It has been a busy couple of weeks for awareness. World Down Syndrome Day was March 21st. March is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month and Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day was March 25th.
April and May will raise awareness for autism, undiagnosed children, and apraxia. Undiagnosed Children’s Day is April 25th. Apraxia Awareness Day is May 14th. I don’t know if it is possible to follow special needs social media without knowing that April is Autism Awareness Month and April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day. In response to the Autism Speaks “Light It Up Blue” campaign, a group of autistic adults has organized the “Tone It Down Taupe” campaign. Their message is to “tone down the fear and alarm because everyone will be JUST FINE even if their life is different from imagined.”
We have the privilege of knowing and loving people in all of these groups (and many more groups that may not have campaigned as intensely or contacted us). Whatever the underlying reason is that causes someone to be a candidate for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), we believe in everyone’s basic human right to communicate.
In honor of the many individuals with Complex Communication Needs (CCN), and in an effort to show our support and appreciation, here’s what we are doing:
Speak for Yourself will be discounted by 50% (regular price: $199.99 USD reduced price: $99.99 USD) from 12:01 am EST through 11:59 pm EST on Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014. If you have been thinking about it, but couldn’t decide, let this be the event that pushes you to try it. If you are making a decision between other AAC apps and Speak for Yourself, here is the evidence-based research behind Speak for Yourself. Since that article was written, we have also added a History feature, which gives quantitative and qualitative data about word usage and communication access rate. If you prefer videos, click here. We believe Speak for Yourself is the most comprehensive, effective AAC app available, and we are always working to improve it.
For those of you who work in school districts, this is a reminder that we participate in the Apple Volume Purchase Program for Education. This program allows districts to purchase apps at half price if they are purchasing 20 or more copies of the app. On April 2nd, that means districts purchasing 20 copies of Speak for Yourself, will be able to purchase a communication system for 20 students for $1,000.00. Pretty amazing…not too long ago in the world of AAC, that would not even cover the insurance co-pay for one device.
On April 5th, 2014, we are one of the Event Sponsors for “Gavin’s Playground Project.” The project is in memory of Kate Leong’s (author of the Chasing Rainbows blog) son, Gavin, who died last April. The event will raise money to build a playground that is accessible to EVERY child. We will also be attending the event, which includes a trivia contest and silent auction. Three codes for Speak for Yourself will be included as part of the Special Needs portion of the silent auction. There will also be dream vacations and other excellent items in the silent auction. This is the great part…even if you can’t physically make it to Pennsylvania to be part of the event, you can participate in the silent auction online! Here is all you need to know about this special night that will honor a beautiful little boy who continues to touch the lives of many and build a playground that will make it possible for a child to play regardless of disability.
We are also donating codes to awareness and acceptance campaigns that have asked for our support.
Here is the link to the Special Apps, Special Kids and Appy Ladies collaborative effort to organize a list of specials and giveaways for World Autism Awareness Day/Month. Speak for Yourself will be among the apps given away throughout the month.
The “Tone it Down Taupe” campaign will also be giving away a code for Speak for Yourself with their iPad mini giveaway. My understanding is that it will be given to an Autistic individual over 16 years of age because there are not as many programs for Autistic adults. Here is the link with more details.
If you are raising awareness or promoting acceptance for people who have CCN and you would like to include Speak for Yourself in your campaign, please contact us.
Embedded in all of the awareness, acceptance, and appreciation, there is nothing more powerful than the ability to Speak for Yourself.
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