Before you read this story, take a moment to think - really think - about some of your memories from elementary school. What are they? Learning the alphabet? Show-and-Tell? Story time? Solving your first math problem? Playing with your friends during lunch break? Chances are, you remember talking, singing, playing and interacting wholeheartedly with other students and your teachers.

Now take a moment to think - really think - about how these memories would be different if you had been unable to speak. In fact, imagine how they would have been different if you could not use sign language or write, or nod your head to indicate "yes" or "no."

There are many children in our community who have precisely these challenges, and 22 of them are currently enrolled in classes at Madison-Oneida BOCES. These students are living with conditions such as autism, cerebral palsy, developmental disabilities and syndromes such as Fragile X, Angelman and Rett. Thanks to the hard work of their teachers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists and a Community Foundation grant for $12,270, these students are now able to communicate and fully participate in their classes alongside their peers.

The Community Foundation made the grant in June 2009 so that BOCES could purchase augmentative communication devices - tools that allow a therapist or teacher to program and replay a word, phrase or sentence to speak for the students - and use them in seven component school districts. The devices allow the children to communicate by using pictures, prerecorded messages or touch screens (some even employ combinations of these).

Children using these communication tools can tell jokes and stories, make friends more easily, participate in group activities and games, ask questions, and even let their teachers know what they would like to eat for lunch. BOCES staff noticed that immediately after the children began using the devices that they smiled more and were frustrated less.

BOCES speech pathologist Colleen Wuest recounted what she experienced in December, when students were collaborating on their "Christmas around the World" presentation. "When it came time for each (student) to articulate a word or phrase that corresponded with the presentation, each one was able to press a desired device with a prerecorded and rehearsed sequence to actively participate in the presentation. Some responses may have been labored or at a decreased rate, but all students were able to express a piece of this presentation. The smiles and laughs that these students exhibited after taking part in this presentation were priceless."