Autism support: Philadelphia Police Officer Sammy Sanchez (far right) distributed 76 iPads during a pizza party for dozens of students at the El Concilio community center in Feltonville. BILL ACHUFF / FOR THE TIMES
Philadelphia’s public schools likely serve thousands of learners with autism spectrum disorder. Jadien Alicea, a third-grader at Solis-Cohen Elementary School in Castor Gardens, is one of those students, but he seems a stark contrast to many of his peers in the way he effortlessly and enthusiastically converses with new friends.
According to his mom, Mia Medina, several of the pupils in Jadien’s autism support class speak very little, if at all. But that’s not a problem with Jadien, who dutifully helps his classmates to make their thoughts be heard.
“They use sign language and sometimes they need help,” Alicea told a Northeast Times reporter during a recent interview.
Unfortunately, that can often lead to even more classroom confusion as Jadien stops what he’s doing to engage with the other youngsters.
ldquo;The teacher says (to me), ‘Go on and do your work,’ and I say, ‘But I’m trying to help the other kids,’” Alicea explained.
Philadelphia Police Officer Sammy Sanchez, a Northeast resident who works on the mayor’s security detail, shares Alicea’s commitment to better communication for those children living with autism. Sanchez took up the cause while trying to help his own son, Sammy Jr., who has autism and is largely non-verbal.
During Sanchez’s search for solutions, he found Proloquo2Go for iPad, an augmentative and alternative communication application that uses a customizable menu of pictures paired with a voice synthesizer to help the user convey his or her thoughts and needs.
Over the last two years, Sanchez has donated more than 100 iPads with Proloquo software to autism support classrooms in public schools throughout the city. He distributed 76 of the devices on April 1 during a pizza party for dozens of students at the El Concilio community center in Feltonville.
Sanchez raised over $15,000 to purchase the devices through a “Bowling 4 Autism” benefit last September. Some 230 people attended. Corporate donations have grown tremendously in this, the program’s second year, as businesses have come to realize the tremendous need and opportunity for philanthropy.
“The first year, we reached out to over a hundred companies. I thought we would get ten and that would be good,” said Sanchez’s wife, Gloria. “But I got two.”
“Then somebody thought to get it out to the media,” added Sammy Sanchez. “Then I started using the news link with a different message. We added a face and a voice where they could see what I did last year and they wanted to be a part of it.
“They began to say, ‘Hey, you’re doing a great thing. I’d love to be a part of it.’ They knew who I am and what I stand for, so they were happy to support it.”
With April recognized nationally as Autism Awareness Month, it’s worthy to note how prevalent the diagnosis is nationally and what’s being done locally to assist children’s needs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in 2014 that one in 68 children, including one in 42 boys and one in 189 girls, have autism spectrum disorder. Based on those ratios, some 2,000 of the School District of Philadelphia’s 134,000 students may have some form of autism. The school district reports on its own website that more than 18,000 students (about 14 percent of total enrollment) have disabilities, but the autism rate is not specified.
Fourteen of the district’s 16 public middle schools offer autism support classrooms, as do 83 of its 149 elementary schools. But like most public school programs, those classrooms are woefully underfunded.
“We have four autism support classes total and we received two full classroom (iPad) donations, which is excellent considering the lack of resources we have at this point,” said Dewayne Diggs, special education liaison at Penrose Elementary in Southwest Philly.
“(The software) is great for students who are nonverbal. It will allow them to let you know what they need, what they’re thinking, without speaking. It’s a great blessing.”
The devices aren’t seen as a crutch, but rather like high-tech training wheels, helping alternative learners make the connection from their thoughts to images and printed words to spoken words. Joe Victor’s son Jack, a kindergarten pupil at Mayfair Elementary, could use the boost from time to time.
“He speaks but he has a hard time speaking in front of other people,” the elder Victor said. “He’s in support classes and a few times a week he goes for regular instruction. At home, you wouldn’t think he’s different. He’s learning at the same rate, it’s just in a different way.”
Even students like Jadien Alicea couldn’t wait to get their hands on the new iPads to expand their horizons.
“I’m so excited and anxious to see what could be on this new app,” he said. “I would like to learn more about life. I’m doing my centimeters now, and millimeters and regular meters. And I’m reading, fourth-grade-type reading. It’s worth it.”
Chas Barrett is Alicea’s special education teacher at Solis-Cohen.
“With someone like Jadien, who has wonderful intellect, my job is to keep him on grade level,” Barrett said.
Sammy Sanchez, who is also the founder of Semper Fi Martial Arts gym in Fox Chase, has been spreading the wealth. After raising $8,000 last year, he donated more than 30 iPads to schools in four police districts, the 7th, 14th, 25th and 35th. Generally, community relations officers in the various districts help him identify candidate classrooms.
This year, the program’s footprint reached the 2nd, 7th, 8th, 12th, 15th, 22nd and 24th districts. Each school must sign a contract to ensure that the devices remain in the autism support classrooms and are being used by students.
“I go to the classrooms and make sure the iPads are in the rooms and being used,” Sanchez said. ••
For information about the annual Bowling 4 Autism fundraiser or to donate, visit www.gofundme.com/mowfic or Google “Bowling 4 Autism by Sammy Sanchez.”
Commitment to communication: (From left) Mia Medina, her son, Jadien, and special education teacher Chas Barrett work with Proloquo2Go for iPad, a communication application that uses a menu of pictures paired with a voice synthesizer to help the user convey his or her thoughts. BILL ACHUFF / FOR THE TIMES
