LITTLETON, Colo. —Words don’t always have to be spoken to carry meaning. At Real Life Colorado, nonverbal students are developing their communication skills through Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices.
The executive director of Real Life Colorado, Aidan Attreau, explained all students kindergarten through eighth grade have communication devices along with teachers to best match the kids communication systems.
"The progress that these kids make, learning to express themselves meaningfully, the progress that they make in academics, the progress that they make socially, and the progress that generalizes outside of school to their home and community is truly profound," Attreau said.
Real Life Colorado is a nonprofit organization that offers The Learning Zone as an educational program to best support families in the community. Attreau said the need is clear and technology is helping these kids discover their voices.
"We work oftentimes with kids who do struggle behaviorally because they can't express their basic wants and needs and as that communication increases, that behavior decreases and they live happier, healthier, more full lives," Attreau said.
Attreau explained that the tablets are designed to organize language much like the brain does, grouping together verbs, descriptive words, people and pronouns. Students can also personalize their devices with pages that help them introduce themselves and share pieces of who they are with someone new.
WATCH: 'It is just magical', Littleton school helps non-verbal students find their voice
"As far as we know, we are one of the first programs in the nation to offer what we call AAC immersion. And what that means to us is that we are fully immersing the kids in their language systems."
Tara Bohle has watched her son, Evan, make strides she once could only hope for. Evan was diagnosed with congenital bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria with the doctor telling her 'he may never talk, walk or feed himself.'
"I feel like I use this word all the time when I describe Real Life Learning Zone but magical," said Bohle. It is just magical. It is one of the most magical schools I've ever been in and truthfully, it has changed our lives."
Before attending The Learning Zone, she said he communicated in one- to three-word sentences. Now, he is putting together complex thoughts using both past and present tense.
"We saw a huge change. I think it's like any language you learn, if you put yourself in that immersive environment and you're learning how to create these messages, and people are modeling all the time and they talk like you, just naturally you're going to absorb that information and these teachers just get these students, they find something that these students are interested in," Bohle said.
She said this is the first school where she hasn’t had to modify materials to make the curriculum accessible for her son. At The Learning Zone, Evan is surrounded by peers who communicate like he does, creating an environment where he can learn, grow and connect.
"They've helped him learn how to use the device to better connect with the people he loves and that's just life changing," Bohle said.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.