Grant to boost learning tools for Marion City Schools students with autism

Melody Franklin, a teacher in the Step by Step autism unit at Garfield Elementary School, uses an iPad to guide instruction.

A grant from the GPD Employees’ Foundation will benefit Marion City Schools’ Autistic students by paying for iPads and an educational app.

The district has been awarded a $19,522 grant that will enable it to buy 49 iPads for Autistic students and their teachers. It will also pay for the See, Touch, Learn school version app, a visual learning and assessment system specially designed for children with Autism diagnoses.

Amy Wood, Marion City Schools’ Director of Educational Programs and Grants, said the iPads will benefit students in kindergarten through 5th grade. They will help students with language and communication by serving as an alternative means of instruction and communication.

“An Autistic child’s world can be full of imagery rather than words,” Wood said. She said the software will let students create sentences and using a series of images. This can help ease the frustration Autistic children sometimes feel when trying to communicate.

The iPads are also easy for Autistic students to navigate because of the tapping and sliding motions required to operate them.

The app, meanwhile, will let teachers create personalized lessons and assessments for the students. Teachers can build custom picture card lessons and automatically track students’ responses and progress.

GPD Group, founded in 1961 by five men with different architecture and engineering specialties, has been employee owned since 1986.  The firm, located in Akron, Cleveland, Columbus and Youngstown, Ohio; Atlanta, Georgia; Indianapolis, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; Phoenix, Arizona; and Seattle, Washington is a professional services firm that specializes in engineering and architectural disciplines for diverse markets that include community facilities, education, housing, parks and recreation, power distribution, public works, retail commercial, site development, telecommunications, transportation and wireless systems.

GPD Group employees established the GPD Group Employees’ Foundation Inc., a 501(c)(3), in 2014 to help channel donations to enrich the K-12 public education experience and support children with medical and special needs. For more information about GPD Group Employees’ Foundation, visit them online at www.gpdfoundation.org or call toll free at 1-800-955-4730.