaluation
Evaluation Process
The Autism iPad Project will run for two school years. From start to finish of the project,
monthly data collection based on student gains in the areas of behavior, speech, and
academics determine the final overall success of the project. At the completion of the
two-year project, the reviewing of data and student progress calculated before success
of project is determined.
Moderators of Project
During the duration of the iPad project, the school vice-principal and the county
behavior analyst will serve as administrators and data reviews for the project. They will
determine if the project met the anticipated outcome goals based on data alone as they
will not have any direct contact with the student participants.
Each of the chosen moderators has an understanding and background in autism. The
vice principal is a former speech pathologist and worked with the Autism community.
The county behavior analyst has worked exclusively with low-functioning disabled
students. Both moderators describe themselves as very computer literate and both
own iPhones, iPads, and have worked with other Apple devices.
Data Collection
Currently, data collection in the Autism classroom happens on a daily, weekly, and
monthly basis. The data collected at present includes students daily behavior including
antecedents and consequences, weekly summaries of academic progress toward
individual educational goals, and monthly data reviews to look for student growth and
declines. The incorporation of the Autism iPad Project into the data routine involves

rewriting the classroom data sheets to include the use of the iPad. Once the projects
introduction occurs, the charting of behaviors begins and continues to locate a positive
or negative change. Consistent tracking of all academic work looks for improvements
based on students with an iPad verses academics with the use of no iPad. Monthly
data collection charts will also include separate areas for specific changes pertaining to
iPad usage only.
Final Determination
The moderators review all collected data, including monthly summaries, to make their
determination of project success or failure. The moderators will meet with the
classroom staff to discuss the results and the classroom staff will share their final
summaries of the success of the project based on classroom observation and
interaction. Using both types of data will determine project success.